Twelve Westside Basketball Teams Playing in L.A. Games

Twelve Westside high schools will be among the 128 teams competing in the Los Angeles Summer Games boys’ basketball tournament this weekend. That’s where the certainty ends.

“All kinds of surprising things happen in these tournaments,” Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said. “Last year we weren’t even seeded and we won the whole thing.”

There is room for plenty of surprises during the tournament, which will conclude Sunday, July 1.

But the teams are not only in the tournament to win; they’re playing to learn and develop and also get a preview for the upcoming season.

“In the past, the teams that have done well in the games have done well in the regular season,” said Katani, whose team faces Chatsworth at noon Saturday at Jordan High. “The teams have to understand that the summer and preseason are there to improve your skills and your attitude and get better.”

St. Monica Coach Leo Klemm said the games, tournaments and leagues are not to be taken lightly.

“It’s serious in the sense that every time we play, we want to play with the same attitude and intensity that we play with in the regular year,” Klemm said. “Summer is a time when you can learn a lot about your new players and try your returning players at different positions.”

The Mariners open against Van Nuys Saturday at 10 a.m. at Fremont. Other Westside teams in action Saturday are: St. Bernard vs. Mayfair, 1 p.m. at Fremont; Westchester vs. Monroe, 9 a.m. and Culver City vs. Walnut, 11 a.m. at Westchester; Venice vs. Palisades, 9 a.m., University vs. Western, noon, and Santa Monica vs. Montebello, 1 p.m. at El Camino College’s North Gym; Hamilton vs. Mission Viejo, 3 p.m. at El Camino’s South Gym; Dorsey vs. La Canada, 9 a.m. at Dorsey and Crenshaw vs. Bosco Tech, 9 a.m. at Crenshaw.