Hoop Spectacular Finds a Home in Alhambra

You might say the eighth annual Summer Hoop Spectacular is a boys’ high school basketball tournament on the move.

In 1988, the tournament was based at Bosco Tech High in Rosemead. Last year it moved to East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. This year most of the games in the 48-team event will be played at Alhambra High.

Tournament director Jorge Calienes, the men’s basketball coach at East Los Angeles College, didn’t have much choice about this year’s change.

Calienes had scheduled the tournament, which starts Monday and includes most of the top teams in the CIF Southern and L.A. City sections, for the East Los Angeles men’s gym before a fire June 4 forced a change of plans.

The fire struck while a work crew was repairing damage from another blaze in December that had burned about one-quarter of the gym.

“I was in the locker room with the athletic director and the chairman of the (physical education) department, and he said there was some smoke coming from my office,” Calienes said.

After checking his office, he immediately suspected another fire in the gym.

“I didn’t want to believe it at first, but I could see the cloud of smoke in the gym,” Calienes said.

A 12-foot circle of flames charred about one-eighth of the gym floor. The damage probably would have been worse, he said, except for quick work by school maintenance workers and Monterey Park firefighters.

Still, considering how long it took to repair damage from the first fire, Calienes knew that it would be at least a few months before the gym would be ready for basketball again.

Calienes said he never considered canceling the tournament.

“It crossed my mind, but by the time it happened I had already made the pairings and seedings,” he said. “I was too far into it to think about canceling it. I’m always optimistic and I always thought I could find another place.”

After making several inquiries with nearby high schools, Calienes decided to stage most of the tournament at Alhambra and hold the finals at the East Los Angeles women’s gym.

“Immediately after it happened I knew we had a lot of games that had to be played, and I started looking around,” he said. “I knew Alhambra was a good location because they had the boys’ and girls’ gyms right next to each other.”

Calienes said he would prefer to hold the tournament at East Los Angeles on a regular basis.

“The tournament had a long-lasting effect at Bosco Tech,” he said. “People are finally starting to identify it with East Los Angeles College.”

But regardless of where the tournament is played, one thing has remained constant:

The tournament will feature most of the top teams in the CIF Southern and L.A. City sections and should provide a good indication of the powers in the Southland next season.

Included in the field will be three of the four teams that reached the semifinals of the 128-team L.A. Games summer tournament July 1: first-place Fremont, surprising runner-up Long Beach Jordan and Long Beach Poly.

Top teams from outside the area will include Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland, El Camino of Oceanside, East Anchorage of Alaska and Sparks of Nevada.

About the only Southern and L.A. City section powers missing will be defending state champion Mater Dei and Crenshaw.

The top eight seeds in the tournament are Manual Arts, Fremont, Artesia, Long Beach Poly, Fairfax, Bishop O’Dowd, San Marcos and Dominguez.

From the San Gabriel Valley, Muir is the top seed at No. 12, followed by Pasadena and Pomona.

Muir, which drew a bye in the first round, will meet the winner of Monday’s Garfield-Inglewood game in the second round at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Alhambra boys’ gym. The Mustangs, 15-11 last season, will be led by their returning guard tandem of Phillip Turner and Jacque Vaughn.

Pasadena, which reached the quarterfinals of the L.A. Games before losing to Morningside, 60-48, will face Eisenhower in the first round at 12:40 p.m. Tuesday in the Alhambra girls’ gym. Pasadena is paced by two returning starters: point guard Raymond Maberry and forward Kenric Marshall.

Pomona, which advanced to the final 16 of the L.A. Games before being defeated by eventual champion Fremont, 66-52, will play Pius X in the first round at 1:20 p.m. Monday in the girls’ gym. Pomona’s top player is senior forward Johnny McWilliams, a two-time All-CIF Division III selection who averaged 23.5 points and 13.5 rebounds last season.

Other valley teams competing in the tournament are Diamond Bar, Ganesha, South Pasadena, West Covina, Blair, Bishop Amat and Alhambra.

First-round games Monday match South Pasadena vs. West Covina at noon in the boys’ gym, Bishop Amat vs. Hart at noon in the girls’ gym, Diamond Bar vs. Canoga Park at 1:20 in the boys’ gym, Blair vs. Sparks at 2:40 in the boys’ gym and Ganesha vs. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) at 5:20 in the boys’ gym.

On Tuesday, Alhambra opens play against South Gate at 11:20 a.m. in the boys’ gym.