Carson Basketball Tournament Starts Tuesday

Four CIF-Southern Section champions lead a strong field of 16 high school teams in the seventh annual Carson Summer Grand Finale basketball tournament starting Tuesday at Carson High.

Participants that won Southern Section titles last season are Long Beach Jordan (Division I-AA), Tustin (II-AA), Servite of Anaheim (III-A) and Santa Clara of Oxnard (IV-AA). Tustin also won the State Division II title.

Carson, the defending tournament champion, tops a list of seven South Bay entries. The top-seeded Colts, who defeated Tustin in the 1990 final, return four of their top six players, led by All-City swingman Rudy Washington (21 points) and 6-foot-10 center Khary Stanley.

Second-seeded Morningside, which lost to Servite in the Division III-A final last season, also returns several key players. Most notable are junior guard Stais Boseman (19 points), The Times South Bay Player of the Year, forward Keenan Jourdan and guard Dwight Curry.

Rounding out area entries are Inglewood, Bishop Montgomery, Peninsula, Hawthorne and St. Bernard.

Two teams from the San Diego area--Morse and El Camino--are entered, and a team from the state of Washington, Battle Ground, will compete.

Teams are divided into four four-team pools. Eight games will be played from 11 a.m. to 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Pool winners will advance to the semifinals at 1:40 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship game at 7 p.m.

Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for students with identification and $1 for children under 12. Proceeds go to the Carson basketball booster club. Information: Carson Coach Richard Masson at (213) 831-9909.