Holiday Cheers : Tournaments Fill Niche for Prep Teams Looking to Fill Their Stocking

Winter vacation for most high schools begins Friday, but there will be plenty of competition on the playing fields as well as at the department store checkout stands during the holidays.

The following is a guide to some of the best events in boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, wrestling and girls’ water polo.

Some might require a long drive, some even a possible overnight stay. The opportunity to witness outstanding performances by local, regional and nationally recognized teams and individuals justifies the travel.

Call it a stocking stuffer for the high school sports junkie.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

* REEBOK HOLIDAY CLASSIC

* Saturday-Wednesday, Las Vegas

Christmas comes early for basketball junkies. This 54-team event has become the high school tournament of the year. Defending state champion Westchester played poorly in last year’s tournament and lost twice. That’s an indicator of the strength of the competition. Westchester, Compton Dominguez and Santa Ana Mater Dei are among the 15 teams from Southern California that are participating this year. Mt. Zion Academy of Durham, N.C., is the two-time defending champion and Oak Hill Academy of Virginia is also in the field. Well worth the four-hour drive or one-hour flight.

* NIKE HOLIDAY CLASSIC

* Dec. 26-31, San Diego

This tournament is so large--60 teams--it’s played at five sites. The championship game will be played New Year’s Eve at Cox Arena at San Diego State.

City Section powers Crenshaw, Manual Arts and Fairfax join Southern Section teams such as Glendora, Huntington Beach Ocean View and Santa Monica Crossroads to form a powerful Southern California contingent in a tournament that features teams from across the country and four from Australia.

* BEST IN THE WEST

* Dec. 26-30 at Long Beach State and Lakewood High

This 32-team tournament lacks the national presence of the others, but it might be the most competitive from top to bottom and features one thing the others do not--Lakewood Artesia, the top-ranked team in California and host of the tournament. You don’t have to catch a plane or run up the credit card to see Dominguez, Compton, Long Beach Poly and Division IV state champion Verbum Dei, among others. Natural rivalries make this one of the most intensely played tournaments in the state. And because Artesia competes in Division I at the state level, and Dominguez stays at Division II rather than moving up, the tournament offers perhaps the only chance to see the two teams play each other.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

* SANTA BARBARA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

* Friday-Wednesday, Santa Barbara

Regarded by many as the premier girls’ basketball tournament in the nation. It started 20 years ago as an eight-team tournament and has mushroomed into 64-team event featuring teams from 15 states, Mexico and Canada. Harbor City Narbonne, Brea Olinda, Palos Verdes Peninsula and Ventura Buena will take part in the 16-team National Invitational Division, which also features two-time defending champion Christ the King of New York City and Butler of Huntsville, Ala. Thirteen of the teams in the division were ranked in national preseason polls. The tournament also includes a 32-team Gold Division that features other top California programs such as Chino Hills Ayala. The 16-team Green Division is for small schools.

BOYS’ SOCCCER

* ROYAL HOLIDAY CLASSIC

* Saturday-Tuesday, Simi Valley

This 31-team tournament features defending Southern Section Division II champion San Marcos and Division III champion Santa Margarita, which are two of the nine league champions and 18 playoff teams participating. Alta Loma won the tournament last year and is regarded as a contender to repeat. The bracket includes teams from Ventura and Orange counties, the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys and the Inland Empire. Games are played at Royal High and Santa Susana Park in Simi Valley.

* MARINA TOURNAMENT

* Dec. 28-30, Huntington Beach

The 12th annual tournament is a mecca for college coaches scouting talent. Loyola won last year’s tournament and went on to win the Southern Section Division I championship. This year, 32 teams from across the Southland will take part. Powerful Fountain Valley, Palos Verdes Peninsula and Esperanza are among the contenders for the title. All games are played at Huntington Beach Marina High.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

* CLAREMONT INVITATIONAL HOLIDAY CLASSIC

* Saturday-Tuesday, Cal Poly Pomona

There are several outstanding girls’ soccer tournaments in the Southland, this is one of them. Twenty of the 27 teams in this year’s event were in the playoffs last season. The tournament features teams ranging from Palos Verdes Peninsula to Cathedral City and eight players that were first-team All-Southern Section in their divisions last year.

WRESTLING

* WEST COAST CLASSIC

* Friday-Saturday, Rosemead High

The Five Counties tournament at Fountain Valley in mid-January is regarded as the top regular-season event in the Southland, but this 32-team tournament is one of the best and most unique because it employs a double-elimination format much like the state championships. That means nearly 1,000 matches will be contested on six mats in the Rosemead gym in two days. “We want to make it as close as state-tournament conditions as we can,” Rosemead Coach Louie Madrigal said. “A lot of kids are going to emerge from this tournament that are going to do some big things in the regular season and the section and state finals.” Eastlake High from the San Diego Section, Moreno Valley Rancho Verde and El Monte are some of the strong teams in the tournament.

GIRLS’ WATER POLO

* REDLANDS TOURNAMENT

* Today-Saturday, Redlands University

This is the third year that girls’ water polo has been a Southern Section sport. Last year was the first that championships were awarded. The Redlands tournament has been there from the start. Santa Monica, Glendale and many of the top teams from Riverside and San Bernardino counties will take part in this year’s 12-team tournament.