‘Tis Season to Be Jolly for Tournament Teams

‘Tis the season for high school basketball tournaments. Lots of them.

“The most important thing about tournaments is to be competitive and gain experience,” Coach Jeff Young of Chaminade High said. “But you don’t want to get blown out in a tournament. For me, it’s a time to get some inexperienced guys some minutes.”

The 16th Chaminade tournament begins Saturday with its first 16-team field. First-time entries include Canyon, Crespi, Quartz Hill, Kennedy and San Francisco Riordan, a Division III state playoff team last season.

It also will provide a showcase for All-City guard Gilbert Arenas of Grant, who is bound for Arizona. Grant opens against Lancaster at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The 28th Hart boys’ tournament begins Saturday with a 16-team field that includes first-time entries from Sacramento, Fresno and Washington. Sylmar and Cleveland, respectively ranked No. 5 and No. 8 in The Times’ regional poll, are among several area teams.

The Hart tournament traditionally begins each year at 9 a.m. on Dec. 26. This year is no exception, with Murphy and Lynwood drawing the wake-up call.

“I think the one word that describes this tournament is ‘tradition,’ ” Hart Coach David Montgomery said.

So does competition. Redmond of Washington finished third in its division last season and Sacramento Highlands is a perennial power.

Fresno Sanger, co-coached by former Master’s College players Tom Bruner and Larry Lopez, makes its first appearance in the Hart tournament.

“The competition will be very good this year,” Montgomery said. “No one is going to come 2,000 miles unless they have some players.”

Several teams from the region will hit the road this weekend.

On Saturday, Simi Valley’s boys enter the Nike Holiday Classic in San Diego, Burroughs and Crescenta Valley compete in the St. Louis, Hawaii, tournament and Thousand Oaks and Westlake enter the Santa Barbara tournament.

The Best of West tournament at Artesia High, which begins Saturday, includes Antelope Valley, Burbank and Harvard-Westlake.

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Trivia time: Which team from the region has won the most Hart tournament titles?

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Littlerock’s Tony Mayes missed a recent game against Burroughs, but the All-Golden League center had an original excuse, first-year Coach Ben Dale said.

“He was playing the part of Isaiah in his church play,” Dale said. “How can you get mad at that?”

Mayes, a 6-foot-7 senior, is among the Golden League’s top post players, but at times frustrates his coach by straying out to the perimeter.

“Occasionally, he forgets and starts to think he’s a guard,” Dale said.

Isiah Thomas, perhaps?

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Bell-Jeff, trying to rebuild after the graduation of Ruben Douglas, has two underclassmen playing well.

Mike Yildez, a junior transfer from Grant, has scored 34, 35 and 35 points in his last three games.

Casey Markovic, a 6-3 sophomore, has emerged as a player with a bright future, Coach Eli Essa said. Markovic is averaging better than 15 points.

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Trivia answer: Simi Valley with five, including the last two years. The Pioneers also placed first in 1986, ’87 and ’94.

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Van Nuys will honor the memory of sportswriter Pete Kokon during its holiday basketball tournament Jan. 4-6. A memorial will be set up in the gym with a plaque and empty chair. A moment of silence will be observed before each of Van Nuys’ three games.

Kokon graduated from Van Nuys in 1932 and was a sportswriter for more than 60 years until his death this year.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick and Eric Sondheimer and correspondent Dave Desmond contributed to this notebook.