High School Tournaments Dot Holidays

The holiday season might as well be renamed the tournament season for Southland high school athletes.

Dozens of events will be staged during the next two weeks in boys’ and girls’ basketball, girls’ and boys’ soccer, girls’ water polo and wrestling.

Teams from several area schools will venture outside the state to compete, but the majority will be home for the holidays.

The following is a look at some of the showcase events that are worth a vacation-day outing for students, parents and fans of high school sports:

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions

Monday-Saturday, Santa Barbara (various sites): Mythical national titles, such as the one Harbor City Narbonne won last season when it finished atop USA Today’s poll, used to be decided in part by how teams fared in the elite division of this tournament.

But this year, most of the nationally-ranked teams, including Narbonne, are traveling to Chicago for an event the same week.

The Santa Barbara tournament remains one of the best in the state, however, with Ventura Buena, Lynwood and Fullerton Troy among the Southland teams participating.

Ayala Tournament

Dec. 26-30, Chino Hills Ayala High: This tournament annually provides a sneak peek at many of the teams that will be playing in Southern Section finals in March.

Host Ayala is strong as usual. With defending champion Narbonne traveling to North Carolina, Lynwood will be the team to beat.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Rim Rattler Holiday Hoops Invitational

Monday-Friday, Long Beach State and Long Beach Poly: With the Best in the West tournament no longer in existence, this event should be more than enough to satiate hoop-aholics.

Ten teams from Southern California and 10 from across the country will participate.

Stanford-bound Josh Childress of Lakewood Mayfair is one of the marquee players in a tournament that also includes Inglewood, Long Beach Poly, Pasadena, Rialto Eisenhower and Compton Centennial.

Durham (N.C.) Mt. Zion, New York Rice, Miami Senior and Boston English are among the out-of-state entrants.

Pacific Open

Tuesday-Friday, Washington High: Los Angeles Jordan will try to defend its title in this eight-team tournament that also includes Washington, Manual Arts, Jefferson, Hollywood, Lincoln and magnet schools USC-MAST and Foshay.

The marquee player in the tournament is UCLA-bound Andre Patterson of Washington.

Torrey Pines National Prep Classic

Dec. 26-30, San Diego (four sites): Craig Smith and Evan Burns lead Fairfax and Kenton Paulino and Mark Bradford lead Fremont in a tournament that also includes defending Division I state champion Concord De La Salle, Riverside J.W. North, Los Alamitos, Eisenhower, Sylmar, Long Beach Jordan and more than 50 other schools that will be competing in several divisions.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Claremont Holiday Classic

Saturday, Dec. 23 and 30, Cal Poly Pomona: As this event celebrates its 10th year, a tournament that once featured more than 40 teams has been scaled back to 26.

Defending champion Etiwanda, the No. 2-ranked team in Division I, runner-up Arcadia, Huntington Beach Marina, Alta Loma, Diamond Bar, Upland, Glendora St. Lucy’s and host Claremont are among the participants.

Excalibur Tournament

Dec. 27-29, Santa Ana Foothill: The premier girls’ soccer tournament in the Southland is a 32-team, three-day event that annually features many of the top teams in the Southern Section.

Defending Division I champion Capistrano Valley is also the defending champion in the tournament.

BOYS’ SOCCER

Mustang Cup

Dec. 27-29, Trabuco Hills High: Irvine Woodbridge, led by national development players Roy Chingarian, Eric Ebert and Pieter Berger, is the team to beat in a tournament that also features Santa Margarita.

Marina Tournament

Dec. 27-29, Huntington Beach Marina: Long Beach Millikan, the top-ranked team in Southern Section Division I, is the favorite in this tournament that also includes Santa Ana Mater Dei, top-ranked in Division II; Huntington Beach; Fountain Valley; and Anaheim Esperanza, among others.

GIRLS’ WATER POLO

Redlands Winter Classic

Today-Saturday, Redlands, Redlands East Valley and University of Redlands: Defending Division V champion Redlands and runner-up J.W. North are among the participants in a tournament that has grown this year from 12 to 16 teams.

Most of the teams are from Riverside and San Bernardino counties, but Claremont, Santa Ynez, Glendale, Thousand Oaks and Chino Hills Ayala also are participating. The championship will be played Saturday at the University of Redlands at 1:50 p.m.

WRESTLING

West Coast Classic

Friday and Saturday, Rosemead High: This event, in its 16th year, has grown so popular that organizers have turned away more than 20 potential entrants.

Teams from as far as Colorado will compete with a Southland contingent led by defending champion North Torrance, Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe and Alhambra. Finals start Saturday at 3 p.m.