Two of the very best high school hoops tournaments in California are taking place within a few miles of one another right now.
The Trevor Ariza Tip-Off Classic, hosted by Westchester High (7400 West Manchester), and “The Tournament”, hosted by Santa Monica High (601 Pico), hold their semifinals Friday evening.
At Westchester, the championship semifinals feature the host Comets against Gardena Serra at 7 o’clock followed by L.A. Washington and Torrance Bishop Montgomery at 8:30.
At Santa Monica, the semifinals get underway at 6:30 with Mission Hills Alemany against L.A. Price followed at 8 (or so) by L.A. Loyola and L.A. Fairfax.
The only upset, of sorts, over the first two rounds of both events was Bishop Montgomery’s 50-49 decision over Taft Wednesday night.
I was at Santa Monica Wednesday and Thursday evenings, with Alemany (overwhelming Palisades) and Price (rallying from 16 points down in the third quarter to knock off L.A. Windward) particularly impressive.
Fairfax (over Santa Monica) and Loyola (against Woodland Hills El Camino Real) build big advantages before surviving strong comeback attempts.
Each of the eight teams is capable of winning an L.A. City (Fairfax, Washington and Westchester) or Southern Section (Loyola, Alemany, Price, Bishop Montgomery and Serra) titles in March.
Loyola is my second-ranked Southern California-based team (to Santa Ana Mater Dei) and rolled to the prestigious Pacific Shores Tournament title last week, knocking off No. 4 Long Beach Poly in the final.
The Cubs are led by marvelous sophomore point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright but also have more depth than any team in the Southland.
Games in the 16-team begin Saturday at 9 a.m. (Westchester) and 9:30 (Santa Monica), respectively.
The third-place at Westchester begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday, with the title tilt following at (approximately) 7:30.
Santa Monica’s third-place game is set for a 6:30 tip, with the championship following at about 8:15 or so.
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