L.A. Watts Summer Games Draw Area Teams in 11 Events

Having licked its wounds from its loss to Harvard High in the Southern Section 3-A Division boys’ volleyball championship last month, Royal will begin preparation for next year’s playoffs in the L.A. Watts Summer Games, which begin competition in 11 sports starting Saturday. Area teams will compete in every sport.

Royal, the 1989 and ’90 2-A champion, lost to Harvard, 15-17, 15-7, 1-15, 15-6, 7-15, in the finals of the 3-A championship, and it took time for the Highlanders and Coach Bob Ferguson to get over it.

“A lot of teams would have been satisfied just to get there,” Ferguson said. “But after winning the 2-A title the previous two years, our goal was to win it. So we were disappointed when we lost. I was up until 3 o’clock in the morning for several nights after that.”

With the Watts Games limited to returning high school athletes, outside hitter Brett Osterhoudt and setter Travis Ferguson (the coach’s son) will be the Highlanders’ only returning starters from the team that played in the finals, although outside hitter Steve Hambly was a starter for most of last season before he suffered an ankle injury.

“We lost some talented players,” Ferguson said. “But we’ve got some good ones coming back. This team could be every bit as good as last season’s. The players are really looking forward to next year and this tournament is the start.”

The boys’ volleyball tournament will be held all day Sunday at North Torrance High, with the girls’ tournament taking place at the same site Saturday.

The boys’ basketball tournament, with 128 teams entered, will open play at eight locations Saturday.

Long Beach Jordan, the Southern Section Division I-AA champion, and Fremont, the City Section 3-A Division champion, are among the leading entries.

Cleveland, Notre Dame, Taft and Granada Hills are the leading area entries.

Canyon, Antelope Valley, Crespi, Hart, and Granada Hills are the leading teams from the region entered in the seven-on-seven football tournament.

Thousand Oaks and Ventura are the leading local entrants in girls’ basketball. Local entries in the 64-team boys’ soccer tournament include Chatsworth, the defending City Section champion, and Simi Valley. Chatsworth heads area entries in the 32-team baseball tournament, and Thousand Oaks tops the list in the 16-team softball tournament.