Top basketball teams to play in Edison tournament

Mike Sciacca

School may be out for the Christmas holiday, but there’s plenty of

reasons to return to return the Edison High campus the day after

Christmas.

Edison will host a big holiday tournament, the 2000 Orange County

Championship, beginning Tuesday to Dec. 30 at the Charger gymnasium. No

less than 12 teams, competing in pool play, will vie for the tournament

title. What’s impressive about this year’s field is that eight of the

teams (host Edison, Troy, San Clemente, Huntington Beach, Esperanza,

Foothill, Rosary and Irvine) were ranked last week in the county’s Top 10

poll. One out-of-county team, J.W. North, won a CIF Southern Section

championship last spring by defeating Troy in the Division I-A final.

Laguna Hills won the Division II-A title last spring, while Rosary and

Calvary Chapel finished runner-up in Division III-AA and Division IV-A,

respectively.

Edison and San Clemente both reached the Final Four in Division I-A.

Perennial power Mater Dei also is included in this year’s field.

Pool play begins Tuesday at 3 p.m. and continues through Friday. The

tournament concludes with the Dec. 30 championship game, beginning at

7:30 p.m.

THE SCHEDULE

TUESDAY

3 p.m. -- Foothill vs. Laguna Hills

4:30 p.m. -- Irvine vs. J.W. North

6 p.m. - Calvary Chapel vs. Edison

7:30 p.m. - Huntington Beach vs, Mater Dei

WEDNESDAY

3 p.m. -- Troy vs. Calvary Chapel

4:30 p.m. -- J.W. North vs. Rosary

6 p.m. -- Laguna Hills vs. Esperanza

7:30 p.m. -- San Clemente vs. Mater Dei

DEC. 28

3 p.m. -- Rosary vs. Irvine

4:30 p.m. -- San Clemente vs. Huntington Beach

6 p.m. -- Esperanza vs. Foothill

7:30 p.m. -- Edison vs. Troy

DEC. 29

Pool play continues, noon-7:30 p.m.

DEC. 30

Final games, noon-7:30 p.m.