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    Fryer: Tournaments provide fundraising and fun for basketball teams
    • December 12, 2024

    The two basketball teams battled for 48 minutes and then went to In-N-Out together.

    It’s tournament time in Orange County basketball, the only time of the season when that sort of thing happens.

    The San Juan Hills Invitational is one of the boys basketball tournaments this week. It is being played at host schools Capistrano Valley Christian and San Juan Hills. After San Juan Hills beat Damalan College Prep of Australia, the teams headed to a nearby In-N-Out for a postgame feast.

    Tournaments are important fundraisers for the host schools. Jon Bahnsen has run many tournaments in his eight seasons as the coach at Capistrano Valley Christian and his 20 years previously at Brethren Christian. He said teams pay a $475 fee to play in the San Juan Invitational. Spectator admission and snack bar revenue create needed income.

    “Tournaments offset our costs when we travel to other tournaments like in Palms Springs or Las Vegas,” Bahnsen said. “I take a lot of pride in running a quality tournament. This year we have a team from the CIF Los Angeles City Section, two from the San Diego Section and two teams from Australia.”

    Getting officials for a tournament is not a problem. Teams that rescind their commitments to a tournament can be.

    “That’s getting worse and worse,” Bahnsen said. “Even after contracts are signed coaches back out of their commitment. At one time we had 16 teams and we were hoping to make a 16-team bracket but then it came down to the 12 teams we have.”

    The Orange Holiday Classic boys basketball tournament will be played for the 59th time this season, making it the longest-running tournament in Orange County. It goes from Dec. 26-30 at Orange High, and this time it has eight boys teams and eight girls teams.

    Another veteran tournament in boys basketball is the Coast Classic, Dec. 26-30 at Estancia High. This will be the 39th season for that one, and this year it has 16 teams broken into two eight-team divisions. It also charges $475 for teams.

    “Thankfully, we have been very lucky at Estancia to be able to hold this great tournament over the years with little to no issues,” Estancia coach Xavier Castellano said via email. “Not only are we able to host some great basketball teams, coaches, players and games in our gym but we are also able to raise funds that will help support our program.”

    And a side trip for a Double-Double might be a bonus. Grilled onions, please.

    NOTES

    • The semifinals of the North Orange County Championships boys basketball tournament at Sonora on Friday: Pacifica Christian vs. Pilibos, 6 p.m.; Canyon vs. Etiwanda, 7:30 p.m. The tournament championship game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Sonora. …

    • Los Alamitos hosts the two-day Los Alamitos Varsity Showcase event Friday and Saturday. Friday’s schedule has St. Pius X-St. Matthias vs. Los Alamitos at 7 p.m. Those are two of the better teams in the CIF Southern Section. …

    • The Maya Enomoto Showcase on Saturday at Esperanza has several outstanding girls basketball matchups including Brentwood vs. Orange County No. 14 Esperanza at 6 p.m. and county No. 1 Mater Dei vs. No. 3 Sage Hill at 7:30 p.m. …

    • The 25th annual Orange County North/South Challenge is Dec. 21 at Tesoro, with the first game at 9 a.m. and the final game at 7:30 p.m. Its final two games are great matchups: San Clemente vs. Los Alamitos, 6 p.m. and San Juan Hills vs. Cypress, 7:30 p.m. …

    • The Tustin Holiday Classic is another long-running boys basketball tournament. It goes from Dec. 26-30 at Tustin High. Teams in it include Edison, Newport Harbor and Tesoro. …

    • El Dorado won the Gary Raya Classic boys basketball tournament last week with a 66-63 win over Yorba Linda in the final. El Dorado’s Caleb Hendrix was named tourney MVP. …

    • Newport Harbor beat Tustin 61-60 in the Euclid Extravaganza boys basketball tournament championship game. Newport Harbor’s Jack Berry was named tournament MVP. Berry also is a standout volleyball player. …

    • Buy parking in advance if you’re going to the CIF State Championships football games at Saddleback College. The $5 fee can be paid here. …

    • Not too many names in the CIF-SS record book pop up as both athlete and coach, but Lance Stewart’s name does. He was the CIF volleyball player of the year in 1981 and coached Corona del Mar’s girls volleyball team to CIF section and state championships in 1992 and ‘93 and coached Laguna Beach’s girls volleyball team to CIF-SS titles in 2006 and ‘07. “Stewey,” also an outstanding football player, passed away a few days ago, age 61. A GoFundMe page was established to help the family with medical costs. …

    • Servite’s soccer team did well against two outstanding opponents this week. The Friars tied Aliso Niguel 0-0 on Monday, defeated Valencia 4-2 on Wednesday. …

    • Fairmont’s hockey teams is 9-1-1 and in first place in Division 1 of the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League. The Huskies’ leading points-getter is Cole Bieksa who has 16 points off of two goals and 14 assists. He is the son of former Duck and Fairmont coach Kevin Bieksa. Orange Lutheran’s Cole Kostanian is the leading scorer among Orange County teams with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points. …

    • The CIF Southern Section will have its own weekly TV show:  “CIF Southern Section This Week.” It premieres Saturday, 7:30 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet. CIF-SS communications coordinator Taylor Martinez will host the program. …

    • Fifteen or 16 football games is too much for high school athletes. Yeah, high school kids want to keep playing but sometimes high school kids don’t make the greatest decisions. If someone told my parents to let 17-year-old me do whatever I want, my parents would have disagreed.

     

    ​ Orange County Register 

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