Get ready for a frenzy of basketball tournaments the day after Christmas
After opening Christmas gifts, high school basketball players will be focused on busy days ahead, with the day after Christmas filled with tournaments galore, followed by the start of league play in the new year.
The largest boys' tournament is the 128-team Classic at Damien, where No. 2-ranked St. John Bosco and No. 4 Eastvale Roosevelt are favored to get through the Platinum bracket and reach Friday's final at Damien High. There are eight divisions and action begins Wednesday.
🏀2023 Classic Brackets🏀
8 Divisions, 128 teams will battle in the Nations Top HS Basketball Tournament December 26-30, 2023🏀🏆 Brackets are now LIVE🔥
Visit https://t.co/cfjV9wIj7S for more information! pic.twitter.com/uY4pflGgUi— The Classic at Damien (@ClassicAtDamien) December 1, 2023
There are also tournaments at St. Francis, Santa Barbara, Covina, South Pasadena, Torrey Pines and Ventura.
No. 2 Harvard-Westlake is headed to Oregon for the Les Schwab Invitational.
A one-day event to look forward to in the new year is the Coastal Catholic Challenge on Jan. 6 at Crypto.com Arena. The big game has a Trinity League matchup of St. John Bosco playing Mater Dei at 6 p.m. There are six games on the schedule, starting with the noon girls' matchup of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame vs. Louisville.
Updated. @latsondheimer @FrankieBur @franfraschilla @breezepreps @Ballislife @usatodaysports @DraftExpress @DaveKeefer @presstelegram @ebosshoops @ESPNNext @SLAM_HS @ocvarsity @pressenterprise pic.twitter.com/Q4RDNVYyPC
— DeAnthony Langston (@realrun) December 23, 2023
There's also a two-day event Jan. 5-6 at Lynwood High highlighted by the matchup on Jan. 6 of two outstanding sophomores, Lynwood's Jason Crowe Jr. and Chatsworth's Alijah Arenas at 6 p.m.
The largest girls' basketball tournament, the West Coast Jamboree, happens this weekend in the Bay Area. Sierra Canyon, Sage Hill and Rosary are in the Platinum division. The tournament is Thursday through Saturday.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.