The Orange County North/South Challenge again will have many of the county’s top teams in it when the two-day showcase is played at El Toro on Monday and Tuesday of next week.
Among the matchups for the 16th edition of the event: Mission Viejo vs. Los Alamitos on Monday at 6 p.m.; Saddleback Valley Christian vs. Edison on Monday at 7:30 p.m.; San Clemente vs. Corona del Mar on Tuesday at 6 p.m.; and Woodbridge vs. Foothill on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Admission per day is $7 for adults, $5 for ages 5-18, and is free for children 4 and younger.
Godinez’s Brandon Smith, who signed with UC Irvine, and his Grizzlies teammates play Irvine on Monday at 1:30 p.m. San Clemente football’s outstanding quarterback Sam Darnold also is an excellent basketball player and will play for the Tritons against Corona del Mar, which also has a standout football player on the basketball team, Bo St. Geme who was one of the county’s better receivers.
Jump stops around county basketball:
• CASportsZone.com will carry live audio coverage of 10 of the 12 North/South Challenge games.
• The first CIF-Southern Section rankings were released Monday. The only county team No. 1 in its division is Mater Dei, which is on top in Division 1AA. Three county teams were No. 2 in their divisions: Foothill, in Division 1A; Sonora, 3AA; and Orangewood Academy, Division 6.
• County teams occupy places 2-5 in the 1A rankings: No. 2 Foothill; No. 3 El Toro; No. 4 Valencia; and No. 5 Edison.
• Five media members vote on the county top 10. A team gets 10 points if it is No. 1 on a panelist’s ballot, nine points of it is No. 2 and so on down to one point for being No. 10 on a ballot.
• Mater Dei’s average margin of victory in the Beach Bash tournament at Corona del Mar was 41 points. Mater Dei won the tournament with a 73-44 win over Tustin. MJ Cage led Mater Dei with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Tustin, which was led by T.J. Shorts’ 17 points.
• Cage and Rex Pflueger were Beach Bash co-MVPs.
• Shorts, a senior point guard listed as 5-foot-9, made 5 of 8 shots against Mater Dei. The rest of the Tillers combined to shoot 9 for 39 from the floor.
• Saddleback Valley Christian won the Spartan Tournament at Orangewood Academy. Irsaad Hunte was tournament MVP.
• Mater Dei is the only county team in the calhisports.com California top 20. The Monarchs are No. 4. County teams in the “on the bubble” category are Foothill, Orange Lutheran and Sonora.
• The 20-team North Orange County Championships began Monday. It is being played at Brea Olinda, Canyon, Servite and at host school Sonora. The tournament championship game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Sonora.
• Among the North Orange County tournament teams are Canyon, Capistrano Valley, Edison, JSerra, Orangewood Academy, Servite and Sonora.
• The Irvine World News/Gary Raya Classic began Monday. The 16-team tournament, played at Beckman, El Dorado, Irvine, Tustin, University and Woodbridge, includes El Toro, Godinez, San Clemente, Tustin and Valencia. The championship game is at Tustin on Saturday at 6 p.m.
• The Charlie Wilkins Memorial Classic began Monday at Westminster High. Among the teams in it are Corona del Mar, Los Alamitos and Price of Los Angeles which is No. 1 in the CIF-SS Division 6 rankings. The championship game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
• The Douglas Uselton Memorial Tournament began Monday at Oxford Academy. Aliso Niguel, Cypress, Laguna Beach and Yorba Linda are in the 10-team field. The championship game is Saturday at 7 p.m.
• The Orange Holiday Classic, Dec. 26-30, again will be played at Hope University in Fullerton. The tournament for years was played at Chapman University. Chapman’s men’s basketball team is using the Chapman gym that week.
• Laguna Beach’s leading scorer through seven games is freshman Blake Burzell. Burzell, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward, is averaging 19 points a game.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
