The holiday break for South Coast area high schools means it’s tournament time for boys and girls basketball teams.
The action starts Monday in Carpinteria with the Jim Bashore Holiday Classic for boys teams. On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara High girls host the Tournament of Champions at J.R. Richards Gym and the Thunderhut at San Marcos.
On Dec. 27, the Santa Barbara High boys host the 12-team, four-day Santa Barbara Holiday Classic.
The Bashore Classic will feature 10 teams playing pool-play games over three days (Dec. 19-21). The local teams entered include host Carpinteria, Santa Ynez, Dos Pueblos and Bishop Diego.
Carpinteria is in Pool A with Grace Brethren and de Toledo, the No. 4-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 5A. Pool B consists of Foothill Tech, Santa Ynez and Thacher. Dos Pueblos, Bishop Diego, Channel Islands and Pasadena Poly make up Pool C.
The games run from noon to 6 p.m., all three days.
One of the marquee games is Bishop Diego against Dos Pueblos on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
In Monday’s openers, Dos Pueblos meets Pasadena Poly at 1:30 p.m. Santa Ynez plays Thacher at 3 p.m., Bishop Diego meets Channel Islands at 4:30 and Carpinteria takes on Foothill Tech at 6 p.m.
Sixteen teams divided into two eight-team divisions make up the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. The tournament runs Tuesday through Thursday.
The host Dons, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos are all playing in the TOC’s Green Division. They’re joined by San Marcos of the San Diego Section, Camarillo, Oaks Christian, San Luis Obispo and San Diego-Del Norte.
Santa Barbara opens against Del Norte, last season’s CIF-San Diego Section Division 1 champion, at 7 p.m. at home.
At the Thunderhut, Dos Pueblos plays Camarillo at 2:30 p.m., and San Marcos faces San Diego-San Marcos at 7 pm.
The Gold Division is topped by perennial power Bishop Montgomery of Torrance. The Knights (9-4) kick off the tournament against Oxnard-Pacifica at 4 p.m. at J.R. Richards Gym.
Undefeated Orcutt Academy (9-0) is the second seed and takes on Redondo Union at 5:30 p.m. at the Thunderhut.
Westlake plays Hart at Santa Barbara at 2:30 p.m., and Oxnard takes on Granada Hills of the L.A.City Section at 4 at San Marcos.
The boys’ Santa Barbara Holiday Classic (Dec. 27-40) will feature 12 teams divided into three four-team pools.
Santa Barbara is in a pool with Hanford-Sierra Pacific and Southern Section teams Holy Martyrs and Valley View.
The B Pool has Alemany, Peninsula, Moorpark and Pilibos. Stockade, Dos Pueblos San Marino and Righetti make up Pool C.
In tournament openers on Dec. 27, Dos Pueblos plays Rigjhetti at 4:30 p.m., and Santa Barbara takes on Holy Martyrs at 6 p.m.
The other opening games include Moorpark vs. Alemany at 12 p.m.; Peninsula-Pilibos at 1:30 p.m.; Valley View-Sierra Pacific at 3 p.m. and Stockdale-San Marino at 7:30.