Four top-10 Orange County boys water polo teams, led by No. 4-ranked Corona del Mar, highlight the 24-team field at the Santa Barbara Invitational, Thursday through Saturday at local high school pools.
The event is traditionally the first major water polo competition of the boys season.
Corona del Mar is the defending champion and top seed for the tournament. The Sea Kings are followed by perennial CIF-Southern Section powers Mira Costa, Dos Pueblos and Loyola.
The other Orange County ranked teams are Laguna Beach (No. 5), Beckman (6), Mater Dei (7) and San Clemente (9).
The tournament also includes schools from four other CIF Sections: Bellarmine Prep (Central Coast), Carlsbad, Torrey Pines, Grossmont (San Diego), Garces (Central) and Rio Americano (Sac-Joaquin).
CdM plays San Marcos in a non-tournament game on Thursday at Dos Pueblos at 3 p.m., before opening its title defense against the winner of Thursday’s opener between Torrey Pines and Alta Loma on Friday at 11 a.m. at the DP pool.
Third-seeded Dos Pueblos kicks off the tournament at home Friday at 1:10 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s first-round match-up between Westlake and Crean Lutheran.
San Marcos returns to the DP pool for a 7:20 p.m. opener against Grossmont.
Thursday’s winners continue play at DP and Santa Barbara High on Friday and Saturday while first-round losers play at San Marcos.
The championship semifinals are at DP at 8 and 9:10 a.m., and the title game is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. at the same venue.
