Beware of the small schools in the Santa Barbara Holiday Classic boys basketball tournament.
The four-day, 16-team tournament, which tips off on Wednesday (Dec. 26) at Santa Barbara’s J.R. Richards Gym, features two outstanding small-school programs in the CIF Southern Section: Buckley and Flintridge Prep. They are ranked No. 2 and 3, respectively, in Division 5-AA.
Buckley (7-2) returns almost its entire team from last season’s 5-AA finalist squad, including standout Tyler Coppin-Carter. The 6-3 forward is averaging 22.4 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 3.6 assists.
Flintridge Prep (4-3), winner of the 5-AA title in 2011, has a talented junior in 6-2 Robert Cartwright. He scored 33 points in a recent win over previously undefeated LaSalle.
The tourney field also includes host Santa Barbara (7-2), Bishop Diego (5-4), Carpinteria (4-4), Santa Maria (9-2), Calvary Chapel Santa Ana (5-4), St. Monica (4-4), Hueneme (2-5), South Pasadena (4-7), Apple Valley (6-3), St. Bonaventure (5-3), Camarillo (8-3), Nordhoff (5-3) and Troy (11-3).
First-round action in the bracketed tournament tips off a 9 a.m. and runs through 7:30 p.m. Santa Barbara caps the day against Calvary Chapel at 7:30. Earlier, Carpinteria plays Santa Maria at 1:30 p.m. and Bishop Diego takes on Troy at 6 p.m.
The other first-round match-ups are Camarillo-Nordhoff at 9 a.m.; St. Monica-Hueneme at 10:30 a.m.; Flintridge-St. Bonaventure at noon; South Pasadena-Canoga Park at 3 p.m.; Buckley-Apple Valley at 4:30.
The semifinals are on Friday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and the championship is Saturday, Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Bishop Diego and star guard Caleb Richey face a tough first-round game against Troy, the No. 8 team in Division 1-A. Richey is averaging nearly 25 points a game for the Cardinals, ranked 10th in 5-AA. He’ll be up against a Troy team led by guard Ben Stiver (16.2 ppg, 8 rebounds) and 6-3 center Johnny Bayeh (15.1 ppg, 7 rpg).
Marcus Hutchinson is the scoring leader for Carpinteria. The Warriors face a quick Santa Maria team, led by guard tandem of Devon Brook and JT Simkins (15.4 ppg).
Other players to watch include Emilio Gonzalez, Jeff Paschke and Jack Baker of Santa Barbara; 6-7 Darren Wong and point guard David Hughey of South Pasadena; 6-7 Al Galymzhanov and guard Andre Almond of Canoga Park; Chase Holiday of Buckley; JT Roach of Apple Valley (19 ppg); Patrick Kenney of St. Bonaventure (16 ppg); Kareem Ismail of Flintridge Prep and Gio Robinson of Nordhoff (21 ppg).
