It’s a week of tournament madness in town

The holiday rush is on.

And we?re not referring to shopping trips to the malls.

We?re talking about a flurry of sports activity at local high schools.

This week is the busiest of the year for high school sports in town. In basketball, there are three tournaments being held and Channel League play tips off for the boys teams. Dos Pueblos hosts Santa Barbara on Wednesday while San Marcos is at Buena.

San Marcos is hosting a 12-team girls soccer tournament on Friday and Saturday.

And, if that?s not enough, there?s an early Channel League girls water polo matchup Thursday between Santa Barbara and San Marcos, both of which are ranked in the CIF Division 1 top 10. The match is at Santa Barbara at 3:15 p.m.

The San Marcos boys basketball team will be the busiest team of the week. The Royals are in action every day but Thursday. They play pool play games at Carpinteria?s Jim Bashore Classic ? where they are defending champions ? on Monday and Tuesday, travel to Buena on Wednesday for their Channel League opener and finish up the Bashore Classic on Friday and Saturday.

The Bashore Classic tips off the hectic week of hardcourt action. Besides San Marcos, the eight-team tournament features host Carpinteria, Bishop Diego and Laguna Blanca. They?ll be joined by Rio Mesa, Channel Islands, Hueneme and Nordhoff. Pool play is Monday, Tuesday and Friday and the placement games are Saturday, with the final at 4:30 p.m.

The Dos Pueblos girls are hosting the inaugural Santa Barbara County Challenge on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Five teams will play a round-robin format. Dos Pueblos, Lompoc, Westlake, St. Bonaventure and Oxnard make up the tourney field. Week-day doubleheaders are at 4 p.m. and 5:30 and the Saturday games are at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Santa Barbara High?s annual Tournament of Champions features 16 elite teams in the CIF-Southern Section in its Gold Division and six teams in the Green Division. Games will be played at Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Carpinteria.

San Marcos will use Warkentin Stadium and its lower field, and Santa Barbara?s Peabody Stadium for the San Marcos Winter Classic soccer tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The tournament field includes San Marcos, Santa Barbara, Dos Pueblos, Carpinteria, Capistrano Valley, Rio Mesa, Whittier Christian and Saugus. San Marcos has B and C teams entered and Santa Barbara and Rio Mesa have B teams.

The first-place match for A teams is at 5:30 p.m., at Warkentin Stadium, preceded by a third-place match at 4 p.m. The lower level teams that accumulate the most points in round-robin play (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw) will vie for top honors at Santa Barbara High at 3:30 p.m., on Saturday.