war on the floor tournament

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SoCalHoops Tournament News

1st Annual Winter "War On The Floor"
Starts Today At Chatsworth HS--(Dec. 12, 2000)

	What	1st Annual "War On The Floor" Tournament
	Where:	Chatsworth High School
	When	December 13-16, 2000
	Who	8 Top Local teams

Each summer for the last few years, Sylmar Coach Bort Escoto and former Chatsworth boys' head coach Fluke Fluker (now the AD at Chatsworth) have held their summer "War on the Floor" tournament, and it's been a great time to watch some of the best high school teams in the region, including teams from as far away as the Central Section's Fresno and Bakersfield teams, and several from San Diego over years past. Given the success of the summer version of the tournament (held in June), coach Escoto decided it would be a good thing to establish a winter version as well. But as Vincent Bonsignore points out in today's Daily News, "The first War on the Floor boys' basketball tournament is just as distinctive for who isn't playing as it is for who is. . . . The tournament, which starts today at 3 p.m. at Chatsworth High and concludes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., is the idea of Sylmar coach Bort Escoto, who wanted a San Fernando Valley-based tournament for fans to enjoy. Unfortunately, the highly regarded Spartans can't be a part of it because of scheduling problems."

So who is going to play? Simi is still in the tournament, but according to Bonsignore's article, LA Washington, which lost in the finals of the Beverly Hills Tournament on Saturday to Palisades, has dropped out, and has been replaced by Garfield. Host Chatsworth is, of course still in, as is Dorsey, El Camino Real, Fresno Edison, Canoga Park and Reseda. While not the deepest tournament we've witnessed, it does have some talented players who will make things interesting, including Dorsey's Donald Wilson, Simi's Dustin Villapigue, Chatsworth's Shayne Berry and Brandon Robinson, and Reseda's Nashid Beard. Notice something interesting about four of those names? Hint: It has something to do with a fish. . . .

Here's the schedule (which is admittedly incomplete):

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2000

3:00 p.m    Dorsey v. Chatsworth
4:30 p.m    Garfield v. El Camino Real
6:00 p.m    Fresno Edison v. Canoga Park
7:30 p.m.    Simi Valley v. Reseda

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000

3:00 p.m.    El Camino Real v. Edison
4:30 p.m.    Canoga Park v. Garfield
6:00 p.m.    Reseda v. Dorsey
7:30 p.m.     Chatsworth v. Simi Valley

Friday, Dec. 15, 2000

3:00 p.m.    Canoga Park v. El Camino Real
4:30 p.m     Chatsworth v. Reseda
6:00 p.m    ? v. ?
7:30 p.m    ? v. ?

Coach Escoto faxed us a schedule for this tournament a long time ago, and we've been sort of derelict in not posting it sooner, and have since actually misplaced his fax. . . so we're forced to rely on the schedules printed on Tuesday in the Daily News. . . . And for those interested, you can also read Bonsignore's complete column about the tournament at this link.

Should be a good tournament. Maybe we'll see you there.