nike extravaganza vii announcment

Nike Extravaganza VII Set For 2/2/02,
Will Have Several Top Teams--(Nov. 19, 2001)


Nike Extravaganza VII, Feb. 2, 2002 LB State Pyramid	What:	Nike Extravaganza VII
	When:	Saturday, February 2, 2002
	Where:	Long Beach State Pyramid
		Afternoon Session: Westminster v. Glendora Costa Mesa v. Servite Brea v. Valley Center St. John Bosco v. Ocean View Evening Session Corona Centennial v. Sonora Santa Margarita v. Green Valley Villa Park v. Crenshaw LB Poly v. Vashon (St. Louis) Mater Dei v. Oak Hill (Va)

We received an announcement from our friend Steve Kaspar (who is responsible for media stuff with the Nike Extravaganza, and always does a great job) about this season's upcoming "Nike Extravaganza VII" (which of course means that it's the 7th Annual Extravaganza), so we wanted to pass the word along now that the CIF basketball season is officially underway today.

The schedule for the event is below. The Extravaganza will take place this season on February 2, 2002, i.e., one week before the playoff pairings are announced....The last regular season games, under CIF rules, must be concluded by Friday, February 8, 2002, so for most of these teams, the Nike Extravaganza is a great way to see who's ready, and who's not among the "big" schools. It's also a great way to see some of the top prospects from SoCal and a few more who will reach national prominence from Oak Hill, a perennial contender for the mythical "national championship." In case you missed it, Oak Hill is currently ranked in the National Prep Poll as the No. 2 team in the country (behind No. 1 Westchester), so there are all kinds of possibilities as the guys from Mouth of Wilson, VA will play the Mater Dei Monarchs (ranked at No. 11 in the nation in the same poll).

There will be some great local matchups this time around too, including especially the evening games between traditionally strong programs like Villa Park taking on City Section power Crenshaw, Santa Margarita's three D-I signees taking on Green Valley, an always deep Long Beach Poly (ranked No. 6 in the West) taking on St. Louis Vashon (ranked No. 5 in country in the preseason National Prep Poll), and Corona Centennial v. Sonora. Here's the complete schedule:

Afternoon Session
8:30 a.m.	Westminster	vs.	Glendora
10:00 a.m.	Costa Mesa	vs.	Servite
11:30 a.m.	Brea	vs.	Valley Center
1:00 p.m.	St. John Bosco	vs.	Ocean View


Evening Session

3:00 p.m.	Corona Centenial	vs.	Sonora
4:30 p.m.	Santa Margarita	vs.	Green Valley
6:00 p.m.	Villa Park	vs.	Crenshaw
7:30 p.m.	Long Beach Poly	vs.	Vashon (St. Louis)
9:00 p.m.	Mater Dei	vs.	Oak Hill Academy

We don't know how much tickets will be, but if it's like last year, they'll be very affordable, with special discounts for seniors and students. The Pyramid, as most know, is a great venue for an event like this, and it's pretty centrally located, convenient for LA teams and OC teams as well. The only thing missing from this event is LA Westchester (also a Nike-sponsored team), but evidently with all the traveling they'll be doing, and the CIF limit of 20 games (of course that doesn't include tournaments, so we're expecting Westchester to play something like 30+ games by the time their season is over), they don't have an open slot to play in this thing....But this will be a great event even without the Comets, featuring some of the top teams in the country.

We'll have team previews and profiles of some of the top players as the event approaches. In the meantime, mark it on your calendars because you won't want to miss it.