It's kind of nice when local teams decide to stay local over the holiday season, and that's exactly what 16 of Orange County's best teams will be doing starting next Monday.  When others will be heading off to Las Vegas for the Powerade Holiday Prep Classic, or down to other out-of-town venues, you can head down (or up as the case may be) the 5 Freeway and watch some of the best high school hoops in one of the best small arenas around.  Not all the games are at the Convention Center, and some of the consolation bracket games will actually be played at Katella HS or at La Palma Kennedy HS, but most games will be at the arena venue.  A friend in the newspaper business who covers Orange County sent us the bracket, and while we've had it now for over a week and a half, better late than never we say. 

The following teams round out this year’s field (click the links for preview information from the Orange County Register):

And while there are a few prominent OC teams missing from that list, certainly many of these teams are among the top half of teams in this year's crop of Orange County talent.  For those who are graphically challenged and don't want to bother looking at brackets, here are the first round matchups which will take place on Tuesday, December 17 and Wednesday,  December  18:

Tuesday, December 17, 2002
(All Games at the Convention Center)
3:00 p.m.     El Toro vs. Magnolia
4:40 p.m.    Newport vs. Orange Lutheran
6:20 p.m.    Los Alamitos vs. Katella
8:00 p.m.     San Clemente vs. Villa Park

Wednesday, December 18, 2002
(All Games at the Convention Center)
3:00 p.m.     Capistrano Valley vs. Kennedy
4:40 p.m.    Esperanza vs. Foothill
6:20 pm.     Cypress vs. Servite
8:00 p.m.     Aliso Niguel vs. Mission Viejo

Each team will then either advance to the left (consolation) or right (championship) side of the bracket.  Here's the code:  Games will be played at the Convention Center (CC), Katella HS (A), or at Kennedy HS (B).   Here's what the bracket looks like:

See you there.