Orange County Prep Basketball Tournaments : Mission Viejo and Host Santa Ana Favorites in Elks Tournament

Santa Ana and Mission Viejo high schools are the favorites in the Santa Ana Elks basketball tournament beginning Dec. 8 in the Saints’ gymnasium.

Host Santa Ana, the defending Century League champion, has four returning starters. Center Bobby Joyce and guard Scootie Lynwood are among Orange County’s best players.

Mission Viejo, which had 21 victories last season, returns forward Jeff Herdman, center Rich Brown and guard Todd Matthews. Other leading players scheduled to compete include Nam Cao and Joe Small of Bolsa Grande, Gylan Dottin of Saddleback and Gary Hunter of Buena Park.

The championship game is scheduled for Dec. 12. The first-round pairings:

Monday: 6:15 p.m.--Hollywood vs. Buena Park; 8--Trabuco Hills vs. Santa Ana.

Tuesday: 6:15 p.m.--Bolsa Grande vs. Saddleback; 8--Westminster vs. Mission Viejo.

Marina High School, with three returning starters, is the top-seeded team in the fifth Irvine World News basketball tournament scheduled to begin Dec. 15.

The 30-team tournament is Orange County’s largest with games scheduled at University, Irvine, Woodbridge and UC Irvine.

Other top teams include Woodbridge (seeded second), Santa Ana (third), El Toro (fourth), Foothill (fifth), Irvine (sixth), San Ramon (seventh) and Corona del Mar (eighth). Defending champion John W. North of Riverside is not entered.

The championship game is scheduled for 7:30 on Dec. 20 at Irvine High. The first-round pairings:

At Irvine: 3 p.m.--Los Amigos vs. Paramount; 4:30--Edison vs. Santa Ana JV; 6--Santa Ana vs. Laguna Hills; 7:30--Corona vs. Irvine.

At Woodbridge: 4:30 p.m.--Estancia vs. Don Lugo; 6--Marina vs. Troy; 7:30--Savanna vs. Woodbridge.

At University: 3 p.m.--Garey vs. Artesia; 4:30--Western vs. Foothill; 6--El Toro vs. Costa Mesa; 7:30--Santiago vs. University.

At UC Irvine: 4:30 p.m.--Saddleback vs. LB Wilson; 6--Norco vs. Mission Viejo; 7:30--Rancho Alamitos vs. Corona del Mar.