Court in Session: Summer Season Is Under Way

The high school basketball season does not start until November, but some of the area’s top players will be competing in basketball tournaments nonstop through July.

The action started last weekend with the L.A. Watts Summer Games. The activity peaks between July 5 and 30, when college coaches can scout the games.

Here’s a list of some of the nation’s top tournaments:

* The Converse ABCD Summer Jam 1993, July 5-8, on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.

* The Nike Tournament, July 6-10, at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Pump Discovery Classic, July 5-6, at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson.

* The West Coast All-Star Camp, July 9-12, at Dominguez Hills.

* The West Coast Junior College Camp, July 16-18, at Cal State Bakersfield.

* The Superstars Camp, July 11-15, at UC San Diego in La Jolla.

Other summer tournaments: Santa Ana Mater Dei Summer Tournament, June 24-27; Lakewood Tournament, June 30-July 1; East Los Angeles Community Classic, July 1-4; L.A. Gear Grand Finale at Carson High, July 5-8; Long Beach Poly Tournament, July 5-9; Mater Dei/Nike Shootout, July 8-11; Anaheim Servite Tournament, July 9-11; Artesia Summer Shootout, July 12-17; Great Western Shootout at Ocean View, July 13-16; Fairfax-Goodman Summer Classic, July 15-18; Las Vegas Invitational, July 18-25; Slam ‘N Jam at Cal State Long Beach, July 17-22; Basketball Congress International Phoenix, July 24-31; Pump-N-Run Classic national tournament at Cal Poly Pomona, July 26-30; Las Vegas Grand Finale, July 26-31.

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Here are the Southland’s Top 20 local high school players to watch, according to Times staff writer Jeff Fellenzer:

Centers--Mike Carson (Chino Don Lugo), 6-10; Alex Lopez (North Hollywood Campbell Hall), 6-11; Leif Nelson (Riverside Arlington), 6-11.

Forwards--Luke Buffum (Beverly Hills), 6-7; Tremaine Fowlkes (Crenshaw), 6-6; Tony Gonzalez (Huntington Beach), 6-6; J.R. Henderson (Bakersfield East), 6-8; Kris Johnson (Crenshaw), 6-5; Jason Hartman, (Thousand Oaks), 6-5.

Guards--Toby Bailey (Loyola), 6-5; Tommie Davis (Fremont), 5-8, guard; Jelani Gardner (Bellflower St. John Bosco), 6-5; Jamie Gillin (Compton Dominguez), 6-4; Donald Guyton (Pasadena), 6-2; Fantasia Johnson (North Hollywood), 6-0; Cameron Murray (Glendora), 6-0; Jason Pickett (Wilmington Banning), 6-2; Rick Price (Long Beach St. Anthony), 6-6; Miles Simon (Santa Ana Mater Dei), 6-2; Jeremy Veal (San Dimas), 6-3.

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If you like dunking, probably one of the most exciting summer events will be the 17th annual “Say No to Drugs” tournament, starting today at Cal State Los Angeles.

The 16-team tournament, which runs through Aug. 7, features incoming freshmen and collegiate players. There will be five games each on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. The tournament continues with triple-headers on subsequent Thursday and Friday nights from 6 to 10:30 and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5:30 p.m.

UCLA’s Ed and Charles O’Bannon will play for Team Pasadena and the Westside Blazers will feature USC guard Burt Harris Jr., Nevada Las Vegas guard Kenny Gibson and UCLA center Ike Nwankwo. UC Santa Barbara’s Chris Ford, Loyola Marymount’s Zan Mason and Pepperdine’s Dana Jones will play for Entertainment Tonight. Incoming USC freshmen Avondre Jones (Artesia), Stais Boseman (Morningside), Jaha Wilson (San Francisco Riordan) and Claude Green (Dunbar, Washington D.C.) will be competing together.

UCLA guard Shon Tarver and USC’s Lorenzo Orr will play for Say No to Drugs.

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Say No Again--Incoming freshmen and top collegians from the women’s ranks will participate in the Say No Classic, which begins Saturday in the North Gym at USC.

Players were drafted for a 12-team league that will play six games every Saturday and Sunday through Aug. 1.

Heather Burge of Virginia, Detra Lockhart of UCLA, Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson of USC and Lynwood’s Janet Davis are scheduled to compete.