Winter sports preview: Barons-Optimist girls hoops tourney on tap

This year’s Bonita Vista Barons-Bonita Optimist Holiday Classic will tip off Dec. 26 and conclude with playoff and championship games on Dec. 30. The eight-team girls field is divided into two pools.

Pool A consists of Bonita Vista, Chula Vista, Rick Hansen (Toronto) and Santana. Pool B consists of Alhambra (Arizona), Britannia (Vancouver), Hilltop and Scripps Ranch. Alhambra is the defending champion.

Teams will conduct round-robin pool play Dec. 26-29. Seeding for the finals on Dec. 30 will follow the completion of pool play. The seventh- and eighth-seeded teams will play at 2 p.m. on Dec. 30, followed by the fifth- and sixth-seeded teams at 3:30 p.m., the third- and fourth-seeded teams at 5 p.m. and the first- and second-seeded teams at 6:30 p.m.

All games will be played at Bonita Vista High School, starting at 2 p.m. each day.

Tournament schedule:

Friday, Dec. 26
Santana vs. Chula Vista, 2 p.m.
Alhambra vs. Scripps Ranch, 3:30 p.m.
Britannia vs. Hilltop, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 27
Bonita Vista vs. Rick Hansen, 2 p.m.
Hilltop vs. Alhambra, 3:30 p.m.
Scripps Ranch vs. Britannia, 5 p.m.
Rick Hansen vs. Santana, 6:30 p.m.
Chula Vista vs. Bonita Vista, 8 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 29
Rick Hansen vs. Chula Vista, 2 p.m.
Britannia vs. Alhambra, 3:30 p.m.
Scripps Ranch vs. Hilltop, 5 p.m.
Bonita Vista vs. Santana, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 30
Seventh-place game, 2 p.m.
Fifth-place game, 3:30 p.m.
Third-place game, 5 p.m.
Championship game, 6:30 p.m.

Boys basketball
Bonita Vista defeated Castle Park, 90-36, to capture last Saturday’s championship game of the Bout in the South tournament. The Barons finished tourney play 6-0 to start the season.

Bonita Vista also defeated Chula Vista (73-28), Vista Calvary Christian (70-25), Maranatha Christian (64-41), Southwest El Centro (76-46), High Tech San Diego (78-42) while Castle Park (5-6 overall) reached the title game after defeating Mar Vista (58-56), Holtville (69-38), Preuss (66-47), San Diego Jewish Academy (41-38) and High Tech Chula Vista (66-58).

Girls Water Polo
The Hilltop Lancers defeated the Chula Vista Spartans, 19-0, in a non-league game Dec. 9 to officially open the 2014-15 season after scrimmages against San Ysidro and Olympian high schools.

Goalie Dani Diaz made five saves to record the shutout win while Niki Torres led the Lancers with five goals.

Other goal-scorers for Hilltop included Mildred Monsivais, Priscilla Rude and Breanna Pemce, each with three goals, and Casey O’Connel, Marissa Atencio, Frances Carreon, Jackie Zatarain and Ivanna Martinez with one goal each.

Monsivais had three assists while Zatarain and Rude each had two assists and Pemce, Torres and Carreon each had one assist. Hilltop recorded 10 steals overall.

The Lancers defeated San Ysidro, 16-4, and Olympian, 16-2, in a pair of scrimmages prior to meeting the Spartans.