Palisades High girls basketball coach Torino Johnson has assembled an elite field for the 11th annual Palisades Beach Invitational, which will be held Nov. 24-29 in the large gym.
The 16-team tournament features three teams in the national top 10 preseason rankings: Santa Ana Mater Dei (No. 3), Windward (No. 5) and Chaminade (No. 6). Mater Dei will be making its first appearance in the tournament. Windward repeated as champion last season while Chaminade finished fifth.
All but four teams are ranked among the top 100 in California. The field also includes Southern Section powers Gardena Serra, West Torrance and Fullerton Troy and Bakersfield Garces from the Central Section. Troy was fourth and Garces sixth last year.
Rounding out the bracket are Palisades, Agoura, Marlborough, Mark Keppel, Oaks Christian, Palos Verdes, Taft, Long Beach Jordan and Riverside North.
Paced by MVP Jordin Canada, now the freshman point guard at UCLA, Windward beat Palisades in the second round on its way to defending the championship last season. Palisades finished eighth out of 16 teams.
Palisades finished in a three-way tie for first place in 2008 and won outright in 2010 and 2011.
— Steve Galluzzo
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