LA Watts games kick off this Saturday

After the Watts riots in 1965, the community set about to repair not only the physical damages to the area, but the wounds to the psyche. One of those efforts was the creation of the LA Watts Summer Games - a multi-day sports festival showcase of the best high school teams, in all sports.

As the 42nd annual games is set to kick off this weekend, events are no longer only in Watts; they haven't been for years. Instead, they are spread throughout the southern Los Angeles area, at various high schools.

The girl's basketball brackets look to be very competitive this year. There are four school sites that host the showcase round and first round Saturday, with the first four (showcase) games at 9, 10, 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., and the first round games at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.

Kicking off the showcase round at Crenshaw High School at 9 a.m., Carson will face Mayfair, Crenshaw will take on Culver City at 10, Cajon will play Serra at 11, and Village Christian will go against Long Beach Poly #2 at noon.

Down the road at Washington Prep High School, Prep faces El Camino Real at 9 in a playoffs rematch from February. Peninsula will take on Des. Mirage at 10, Dorsey and Narbonne will have the battle of the green at 11, and Hamilton will play South Torrance at noon.

At 9 a.m. at King-Drew High School in Watts, the host team will face Monroe, Long Beach Poly #1 will take on Palisades at 10, Dominguez and Hawthorne will go at it at 11, and Alemany will go against Locke at noon.

The final site is Morningside High School in Inglewood. Lynwood plays North Torrance at 9, Morningside goes against Arleta at 10, Canoga Park faces Huntington Park at 11, and Long Beach Millikan and Southeast take each other on at noon.

From there, most teams travel to other sites for their first round match ups in the afternoon. The only guaranteed exceptions are the host teams at each site, which stay put in their home locations.

In the past, I've gone from school to school for the action, but this year I'm staying at one school for the duration of the weekend. It's going to be wonderful to see some high school ball (my first love) again. It's only been three months since the season has been over, but I miss it.

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