Fullerton College Classic begins

Fullerton, CA- We have been waiting for this moment all season long as the Fullerton College Classic starts up today as seven teams from Southern California and a northern California powerhouse will take part at the three day event. Six of the eight teams participating at the tournament are ranked within our Signal The Light Basketball rankings. Three teams are currently ranked inside of our Socal top 5 and one more team is ranked in the top 5 in Northern California.

The tournament begins at 1pm today as 3rd ranked San Diego (7-2) will face 9th ranked Citrus (6-2) in first round action. San Diego comes into the tournament winners of three straight games as the Knights knocked off West Valley in their last outing at the Grossmont Tournament. As for Citrus, the Owls will look to get back on track after losing their last outing at home against Santiago Canyon. Citrus has won three of their last four games but this will be the Owls biggest challenge of the season up to date.

In the second game of the tournament, Chaffey (3-5) will take on Southwestern (3-6) in a battle of teams that are under .500. The Panthers come into tournament action winning two of their last three games but had a set back against Mt. San Antonio in their last outing. Meanwhile, Southwestern has lost four of five and suffered a 70-61 loss against Copper Mountain in their last outing. The winner/loser of this game will face the winner/loser of San Diego and Citrus as action begins at 3pm.

In the most intriguing first round match up at 5pm, 4th ranked West Los Angeles (8-1) will square off against 5th ranked Sequoias (5-2). The Wildcats come into the game on a five game winning streak, fresh off their championship at the Wild West Shootout. West Los Angeles knocked off San Bernardino in the championship game and the Wildcats will face a Northern California team for the first time this season. As for Sequoias, the Giants make the trip down south and will face another elite team. The Giants lost their last outing against San Francisco on the road 80-66 which ended their five game winning streak. Sequoias will have their hands full as we expect this to be a solid game between two teams expected to make deep post season runs.

In the final game of the first round, high scoring and 11th ranked Los Angeles Southwest (8-2) will take on top ranked Fullerton (8-0). The Cougars will look to upset the Hornets in opening round action, as Los Angeles Southwest as won three of their last four games. Los Angeles Southwest comes into the game averaging 91.0 points per game which is third best in the state. Meanwhile, the top ranked Hornets have been a handful for opponents this season as Fullerton has won eight straight games to start the season. Fullerton holds opponents to 36% shooting against them and only allow 62.0 points per game this season. The Hornets are averaging 80 points on a game on the offensive end and will look to advance to the semi finals with a win over LA Southwest. The winner/loser of this game will face off against Sequoias/West Los Angeles.

Be sure to check out our twitter feet @sgnlthelgthoops for info on the Fullerton College Classic.