FLORIDA TOURNAMENT: FLA. FUN 'N GAMES.Byline: Jim Inghram Daily News Staff Writer The big week begins this morning at 7 a.m. It's when the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. High boys' basketball team boards a plane for Florida. The team will stop in Houston before arriving in Orlando at 5 p.m. Eastern time. From then on, it's almost non-stop activity. The team has a practice session scheduled for Friday and its first game in the Great Florida Shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. is Saturday against Brandon High School Brandon High School originally opened in 1914 on the current site of McLane Middle School. In 1972, the school moved to its current location on Victoria Street in Brandon, Florida. The school colors are maroon and white. The school mascot is the Eagle. of Brandon, Fla. Games will continue through Wednesday. In between, the team will visit Disney World and other Orlando area attractions. A trip to the Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics in Titusville, Fla. is also a possibility. ``This is an opportunity that doesn't come around very often,'' said Simi Valley coach Dean Bradshaw. ``It's a privilege to be invited to a tournament of this caliber, to represent our area and California.'' Among the teams in the tournament: Sidell, Louisiana; Edgewater, Florida Edgewater is the name of some places in the U.S. state of Florida:
; and Pleasure Ridge Park, Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park is a former census-designated place in southwest Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 25,776 at the 2000 census. In 2003, The area was annexed to the city of Louisville due to a merger between the city and Jefferson County's , Kentucky. ``It will be a good gauge to see exactly where we are,'' Bradshaw said. ``We're going into it expecting to win.'' Last year, the Pioneers played in the Reebok Ree´bok` n. 1. (Zool.) The peele. Holiday Classic in Las Vegas, where they won four times and lost twice. The team will also participate in the San Diego National Tournament after Christmas. ``We were contacted earlier this year about playing here,'' Bradshaw said. ``The tournament picks up everything, so it's difficult to turn down and we really wanted to go somewhere far away to give the players a chance to get to know each other better and become a team.'' The players are eager to test themselves and visit another part of the country. ``We're very excited,'' said center Rafael Berumen. ``This is the first national high school tournament that our group has been to with Simi. Some of us have been on AAU AAU abbr. Amateur Athletic Union trips, but never all of us as a team. This will be better than AAU because in high school you run plays and are more organized. You can see how you matchup with players in conditions that are more like college.'' Berumen led the Pioneers to the title of the Simi Valley Tip-Off Classic, averaging 32 points a game. Simi Valley went 4-0 but hasn't played since the championship game on Dec. 5. ``We took a few days off after the tournament,'' Bradshaw said. ``But since then, we've been working hard in practice. The players are ready to play someone.'' Besides the emergence of 6-foot-8 sophomore Dustin Villepigue, who has provided quality minutes in the paint, the Pioneers got more good news: Calvin Bell, a 6-1 junior, will be able to play for the first time. He missed the team's first four games recovering from a football injury. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Dean Bradshaw's Simi Valley High basketball team is headed to Orlando for the Great Florida Shootout. Phil McCarten/Daily News |
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