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School is out but basketball is not, which means 11 local teams will be busy this week while their classmates are on holiday break. Seven girls squads will be in action starting Thursday.

Perhaps the most prestigious -- and difficult -- tournament is the Eastside Prep Coaches vs. Cancer event that begins Thursday in East Palo Alto.

The eight-team field includes Brea Olinda (5-3) from Southern California, which just won its division at Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Ariz. Also making a trip is Skyline High of Sammamish, Wash. The Lady Spartans are 7-1 and feature preseason first-team all-state selection Haley Smith, a 6-foot-1 guard/forward.

In addition to host Eastside Prep (6-3), which has 6-foot senior Hashima Carothers (15.1 ppg) and 6-3 sophomore Destiny Graham, the tourney field also includes St. Francis of Mountain View (8-0), Convent of the Sacred Heart (7-3), Lynbrook (8-1), Westmoor (5-2) and Gleneagles Secondary School of British Columbia, Canada.

The championship game will be Saturday at 7 p.m.

At the Monte Vista Christian Christmas Tournament in Watsonville, Sacred Heart Prep (8-1) will try to continue its solid season with a first-round game Thursday.

At the Leo LaRocca Sand Dune Classic at St. Ignatius, Pinewood (6-2) will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses at the Nike TOC -- where it finished fourth in its division -- starting Thursday. The Panthers will face Galileo in their opener on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

Menlo School, meanwhile, will be back in action Thursday at the Steve Geramoni Invitational at Notre Dame-Belmont when the Knights (5-3) take on Northgate at 3 p.m. A victory will put Menlo into a semifinal game Friday at 6 p.m.

Menlo is coming off a 3-0 effort and championship at the Santa Barbara Tournament last weekend at Dos Pueblos High. The Knights jumped out to a 31-2 first-quarter lead in the finals and rolled to a 65-19 win over San Marcos (San Diego).

Senior post Drew Edelman scored 59 points in the tourney and was named to the all-tournament team along with freshman Hannah Paye and Maddy Price.

In other girls' tournament action:

Castilleja (3-5) will play in the Don's Club Holiday Tournament at Del Mar High in San Jose against Wilcox at noon, Menlo-Atherton (3-5) will compete in the Newark Memorial tourney and Palo Alto (4-4) will go in the annual West Coast Jamboree.

The Vikings will play in the Diamond Division and will open Thursday against host Miramonte at 6:30 p.m. In Paly's half of the bracket is Edison (Fresno) and Christian Brothers (Sacramento).

For the boys, Gunn (2-6) will open Friday in the Milpitas Tournament, Palo Alto (6-1) will go Thursday in the Windsor Holiday Shootout, Menlo School (3-3) will be in Palm Springs and Sacred Heart Prep (2-5) will look to gain momentum for the new year by taking on Mountain View (Utah) at the Surf 'N' Slam event in San Diego at 10 a.m.

Palo Alto is off to a good start despite losing standout senior post E.J. Floreal to the state of Kentucky when his father became the director of track and field for the Wildcats. The Vikings will open against Maria Carrillo on Thursday at 3 p.m.

EASTSIDE PREP COACHES vs. CANCER CLASSIC
At Eastside Prep
First round (Thursday)
Game 1 -- Skyline (Wash.) vs. Lynbrook, 2:30 p.m.
Game 2 -- Brea-Olinda vs. Westmoor, 4 p.m.
Game 3 -- Eastside Prep vs. Convent of Sacred Heart, 5:30 p.m.
Game 4 -- Gleneagle (Canada) vs. St. Francis (Mt. View), 7 p.m.

Second round (Friday)
Game 5 -- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 -- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 4 p.m.
Game 7 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 8 -- Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.

Final round (Saturday)
Friendship -- Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Consolation -- Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 4 p.m.
Third place -- Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser, 5:30 p.m.
Championship -- Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 7 p.m.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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