Cupertino, which captured the Independence Fukushima Tournament title with a 35-33 win over San Benito, takes on Homestead in a first-round game at 1 p.m. Oak Grove, the champion of the Wilcox Charger Classic, will tangle with Los Altos at 2:30 p.m. Pioneer, a 66-48 winner over Live Oak in the finals of the Los Gatos Wildcat Shootout, opens against James Lick at 5:30 p.m. Host Fremont collides with Lynbrook in the first day's finale at 8:30 p.m.

Other teams entered are Eastside College Prep of East Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Independence, Leigh, Gunn, Jefferson of Daly City, Silver Creek and Mountain View.

After a day of rest, the tourney resumes with eight games on Dec. 19 and eight more on Tuesday. The event concludes with six games on Dec. 21, including the championship game at 7 p.m.

Homestead (4-3) and Cupertino (6-1) managed to avoid each other in the Cupertino Shootout and the Independence tourney, but they will meet Saturday. The winner will advance to the second round against the Oak Grove-Los Altos winner, Dec. 19 at 5:30 p.m.

Jason Townsend is in his first year as head coach for Homestead. He has six players back from last season, including 6-foot-7 senior center Ryan Dedrick and 5-foot-8 senior guard David Ostrow. Both posted 25-point games during the Cupertino Shootout, Dec. 1-3.

Dedrick scored 25 in the Shootout opener against South San Francisco, but Homestead fell 54-39. The next day in the consolation semifinals against Carlmont, Ostrow buried 11 of 12 foul shots and had a game-high 25 in the Mustangs' 47-44 win.

Homestead won two of three at the Independence tourney, including a 52-39 triumph over Santa Teresa in the third-place game. Dedrick (19 points), Ostrow (15) and forward Tim Vanderet (11) accounted for all but seven of the team's points.

Homestead opened the tourney by blitzing host Independence 21-2 in the first quarter and rolling to a 62-37 win. Ostrow, Vanderet and Dedrick combined for 41 points and 6-foot-9 senior Sam Kridl added 10.

Vanderet, a 6-foot-4 junior, has been the team's top rebounder, averaging about 10 a game. He grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and scored nine points in the Mustangs' season opener, a 52-37 win at Lynbrook on Nov. 23. Ostrow tallied 14 points, along with seven steals and six assists. Dedrick topped all scorers with 19 points and junior Mickey Lai chipped in with eight points and four steals.

Fremont comes into its own event with a 3-5 record after dropping two of three games at the Independence tourney, including a 68-44 setback to Milpitas in the consolation final. Leo Janisse, a 6-foot-4 junior and the Firebirds' only returning starter, had a team-high 14 points. Junior guard Jeremy Allen, who buried 20 in the tourney opener against San Benito, added 11 against Milpitas.