It might not be the final exam, but it's a pretty strong midterm.

Beginning this weekend, several of the top local high school basketball teams will mix it up with some of the best squads from all over the country in the 20th annual Junior Orange Bowl Classic. The tournament will be played at Miami Dade College's Kendall Campus on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, featuring eight top-flight teams in each of the boys' and girls' brackets.

It's only December and most teams are trying to find their way as the postseason is still a few months away, but over the years, the Junior Orange Bowl has had a knack for creating one of the more competitive tournaments in the state.

And being able to get through a tough field to win this year's event will be no easy task.

''I'd say the last four or five years, we've really risen to a level where the team that wins our tournament is going to be a really good team,'' said Chuck Little, chairman of the Junior Orange Bowl Basketball Committee.

``The downside of that is there's going to be somebody that loses three games this week and they're not going to be that bad, it's just that they're going to have to play tough competition each game.''

On the boys' side, seven of the eight teams competing will go into the tournament with no more than two losses. Local teams headlining that slate include defending state champion Norland (7-2) and top-tier teams such as Coral Reef (8-1) and Northwestern (7-1).

The girls' side will be led by 14-0 Lake Mary from Central Florida, which features one of the top players in the state -- sophomore forward Morgan Jones, Miami High (8-1), Coral Reef (11-1), Nova (9-1) and defending state champion South Broward (9-1).

Combine that with top-tier boys' and girls' teams from Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, and it adds up to a grueling three-day tourney.

Said Little: ``This is something to kind of give your team a real test and see how well they're performing in tough tournament situations so that later on, when they get to February and March, they'll have tested themselves in back-to-back games against tough, quality competition and it ends up making them a better team.''

Last year, receiver T.Y. Hilton of the FIU football team led Miami Springs to the championship on the boys' side, with Bolingbrook of Chicago winning for the girls.

NOTEBOOK

• Former University of Miami All-American and South Broward High School star Tamara James had 18 points, five assists and four rebounds to help Maccabi Ramat Hen beat Electra Ramar Hasharon 72-71 in the Israeli Cup Championship on Thursday. Atlanta Dream guard Ivory Latta made an off-balance runner with 1.7 seconds left to cap a 12-point rally and end a 25-year Cup title drought.

-- FABIAN LYON

• The Greater Miami Athletic Conference will host a meeting Monday for anyone interested in becoming a softball official. The meeting will be at Florida Christian High School in room M101. For more information, call James Colzie at 305-450-7908.

• Florida Boombers Junior Boombers Baseball league, for ages 3-6, will have its registration Saturday at Continental Park, 10000 SW 82 AVE Miami. For information, call 305-671-3699 or juniorbombers.net. Registration will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

• Lady Bulldog Holiday Classic -- Douglas 42, American 35 -- AM: Johnson 14, Suarez 11, Salkers 5, Cami 3, Jones 2. DOU: Taylor 7, Conforti 12, Kinter 6, Lifschitz 4, Limpabandhy 11, Hamilton 6. Halftime: DOU 18-10. Three-pointers: Johnson 3, Suarez 2, Cammi 1, Taylor 1, Confoti 1.

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