Boys’ basketball: Southern Section semifinals produce competitive matchups

Semifinals in the Southern Section basketball playoffs are set for Friday, and finally there should be competitive matchups in the non-Open Divisions.

In 1AA, the top four seeds are still alive. It will be No. 4 Rancho Verde at No. 1 Long Beach Poly and No. 2 Riverside JW North at No. 3 St. John Bosco.

In 1A, No. 6 Camarillo is at No. 2 Temecula Valley and No. 1 Santa Monica is at No. 12 Burbank Burroughs.

Two of the best semifinals are in 2A, where Santa Barbara plays at La Mirada and Lynwood is at Hart. The games are tossups.

In 3A, Rancho Mirage puts its 30-0 record against Chaminade at home. Chaminade was 1-11 in the Mission League but got back Josh Hauser for the playoffs (he was injured). Beverly Hills plays at Diamond Ranch in the other 3A semifinal.

In 4AA, four private schools are left. Harvard-Westlake faces Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for a third time at Harvard-Westlake. The Wolverines are 0-2 against the Knights. Gardena Serra plays at San Gabirel Academy.

In 4A, it’s again only private schools. Viewpoint is at Crean Lutheran and Campbell Hall is at La Salle. Both will be tough games.

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