Playoff preview: Southern Division

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Defending champion: La Palma Kennedy
Seeded teams: 1. Western (8-1-1), 2. Laguna Hills (6-2), 3. Placentia Valencia (6-2-1), 4. Irvine University (9-0)
How it shakes out: There’s no clearly-defined favorite. Western and Valencia tied during the regular season, and University played a soft nonleague schedule and is untested. The Empire League had four teams fighting for the league title, and any of the three that are unseeded could provide an upset, meaning dark horses are in every stable. That will make for two big second-round games, Garden Grove Pacifica’s terrific athletes against Western, and battle-tested Kennedy against University.

SOUTHERN DIVISION (IX)
First round 7:30 p.m. unless noted

Los Amigos (Garden Grove 3, 4-6) at Western (Orange 1, 8-1-1), 7 p.m.
Costa Mesa (Orange Coast T1, 3-7) vs. Garden Grove Pacifica (Empire T1, 7-2) at Bolsa Grande

La Palma Kennedy (Empire T1, 6-3) at Garden Grove Santiago (Garden Grove 1, 8-2) at Garden Grove, 7 p.m.
Santa Ana Valley (Orange T2, 7-3) vs. Irvine University (Pacific Coast T1, 9-0) at Irvine, 7 p.m.

Savanna (At-large/Orange T2, 7-3) at Placentia Valencia (Empire T1, 6-2-1), Saturday, 7 p.m.
Irvine (Pacific Coast T3, 7-2) vs. Estancia (Orange Coast T1, 5-5) at Newport Harbor

Garden Grove (Garden Grove 2, 6-4) vs. Anaheim (Orange T2, 8-2) at Glover Stadium, 7 p.m.
Cypress (At-large/Empire 4, 6-3) at Laguna Hills (Pacific Coast T1, 6-2), 7 p.m.

-- Martin Henderson