Fairfax-Garfield winner should be favorite in Invitational final

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I’m feeling no disrespect toward either Huntington Park or University. One of them is going to play for the Invitational championship after their semifinal matchup next Friday.

But the other semifinal, Fairfax at Garfield, pits the two best teams left in the Invitational bracket, if you believe the seedings. Garfield (9-3) is seeded second and Fairfax (8-4) is seeded third.

Fairfax Coach Shane Cox offers plenty of respect for the Bulldogs defense, which has settled down after late-season losses to Jordan and Roosevelt.

‘Their front four will be the best defensive line we’ve seen all year,’ Cox said. ‘They have three very good linebackers, and their middle backer (David Lopez) is a Division I-quality player. People are crazy if they’re not recruiting him.

‘Stopping the run is their strength, so we’ll have to try some different things.’

-- Mike Terry