Three cheers for the boys’ basketball playoffs

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Inland Empire may not be represented in the grand-daddy of them all, the Southern Section Division I-AA boys’ basketball playoffs, but Rancho Verde, Eisenhower and Riveriside King are top seeded in their respective divisions.

King was a pretty obvious choice in Division I-A, though second-seeded Etiwanda and third-second El Toro have made this division nearly as top heavy with talent as Division I-AA. These teams have combined for only four losses the entire season.

Eisenhower had an outside chance to be top seeded in Division II-AA heading into last week, but then Redlands threw out the welcome mat by losing to visiting Redlands East Valley and Eisenhower marched in and took the Citrus Belt League title Friday night with a 56-42 victory.

A little more head-scratching was Rancho Verde emerging as the favorite in Division II-AA, especially because, well, the Mustangs lost to second-seeded Corona Centennial, 55-53, in January.

In the long run, it doesn’t really matter if a team is seeded No. 1 or No. 2. Both teams will play the championship game at a neutral site, and the difference in the quality of their opponents in the first few rounds is hardly measurable.

If anything, a higher seeding only puts a bigger target on your back.

-- Dan Arritt