Boys’ basketball: Reseda, University earn state playoff berths
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Reseda and Los Angeles University earned automatic berths to the state Division II playoffs Thursday night when they came away with victories in the City Section Division II semifinals.
Reseda, which had 23 points from 6-foot-7 Ryan Watkins, defeated Venice, 69-56. University defeated Narbonne, 73-63. The two schools will meet for the Division II title next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Los Angeles Roybal High School.
Watkins scored 14 points in the first quarter in helping Reseda (22-7) open a 19-point halftime lead. Venice rallied to close to within eight points in the third quarter but never got closer. Darius Moore contributed 13 points for the Regents.
Westchester, Fairfax, Cleveland and Taft already have qualified for the state Division I playoffs from the City Section. Westchester will play Cleveland on Saturday at noon at USC’s Galen Center in a City Division I semifinal, followed by Fairfax-Taft at 2 p.m.
As for Watkins, he played junior varsity at Taft as a sophomore, and now he ranks as one of the most improved players in the City Section.
-- Eric Sondheimer