Crenshaw Seeded No. 1 in 4-A as City Playoffs Begin Friday

Crenshaw, the defending City 4-A boys basketball champion and the Times’ No. 1 ranked team, is the top-seeded team in the 4-A division for this season’s playoffs. Pairings were announced Saturday.

Cleveland is seeded second, Manual Arts third and Carson fourth.

In the 3-A division, Fairfax is top- seeded, followed by Van Nuys, San Pedro and Wilson.

In the 4-A girls division, defending champion Locke is top-seeded. Kennedy, which has now won 70 straight league games, is second, Manual Arts third and Banning fourth.

In the 3-A girls division, defending champion Fairfax is top-seeded, with Jordan second. Either Belmont or Garfield, which meet in a regular-season game Wednesday, will be seeded third. The winner of a coin toss between Van Nuys and Reseda, which tied for the Valley 3-A title, will be the No. 4-seeded team.

First-round action begins Friday, with finals scheduled for March 1 at the Sports Arena. The first-round pairings, with league affiliation and where teams finished in parentheses:

Boys

4-A DIVISION UPPER BRACKET--Gardena (At-Large/Pacific No. 6) or Dorsey (At-Large/Central No. 6) at Crenshaw (Central No. 1); Hamilton, Washington or Westchester (Central No. 4) at El Camino Real (Valley 4-A No. 3); Hamilton, Washington or Westchester (Central No. 3) at Kennedy (Valley 4-A No. 2); Palisades (Central No. 5) at Carson (Pacific No. 2).

LOWER BRACKET--San Fernando (Valley 4-A No. 4) at Manual Arts (Pacific No. 1); Fremont (Pacific No. 4) at Washington, Westchester or Hamilton (Central No. 2); Taft (Valley 4-A No. 4) at Banning (Pacific No. 3); Locke (Pacific No. 5) at Cleveland (Valley 4-A No. 1).

3-A DIVISION UPPER BRACKET--Venice (At Large/Western No. 4) at Fairfax (Western No. 1); Marshall or Poly (East Valley No. 2) at South Gate (Eastern-Marine No. 2); Marshall or Poly (East Valley No. 3) at Reseda or Granada Hills (Valley 3-A No. 1); Bell (Eastern-Marine No. 3) at Wilson (Northern No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--Chatsworth (Valley 3-A No. 3) at San Pedro (Eastern-Marine No. 1); Los Angeles (Western No. 2) at Reseda or Granada Hills (Valley 3-A No. 2); Jefferson (Western No. 3) at Roosevelt or Eagle Rock (Northern No. 2); Eagle Rock or Roosevelt (Northern No. 3) at Van Nuys (East Valley No. 1).

Girls

4-A DIVISION UPPER BRACKET--At-Large team at Locke (Central No. 1); Chatsworth or Cleveland (Valley 4-A No. 4); Dorsey or Westchester (Central No. 4) at El Camino Real (Valley 4-A No. 2); University (Central No. 5) at Banning (Pacific No. 2).

LOWER BRACKET--Grant (Valley 4-A No. 5) at Manual Arts (Pacific No. 1); Carson (Pacific No. 4) at Washington (Central No. 2); Chatsworth or Cleveland (Valley 4-A No. 3) at Dorsey (Central No. 3); Gardena (Pacific No. 5) at Kennedy (Valley 4-A No. 1).

3-A DIVISION UPPER BRACKET--Venice (At-Large/Park West No. 4) at Crenshaw or Fairfax (Park West No. 1); South Gate (Eastern-Marine No. 2) at Belmont or Garfield (Northern No. 2); Eagle Rock (Northern No. 3) at North Hollywood (Valley No. 1); San Pedro (Eastern-Marine No. 3) at Van Nuys or Reseda (Valley 3-A No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--Sylmar (Valley No. 3) at Belmont or Garfield (Northern No. 1); Canoga Park (Valley No. 2) at Crenshaw or Fairfax (Park West No. 2); Marshall (Park West No. 3) at Van Nuys or Reseda (Valley 3-A No. 2); Monroe (Valley 3-A No. 3) at Jordan (Eastern-Marine No. 1).