Southern Section Boys Basketball Playoffs

Rolling Hills 56, Corona del Mar 54--Rolling Hills built a 44-29 halftime lead and led by as many as 22 points in the second quarter before faltering.

Corona del Mar outscored Rolling Hills, 11-1, in the third quarter, but the Titans held on at the finish.

Doug Gehr led the Titans with 19 points, and Cameron Terry added 15. Markus Muller-Stach led Corona del Mar with 22 points.

Rolling Hills will play Saugus, the third-place finisher in the Golden League, Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Sports Arena. Saugus defeated Palos Verdes, 45-41, for its third straight playoff upset.

Banning 65, Santa Clara 59--Utilizing a pressing defense, Banning, which starts four juniors, outscored top-seeded Santa Clara, 19-8, in the second quarter to gain a 31-24 halftime lead it never relinquished in a 2-A semifinal game at Riverside Poly.

Junior Dennis Gray, a 6-6 center, scored 33 points, including 21 in the second half, and grabbed 17 rebounds for Banning. The Broncos will play the winner of tonight’s game between Woodbridge and Victor Valley Saturday at 12:15 p.m. in the Sports Arena.

Crossroads 79, Harvard 55--The Roadrunners moved into their sixth straight Southern Section final as forward Matt Bailey scored 25 points.

Crossroads will play Whittier Christian in the 1-A final, Saturday at 10:30 at the Sports Arena, in a rematch of last year’s game, which Crossroads won, 70-61. This will be the Roadrunners’ third straight appearance in the 1-A final after reaching the Small School Division final three times.

Crossroads jumped on Harvard early, utilizing a pressure defense to score the first 12 points of the game.