Prep Basketball Pairings : Saddleback, Mater Dei Are Top-Seeded Teams

Saddleback (24-1), the Sea View League champion, and Mater Dei (23-2), the Angelus League titlist, are the No. 1- and 2-seeded teams in the Southern Section Boys 5-AA Division basketball playoff pairings released Sunday.

Saddleback has defeated Mater Dei twice this season. Loyola (20-2), the Del Rey League champion, is seeded third, and Lakewood, the Moore League titlist, is fourth.

First-round action begins Wednesday with the finals in all nine divisions scheduled for the week of Feb. 26-March 4.

In the newly-adopted playoff format for the Southern Section, the first three teams in each league automatically qualified for the playoffs and were placed in divisions according to their size.

Division 5-AA is for schools with an enrollment of at least 2,400; 5-A (2,000-2,399); 4-AA (1,750-1,999); 4-A (1,500-1,749); 3-A (1,000-1,499); 2-AA (750-999); 2-A (400-749); 1-A (150-399), and Small Schools (0-149).

In addition, each league could submit other teams for playoff consideration, providing the teams had overall winning records. All at-large teams that were submitted for consideration were accepted, except in the 3-A, where the 32-team bracket was completely filled with automatic qualifiers.

Schools were also allowed to move up one or more divisions if they gave notice before Jan. 9. Several schools, including Mater Dei, which went from 5-A to 5-AA, and St. Paul, which went from 3-A to 4-A, took advantage.

Here are remaining seeded teams, by division:

5-A: 1. Pasadena (Pacific League No. 1); 2. Capistrano Valley (South Coast No. 1); 3. Buena (Channel No. 2); 4. Irvine (South Coast No. 2).

4-AA: 1. San Bernardino (San Andreas No. 1); 2. Glendora (Baseline No. 1); 3. Perris (Ivy No. 1); 4. El Modena (Century No. 1).

4-A: 1. Dominguez (San Gabriel Valley No. 1); 2. St. Paul (Angelus No. 2); 3. Rio Mesa (Channel No. 1); 4. Barstow (San Andreas No. 2).

3-A: 1. Rolling Hills (Bay No. 1); 2. La Canada (Rio Hondo No. 1); 3. Savanna (Orange No. 1); 4. Morningside (Ocean No. 1).

2-AA: 1. Cabrillo (Los Padres No. 1); 2. Banning (Sunkist No. 1); 3. Cathedral (Santa Fe No. 1); 4. Whittier Christian (Olympic No. 2).

2-A: 1. Santa Clara (Frontier No. 1); 2. Orange Lutheran (Olympic No. 1); 3. Paraclete (Desert-Inyo Large No. 1); 4. Cantwell (Santa Fe No. 2).

1-A: 1. Pasadena Poly (Prep No. 1); 2. Southern California Christian (Arrowhead No. 1); 3. Bishop Diego (Tri-Valley No. 1); 4. Mission College Prep (Tri-County No. 1).

SMALL SCHOOLS: 1. Hesperia Christian (Christian No. 1); 2. Pilgrim (Heritage No. 1); 3. Grace Community Christian (Westside No. 1); 4. Cal Lutheran (Academy No. 1).

The Moore League was the biggest benificiary of the new policy to allow more than three teams from any one league into the playoffs.

In addition to Lakewood (20-6), Millikan (20-6) and Long Beach Jordan, the 1-2-3 finishers in the league, Long Beach Poly (15-11), Long Beach Wilson (15-12) and Compton (13-11) advanced as at-large entrants. All of the school but Compton, which is 4-A, are in the 5-AA division.

Four leagues, the Bay, Marmonte, Sea View and Whitmont, had five teams qualify.

With only Saddleback and Mater Dei receiving byes in the 5-AA divsion, there are several interesting first-round matchups scheduled.

Long Beach Wilson is at St. Bernard (21-5), the Camino Real League champion, Long Beach Poly is at Lynwood (15-9), the San Gabriel Valley League runnerup, Leuzinger (15-11), an at-large entrants from the Bay League, is at Millikan and Long Beach Jordan is at Antelope Valley (16-8), the Golden League co-champion.

Other first-round games of interest, in the 5-A, Beverly Hills (14-9) at Arroyo Grande (16-7); in the 4-AA, Servite (12-10) at Torrance (14-10); in the 4-A, West Torrance (12-12) at Bishop Amat (14-9); in the 3-A, Corona del Mar (15-9) at El Dorado (20-4), Western (16-6) at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (16-8), Centennial (13-10) at Pomona (15-9); in the 2-AA, Miraleste (15-5) at Bell-Jeff (19-4); in the 2-A, Santa Maria St. Joseph (12-11) at Paraclete (20-2); and in the 1-A, Mary Star (16-7) at Brentwood (14-8).

The only one of the nine playoff divisions that has a completely filled bracket is the 3-A. In that division there were 33 automatic qualifiers which necessitated a wild-card game to reduce the field to 32 teams.

Norte Vista (13-10), the third-place team in the Mountain View League, travels to Yucaipa (9-14), the third-place team from the Sunkist League, tonight, with the winner playing at South Hills (19-5), Wednesday.

Manual Arts (21-0), the defending state Division I champion and the only undefeated team in the City, is the top-seeded team in the boys’ basketball 4-A playoffs.

North Valley League champion Cleveland (20-2) is seeded second, followed by Crenshaw (17-2), the Southern League winner, and Carson (14-7), the Pacific League champion.

Two coin flips on Tuesday will be necessary to finalize the pairings. Granada Hills (13-8) and Kennedy (12-8) are tied for third in the North Valley League and Palisades (9-11) and Fairfax (11-11) are tied for third in the Metro League. All first-round games are Friday. The City finals for both boys and girls in the 4-A and 3-A division are scheduled March 3 at the Sports Arena.

Westchester (15-5), which lost twice to Manual Arts in Metro League play but has lost to no other City team, was unseeded and will play host to Banning (10-13).

The Comets could play Crenshaw in the quarterfinals and Cleveland in the semifinals before a possible rematch against Manual Arts in the City final.

In the 3-A division, Fremont (22-3) of the Central League is seeded No. 1 and either Los Angeles (14-8) or University (15-6), which tied for the Western League title, will be seeded No. 2. Wilson (17-5), the North East Valley champion is seeded third and North Hollywood (15-4), the Mid Valley League titlist, is seeded fourth.

Three leagues, Eastern, Northwest and Northeast, play their final games Tuesday. Poly and Birmingham will have a playoff game, Wednesday at a neutral site to determine second place in the Valley East League.

The pairings:

SOUTHERN SECTION

All games Wednesday at 7:30 unless indicated. Some sites to be determined

5-AA DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Saddleback (Sea View No. 1), bye; Palm Springs (Ivy No. 3) at Chaffey (Baseline No. 3); Fountain Valley (At-Large/Sunset No. 4) at Montebello (Whitmont No. 2); LB Jordan (Moore No. 3) at Antelope Valley (Golden No. 1); LB Wilson (At-Large/Moore No. 5) at St. Bernard (Camino Real No. 1); Central (At-Large/Desert Valleys No. 4) at Redlands (Citrus Belt No. 1); Santa Ana (Century No. 3) at Huntington Beach (Sunset No. 2); Alhambra (Foothill No. 3) at Lakewood (Moore No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--Palmdale (Golden No. 3) at Loyola (Del Rey No. 1); Nogales (At-Large/Sierra No. 4) at Bell Gardens (Whitmont No. 1); Santa Barbara (Channel No. 3) at Simi Valley (Marmonte No. 2); Leuzinger (At-Large/Bay No. 5) at Millikan (Moore No. 2); Royal (At-Large/Marmonte No. 4) at St. Monica (Camino Real No. 2); LB Poly (At-Large/Moore No. 4) at Lynwood (San Gabriel Valley No. 2); Keppel (Mission Valley No. 3) at Upland (Baseline No. 2); Mater Dei (Angelus No. 1), bye.

5-A DIVISION

UPPER DIVISION--Pasadena (Pacific No. 1), bye; Hart (Foothill No. 2), bye; El Toro (At-Large/South Coast No. 4) at Los Alamitos (Empire No. 2); Edison (Sunset No. 1), bye; Canyon Springs (Mountain View No. 1), bye; West Covina (Sierra No. 3) at Indio (Desert Valleys No. 2); Santa Ana Valley (At-Large/Century No. 4) at Gahr (San Gabriel Valley No. 3); Irvine (South Coast No. 2), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Buena (Channel No. 2), bye; Beverly Hills (At-Large/Bay No. 4) at Arroyo Grande (Northern No. 2); Etiwanda (Hacienda No. 1), bye; Dana Hills (At-Large/South Coast No. 5) at Ocean View (Sunset No. 3); Calexico (Desert Valleys No. 1), bye; Moreno Valley (Citrus Belt No. 3) at Montclair (Hacienda No. 2); Diamond Bar (Sierra No. 2), bye; Capistrano Valley (South Coast No. 1), bye.

4-AA DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--San Bernardino (San Andreas No. 1), bye; Arroyo (Mission Valley No. 2), bye; Servite (At-Large/Angelus No. 4) at Torrance (Bay No. 4); Sunny Hills (Freeway No. 1), bye; Riverside Poly (Citrus Belt No. 2), bye; Whittier (At-Large/Whitmont No. 4) at Westlake (Marmonte No. 3); Cajon (At-Large/San Andreas No. 4) at La Palma Kennedy (Garden Grove No. 2); El Modena (Century No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Perris (Ivy No. 1), bye; Elsinore (At-Large/Mountain View No. 4) at Victor Valley (San Andreas No. 3); Tustin (At-Large/Sea View No. 4) at Mission Viejo (South Coast No. 3); Inglewood (Bay No. 2), bye; Camarillo (Marmonte No. 1), bye; Warren (At-Large/San Gabriel Valley No. 4) at Crespi (Del Rey No. 2); Agoura (Frontier No. 2), bye; Glendora (Baseline No. 1), bye.

4-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Dominguez (San Gabriel Valley No. 1), bye; Cypress (Empire No. 3) at Woodbridge (Pacific Coast No. 2); Compton (At-Large/Moore No. 6) at Garey (Hacienda No. 3); Rosemead (Mission Valley No. 1), bye; Charter Oak (Sierra No. 1), bye; West Torrance (At-Large/ Ocean No. 5) at Bishop Amat (Angelus No. 3); Muir (Pacific No. 3) at Ridgecrest Burroughs (Golden No. 2); Barstow (San Andreas No. 2), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Rio Mesa (Channel No. 1) bye; Newbury Park (At-Large/Marmonte No. 5) at Crescenta Valley (Pacific No. 2); Pioneer (At-Large/Whitmont No. 5) at Fullerton (Freeway No. 2); Artesia (Suburban No. 1), bye; La Habra (Freeway No. 3) at Riverside North (Ivy No. 2); Burbank Burroughs (Foothill No. 1), bye; Redondo (Ocean No. 3) at California (Whitmont No. 3); St. Paul (Angelus No. 2), bye.

3-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Lompoc (Northern No. 3) at Rolling Hills (Bay No. 1); Blair (Rio Hondo No. 2) at Bellflower (Suburban No. 2); Laguna Hills (Pacific Coast No. 3) at La Quinta (Garden Grove No. 1); Corona del Mar (Sea View No. 3) at El Dorado (Empire No. 1); La Sierra (Mountain View No. 2) at Brea-Olinda (Orange No. 2); Brawley (Desert Valleys No. 3) at San Dimas (Montview No. 1); Covina (Valle Vista No. 2) at Paso Robles (Los Padres No. 2); San Marino (Rio Hondo No. 3) at Morningside (Ocean No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--Azusa (Montview No. 3) at Savanna (Orange No. 1); Rancho Alamitos (Garden Grove No. 3) at Trabuco Hills (Pacific Coast No. 1); winner of wild-card game at South Hills (Valle Vista No. 1); Estancia (Sea View No. 2) at Foothill (Century No. 2); Western (Orange No. 3) at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (San Fernando Valley No. 1); Workman (Valle Vista No. 3) at San Luis Obispo (Northern No. 1); Centennial (Ocean No. 2) at Pomona (Montview No. 2); St. Francis (Del Rey No. 3) at La Canada (Rio Hondo No. 1).

WILD-CARD GAME (tonight, 7:30 p.m.)--Norte Vista (Mountain View No. 3) at Yucaipa (Sunkist No. 3).

2-AA DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Cabrillo (Los Padres No. 1), bye; Nordhoff (Frontier No. 3) at El Segundo (Santa Fe No. 3); Miraleste (Freelance) at Bell-Jeff (San Fernando Valley No. 2); Aquinas (De Anza No. 3) at Whittier Christian (Olympic No. 2).

LOWER BRACKET--St. Genevieve (San Fernando Valley No. 3) at Cathedral (Santa Fe No. 1); Serrano (At-Large/De Anza No. 4) at Tehachapi (Desert-Inyo Large No. 2); Mayfair (Suburban No. 3) at Yucca Valley (De Anza No. 1); Banning (Sunkist No. 1), bye.

2-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Santa Clara (Frontier No. 1), bye; Bishop (Desert-Inyo Large No. 3) at St. Bonaventure (Tri-Valley No. 2); Valley Christian (At-Large/Olympic No. 4) at St. Anthony (Camino Real No. 3); Crossroads (At-Large/Delphic No. 4) at Cantwell (Santa Fe No. 2).

LOWER BRACKET--Santa Maria St. Joseph (Los Padres No. 3) at Paraclete (Desert-Inyo Large No. 1); Carpinteria (Tri-Valley No. 3) at Village Christian (Alpha No. 2); Riverside Notre Dame (Sunkist No. 2) at Beaumont (De Anza No. 2); Orange Lutheran (Olympic No. 1), bye.

1-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Pasadena Poly (Prep No. 1), bye; Holy Martyrs (Liberty No. 3) at Thacher (Condor No. 2); La Sierra Academy (Arrowhead No. 3) at Rosamond (Desert-Inyo Small No. 1); LA Baptist (At-Large/Alpha No. 4) at Faith Baptist (Delphic No. 2); Ontario Christian (Olympic No. 3) at Sherman Indian (Arrowhead No. 2); Camp Kilpatrick (Freelance) at Windward (Liberty No. 2); Chadwick (Prep No. 3) at Montclair Prep (Alpha No. 1); Mission College Prep (Tri-County No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Bishop Diego (Tri-Valley No. 1), bye; Boron (Desert-Inyo Small No. 3) at Cate (Condor No. 1); Flintridge Prep (Prep No. 2) at Templeton (Tri-County No. 2); Mary Star (At-Large/Santa Fe No. 4) at Brentwood (Delphic No. 1); Dunn (Condor No. 3) at Oakwood (Liberty No. 1); Desert (At-Large/Desert-Inyo Large No. 4) at Mammoth (Desert-Inyo Small No. 2); Western Christian (Alpha No. 3) at Woodcrest Christian (Christian No. 2); Southern California Christian (Arrowhead No. 1), bye.

SMALL SCHOOLS DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Hesperia Christian (Christian No. 1), bye; Highland Hall (At-Large/Westide) at North County Christian (Coast Valley No. 2); Newport Christian (Academy No. 3) at Harbor Christian (Express No. 2); Lancaster Bethel Christian (Freelance) at Inland Christian (Victory No. 1); Valley Christian Academy (Coast Valley No. 3) at Ribet Academy (Heritage No. 2); Ambassador Baptist (Victory No. 3) at Abundent Life Christian (Metro No. 1); First Lutheran (At-Large/Heritage) at South Bay Lutheran (Westside No. 2); Cal Lutheran (Academy No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Grace Community Christian (Westside No. 1), bye; Coast Christian (Heritage No. 3) at Cuyama Valley (Coast Valley No. 1); Bloomington Christian (At-Large/Christian) at Gethsemane Baptist (Express No. 1); Bel-Air Prep (Delphic No. 3) at Pacific Shores (Metro No. 2); Elsinore Christian (Metro No. 3) at St. Margaret’s (Academy No. 2); Victor Valley Christian (Christian No. 3) at Owens Valley (Hi-Lo No. 1); Wilmington Christian (Express No. 3) at Riverside Bethel Christian (Victory No. 2); Pilgrim (Heritage No. 1), bye.

CITY

All Games Friday; Some Exact Sites to be Determined

4-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Narbonne (Pacific No. 4) at Manual Arts (Metro No. 1); Washington (Southern No. 3) at Taft (North Valley No. 2); Kennedy or Granada Hills (North Valley No. 3) at Dorsey (Southern No. 2); Fairfax or Palisades (Metro No. 4) at Carson (Pacific No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--Granada Hills or Kennedy (North Valley No. 4) at Crenshaw (Southern No. 1); Banning (Pacific No. 3) at Westchester (Metro No. 2); Fairfax or Palisades (Metro No. 3) at San Pedro (Pacific No. 2); Gardena (Southern No. 4) at Cleveland (North Valley No. 1).

3-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Eagle Rock or Franklin (Northest No. 2) at Fremont (Central No. 1); Los Angeles or University (Western No. 2) at Grant (Valley East No. 1); Lincoln (Northwest No. 2) at El Camino Real (West Valley No. 1); Jefferson (Eastern No. 2) at North Hollywood (Mid Valley No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--Reseda (Mid Valley No. 2) at Wilson (Northeast No. 1); Jordan (Central No. 2) at Marshall (Northwest No. 1); Chatsworth (West Valley No. 2) at Bell (Eastern No. 1); Poly or Birmingham (Valley East No. 2) at Los Angeles or University (Western No. 1).