Prep Basketball : Morningside Is Top-Seeded in Girls’ 5-AA Playoff Pairings

Morningside (25-1), the Bay League champion, is top-seeded in the Southern Section girls’ 5-AA basketball playoff pairings released Monday.

Bell Gardens (22-2), the Whitmont League champion, is seeded second, followed by Fontana (24-1) of the Citrus Belt League and Fountain Valley (16-8) of the Sunset League.

First-round action begins Thursday 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 Morningside, which went from 3-A to 5-AA, took advantage.

Here are the remaining seeded teams, by division:

5-A: 1. Chino (Baseline No. 1); 2. Hart (Foothill No. 1); 3. Buena (Channel No. 1); 4. Ontario (Hacienda No. 1).

4-AA: 1. Mission Viejo (South Coast No. 1); 2. Anaheim Canyon (Century No. 1); 3. Camarillo (Marmonte No. 2); 4. Tustin (Sea View No. 1).

4-A: 1. Palos Verdes (Bay No. 1); 2. Muir (Pacific No. 1); 3. Los Altos (Sierra No. 2); 4. Katella (Empire No. 1).

3-A: 1. Brea-Olinda (Orange No. 1); 2. Palm Desert (Desert Valleys No. 1); 3. La Quinta (Garden Grove No. 1); 4. Alemany (San Fernando Valley No. 1).

2-AA: 1. Santa Maria St. Joseph (Los Padres No. 1); 2. Banning (Sunkist No. 1); 3. Bell-Jeff (San Fernando Valley No. 2); 4. Ramona Convent (Horizon No. 1).

2-A: 1. Santa Clara (Frontier No. 1); 2. Valley Christian (Olympic No. 1); 3. Santa Ynez (Frontier No. 2); 4. La Reina (Tri-Valley No. 1).

1-A: 1. Rosamond (Desert-Inyo Small No. 1); 2. Mission College Prep (Tri-County No. 1); 3. La Sierra Academy (Arrowhead No. 1); 4. Flintridge Prep (Prep No. 1).

SMALL SCHOOLS: 1. Hemet Baptist Christian (Christian No. 1); 2. Pilgrim (Heritage No. 1); 3. Liberty Christian (Academy No. 1); 4. First Lutheran (Heritage No. 2).

Southern Section Pairings

First Round

All games Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

5-AA DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Morningside (Ocean No. 1), bye; Glendale (Pacific No. 2) at Montebello (Whitmont No. 2); Hesperia (San Andreas No. 1), bye; Hemet (Ivy No. 2) at Rubidoux (Citrus Belt No. 2); LB Poly (Moore No. 1), bye; Channel Islands (Marmonte No. 3) at Hawthorne (Bay No. 2); Hoover (At-Large/Pacific) at Palmdale (Golden No. 1); Saddleback (At-Large/Sea View) at Fountain Valley (Sunset No. 2).

LOWER BRACKET--Fontana (Citrus Belt No. 1), bye; Apple Valley (San Andreas No. 2) at Central (Desert Valleys No. 2); Schurr (At-Large/Foothill) at Antelope Valley (Golden No. 2); LB Jordan (Moore No. 3) at Lynwood (San Gabriel Valley No. 1); Redlands (Citrus Belt No. 3) at El Toro (South Coast No. 2); Simi Valley (At-Large/Marmonte) at Keppel (Mission Valley No. 1); San Gabriel (Foothill No. 3) at Don Lugo (Baseline No. 2); Bell Gardens (Whitmont No. 1), bye.

5-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Chino (Baseline No. 1), bye; Montclair (At-Large/Hacienda) at El Monte (Mission Valley No. 2); Alta Loma (At-Large/Baseline) at Mater Dei (Angelus No. 1); CC Canyon (Golden No. 3) at Santa Barbara (Channel No. 2); Ocean View (Sunset No. 1), bye; Santa Ana Valley (Century No. 3) at Canyon Springs (Mountain View No. 1); Ontario (Hacienda No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Buena (Channel No. 1), bye; Pasadena (Pacific No. 3) at Arroyo Grande (Northern No. 2); Cerritos (San Gabriel Valley No. 3) at Edison (Sunset No. 3); Thousand Oaks (Marmonte No. 1), bye; West Covina (Sierra No. 1), bye; Marina (At-Large/Sunset) at Gahr (San Gabriel Valley No. 2); Etiwanda (Hacienda No. 3) at Norco (Mountain View No. 3); Hart (Foothill No. 1), bye.

4-AA DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Mission Viejo (South Coast No. 1), bye; San Bernardino (At-Large/San Andreas) at Perris (Ivy No. 3); Whittier (Whitmont No. 3), bye; North Torrance (Ocean No. 3), bye; Valencia (Orange No. 3), bye; Cajon (San Andreas No. 3), bye; San Clemente (At-Large/South Coast) at Downey (At-Large/San Gabriel Valley); Tustin (Sea View No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Camarillo (Marmonte No. 2), bye; Inglewood (Bay No. 3), bye; Orange (Pacific Coast No. 2), bye; University (Sea View No. 2), bye; Ventura (Channel No. 3), bye; Agoura (At-Large/Frontier) at Westlake (At-Large/Marmonte); Kennedy (Garden Grove No. 3), bye; Anaheim Canyon (Century No. 1), bye.

4-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Palos Verdes (Bay No. 1), bye; Pioneer (At-Large/Whitmont) at West Torrance (Ocean No. 2); Bishop Amat (Angelus No. 3) at Temple City (Rio Hondo No. 2); La Habra (Freeway No. 1), bye; Woodbridge (Pacific Coast No. 1), bye; La Serna (At-Large/Whitmont) at Burbank Burroughs (Foothill No. 2); Bishop Montgomery (At-Large/Angelus) at Buena Park (Freeway No. 3); Katella (Empire No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Coachella Valley (At-Large/Desert Valleys) at Los Altos (Sierra No. 2); Glenn (At-Large/Suburban) at Cypress (Empire No. 2); Walnut (Valle Vista No. 3) at Fullerton (Freeway No. 2); Riverside North (Ivy No. 1), bye; Loara (Empire No. 3) at Compton (Moore No. 2); Artesia (Suburban No. 1), bye; San Marcos (At-Large/Channel) at Righetti (Northern No. 3); Muir (Pacific No. 1), bye.

3-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Brea-Olinda (Orange No. 1), bye; Sierra Vista (Montview No. 3) at Bellflower (Suburban No. 2); St. Lucy’s (Baseline No. 3) at San Marino (Rio Hondo No. 1); South Hills (Valle Vista No. 2) at Rancho Alamitos (Garden Grove No. 2); Western (At-Large/Orange) at Lakewood St. Joseph (Angelus No. 2); Temecula Valley (Sunkist No. 2) at La Sierra (Mountain View No. 2); St. Bernard (Camino Real No. 3) at Lompoc (Northern No. 1); Pomona (Montview No. 2) at Alemany (San Fernando Valley No. 1).

LOWER BRACKET--La Quinta (Garden Grove No. 1) bye; Brawley (Desert Valleys No. 3) at Foothill (Century No. 2); San Luis Obispo (At-Large/Northern) at Atascadero (Los Padres No. 2); Duarte (Mission Valley No. 3) at San Dimas (Montview No. 1); Trabuco Hills (Pacific Coast No. 3) at Savanna (Orange No. 2); Estancia (Sea View No. 3) at Covina (Valle Vista No. 1); La Canada (Rio Hondo No. 3) at Ganesha (Hacienda No. 2); Palm Desert (Desert Valleys No. 1).

2-AA DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Santa Maria (Los Padres No. 1), bye; Sacred Heart of Jesus (Horizon No. 3) at Louisville (San Fernando No. 3); Notre Dame Academy (Sunshine No. 3) at St. Mary’s (Camino Real No. 2); Ramona Convent (Horizon No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Nordhoff (Frontier No. 3) at Bell-Jeff (San Fernando Valley No. 2); Morro Bay (Los Padres No. 3) at LA Westlake (Sunshine No. 1); Mayfair (Surburban No. 3) at Whittier Christian (Olympic No. 2); Banning (Sunkist No. 1), bye.

2-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Santa Clara (Frontier No. 1), bye; Connelly (Sunrise No. 3) at Maranatha (Alpha No. 2); Whitney (At-Large/Olympic) at Crossroads (Delphic No. 1); Aquinas (At-Large/De Anza) at Mojave (Desert-Inyo Large No. 2); Twentynine Palms (DeAnza No. 1), bye; Bishop (At-Large/Desert-Inyo Large) at Marlborough (Sunshine No. 2); Orange Lutheran (Olympic No. 3) at Regina Caeli (Sunrise No. 2); La Reina (Tri-Valley No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--Kern Valley (Desert-Inyo Large No. 3) at Santa Ynez (Frontier No. 2); Village Christian (At-Large/Alpha) at St. Bonaventure (Tri-Valley No. 2); St. Anthony (At-Large/Camino Real) at Bishop Conaty (Sunrise No. 1); Paraclete (Desert-Inyo Large No. 1), bye; Pius X (Camino Real No. 1), bye; Riverside Notre Dame (Sunkist No. 3) at Beaumont (DeAnza No. 2); Marymount (At-Large/Sunshine) at Flintridge Sacred Heart (Horizon No. 2); Valley Christian (Olympic No. 1), bye.

1-A DIVISION

UPPER BRACKET--Rosamond (Desert-Inyo Small No. 1), bye; Holy Martyrs (Liberty No. 2), bye; Western Christian (At-Large/Alpha) at Faith Baptist (Delphic No. 3); Sherman Indian (Arrowhead No. 2), bye; L.A. Baptist (Alpha No. 1), bye; Ontario Christian (At-Large/Olympic) at Bishop Diego (Tri-Valley No. 3); Templeton (Tri-County No. 2), bye; Flintridge Prep (Prep No. 1), bye.

LOWER BRACKET--La Sierra Academy (Arrowhead No. 1), bye; Montclair Prep (Alpha No. 3) at Windward (Liberty No. 3); Pasadena Poly (At-Large/Prep) at Campbell Hall (Delphic No. 2); Woodcrest Christian (Christian No. 2), bye; Oakwood (Liberty No. 1), bye; Elliott Pope (Arrowhead No. 3) at Silver Valley (DeAnza No. 3); Chadwick (Prep No. 2), bye; Mission Prep (Tri-County No. 1), bye.

SMALL SCHOOLS

UPPER BRACKET--Baptist Christian (Christian No. 1), bye; Baker (At-Large/Hi-Lo) at Bethel Christian (Victory No. 1); Gethsemane Baptist (Express No. 3) at Bundy Canyon (Metro No. 1); Perris Temple Christian (At-Large/Victory) at Newport Christian (Academy No. 2); Viewpoint (Heritage No. 3) at Valley Christian Academy (Coast Valley No. 1); Rio Hondo Prep (Prep No. 3) at Wilmington Christian (Express No. 2); Apple Valley Christian (At-Large/Christian) at Big Pine (Desert-Inyo Small No. 3); North County Christian (Coast Valley No. 3) at First Lutheran (Heritage No. 2).

LOWER BRACKET--Liberty Christian (Academy No. 1), bye; Ribet Christian (At-Large/Heritage) at Pioneer Baptist (Express No. 1); Cal Lutheran (Academy No. 3) at Inland Christian (Victory No. 2); Hesperia Christian (Christian No. 3) at Lone Pine (Desert-Inyo Small No. 2); Lancaster Bethel Christian (Freelance) at Death Valley (Hi-Lo No. 1); West Shores (Victory No. 3) at Elsinore Christian (Metro No. 1); Pacific Christian (At-Large/Prep) at Coast Christian (Coast Valley No. 2); Pilgrim (Heritage No. 1), bye.