Prep Wednesday : SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS PREVIEWS : 4-A : County Teams Might Have Short Stays

Call the Southern Section 4-A boys’ basketball playoff draw the bye-bye bracket. Eight teams have first-round byes, including the four top-seeded teams: Dominguez (20-4), St. Paul (19-7), Rio Mesa (20-4) and Barstow (21-3).

The four Orange County entries, which did not receive byes, will be lucky to get by the first round. Look for them to wave goodby long before play reaches UC Irvine’s Bren Center, the site of the final on March 1.

Travel will definitely be a factor in the race, with home sites ranging from Barstow, halfway to Las Vegas in the high desert of San Bernardino County, to Rio Mesa in Ventura County.

Dominguez’s seeding is no surprise. The Dons have been atop the 4-A poll the entire season. They have offensive balance with four players in double figures. Xavier Edison, a 6-foot-4 forward, leads with 14 points, followed by 6-3 left-hander Dijon Bernard (13.5), forward Derrick Thomas (10.3) and Cory Cothrine (10.1). Dominguez has played a tough schedule too, defeating Perris, third-seeded in the 4-AA, in nonleague play.

St. Paul is a consensus pick to make the final because of its tough schedule. The Swordsmen played 14 teams that ranked in the top 10 of various California and Nevada polls. They have Jason Hart, who is four three-point baskets away from the Southern Section record of 99 set last season by Glendora’s Tracy Murray. St. Paul also boasts one of the 4-A’s best players in 6-7 forward Greg Willig, who averages 27.3 points per game.

Barstow, seeded fourth, has only three losses and they were all to San Bernardino (26-0), the top-seeded team in the 4-AA.

Rio Mesa is a solid team led by guard Jeff Garner. And Charter Oak (21-4) has 6-8 Jeff Vonlutzow, who will play for UC Irvine next season, and 6-4 Shane Bowers.

Even with one of the top players in the state, 6-8 1/2 junior forward Ed O’Bannon (28-point average), Artesia (18-5) will have a tough time reaching the final in a bracket with St. Paul and Rio Mesa. Artesia has a first-round bye and plays the winner of the Pioneer-Fullerton game on Friday.

With the exception of Fullerton (16-6), the Orange County teams--Woodbridge (9-12), Cypress (11-13) and La Habra (13-11)--do not even qualify as dark horses.

One Orange County team is sure to be out after the first round because Woodbridge and Cypress play at Woodbridge. The Warriors, led by junior Joey Cohen (15.7 points a game) are led primarily by sophomores and juniors.

The winner of that game will have to play Dominguez in the second round.

La Habra, under second-year Coach Frank McCarroll, has 13 victories this season, one more than the Highlanders managed in the past four years. La Habra must travel to Riverside to take on John W. North (18-7), and McCarroll has no illusions about his team’s chances.

“We are just happy to be here,” he said. “We haven’t been in the playoffs in five years. We are just trying to re-establish the tradition we had a few years ago here, and we felt this team could be a good foundation for coming years.”

Fullerton has the best record of any county team in the 4-A. The Indians, led by the youngest coach in the county, Chris Burton, 23, have come back to win from double-figure deficits in five games. That and the savvy and shooting of three-point specialist Rene Arias (55 of 88 three-point baskets) and Pete Bach (19.6 points a game) elevate Fullerton from obscurity to the status of long shot, one level below a dark horse.

Compton (13-11) might have a chance. The Tarbabes are the only 4-A team in the tough Moore League, which features five 5-AA teams, all of which advanced to the playoffs. Compton was 11-3 before league play, including a victory over Capistrano Valley.

4-A IN A BOX Teams to beat: Dominguez (20-4), St. Paul (19-7), Barstow (21-3).

Dark horse: Compton (13-11).

Players to watch: Dijon Bernard (Dominguez), Xavier Edison (Dominguez), Jason Hart (St. Paul), Ed O’Bannon (Artesia), Jeff Vonlutzow (Charter Oak), Greg Willig (St. Paul).

Best first-round game: Crescenta Valley (15-8) at Newbury Park (13-10).

Final four prediction: Dominguez vs. Barstow, St. Paul vs. Rio Mesa.