NOTEBOOK : Ribet Academy Rolls to Win in Playoff Opener

The Glendale area was well represented in the Southern Section boys’ and girls’ basketball playoffs, which began Tuesday.

Ribet Academy opened as the top-seeded team in the Southern Section boys’ Small Schools division and promptly rolled over Garden Grove Claremont, 106-14. La Canada, seeded fourth in the 3-A, has a first-round bye. Flintridge Sacred Heart was seeded second in the girls’ 2-AA division.

Crescenta Valley (16-8) defeated Hacienda Heights Wilson (9-14), 70-54, in a 4-A game; St. Francis (7-15) lost to Blair (7-17), 76-67, in a 3-A contest; and Flintridge Prep (14-7) edged Ontario Christian (13-10), 76-74, in a 1-A game.

The Southern Section determined its playoff participants by taking the first three finishers from each league. Divisions are arranged according to enrollment, unless schools have requested a move to higher classifications. At-large berths were awarded based on strength of schedule.

Schools with enrollments of 2,410 or more compete in the 5-AA Division. Other divisions include: 5-A--2,000-2,409; 4-AA--1,710-1,999; 4-A--1,500-1,709; 3-AA--1,251-1,499; 3-A--1,000-1,250; 2-AA--650-999; 2-A--400-649; 1-A--140-399; Small Schools--fewer than 139.

Flintridge Sacred Heart, La Canada (3-A) and Flintridge Prep (1-A) had byes in the girls’ playoffs, which began Wednesday. Hoover (16-3) played at Channel Islands (20-6) in a 5-AA game and Ribet Academy (13-5) played host to Bog Pine (15-4) in a Small Schools game. Results were not available at press time.

Shooting for a title: The City Section boys’ and girls’ basketball playoffs begin Friday.

Marshall, which finished second in the Northwest League, plays West Valley League champion San Fernando in a 3-A contest.

Franklin and Wilson both won games Tuesday to secure the two playoff berths from the Northeast League.

Girls’ teams from Franklin, Marshall and Eagle Rock all made the playoffs, but opponents and game sites had not been determined at press time.

Alive and kicking: La Canada opens its defense of the boys’ 1-A soccer title Friday when the top-seeded Spartans play host to Norwalk in the opening round of the Southern Section playoffs.

Flintridge Prep travels to Morro Bay for a Small Schools Division game.

St. Francis, champion of the Del Rey League, has a first-round bye in the 3-A playoffs that begin Friday.

The girls’ soccer playoffs begin today with La Canada at Saugus.

Title run: The Los Angeles City College men’s basketball team is rolling toward its second straight Southern California Athletic Conference title.

LACC, averaging 102 points a game, is 21-8 overall and 11-0 in conference play entering Friday’s regular-season finale against Trade Tech.

The Cubs are led by a quartet of sophomores, including Marcus Nash, who averages 21 points and eight rebounds a game; Chris Small (20 points); Thurman Watson (20); and Anthony Thomas (16).

Coach Reggie Morris is looking forward to Feb. 23 when his team will begin play in the community college state basketball playoffs. Last season, the Cubs advanced to the third round of the tournament before losing to Santa Monica.

Morris, who won two City Section titles and one state championship in 11 seasons at Manual Arts High before helping revive the LACC program in 1988, says his team is capable of winning the state title this season.

“With the experience of the four main guys, we definitely have a chance,” Morris said.

Fight on: Pepe Reilly of Glendale advanced to the USA Amateur Boxing Federation championships Feb. 25 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Reilly, 18, won the 119-pound division last week at regional competition in Las Vegas, scoring technical knockouts over Nevada’s Saul Avelar in the second round and Dino Camberos of San Diego in the third.