SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PREP BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Mater Dei Gets North Hollywood; Estancia Faces Tulare Western

The Mater Dei High School boys’ basketball team, Southern Section 5-A division champion, is the second-seeded team in the Southern California Regional Division I playoffs and will play host to North Hollywood Tuesday.

Mater Dei (30-1) is assured of home games for the opening two games of the eight-team tournament. Tuesday’s game will be at Ocean View High School or Chapman College, Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said. The championship game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Regional games will be played Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in all divisions except Division I.

“Whoever wins, it’s a tribute to them with three games in five days,” McKnight said. “There’s no time for preparation, you’re just going to have to do what you do best if you hope to win.”

North Hollywood (23-3), which upset Fremont to win the City 3-A championship, is led by 6-foot-6 forward Dana Jones, who had 29 points and 29 rebounds against Fremont.

Long Beach Poly (26-2) is the top-seeded team in the division and will play host to Loyola (23-4) at Long Beach City College.

Estancia (20-9) is the top-seeded team in Division III and plays host to Tulare Western in the first round. Servite (17-11) and Corona del Mar (19-10) also gained berths in the division.

Corona del Mar will play at second-seeded San Diego Lincoln (22-8) and Servite will play at LeMoore (18-9) at 8 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader.

Laguna Beach (22-6), runner-up in the Southern Section’s 2-A division, will play at Coronado (19-8) in Division IV playoffs. Defending state champion Santa Clara (24-0) is the top-seeded team in the division.

In Division V, St. Margaret’s (21-5) will play El Cajon Christian (16-11) at Granite Hills High. El Cajon Christian is the second-seeded team behind Ribet Academy.

Each division winner in the regional playoffs will play the division winners of the Northern California Regional playoffs for the state championship March 16-17 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.