BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Mater Dei Gets Top Spot in I-A After San Bernardino’s Defeat

San Bernardino’s only loss was Mater Dei High School’s big gain when the Southern Section Division I-A boys’ basketball playoff pairings were announced Sunday in Cerritos.

The expanded playoff format features a record 367 teams playing in 10 divisions beginning with Tuesday’s qualifying round. The first round of the playoffs begins Friday.

San Bernardino was bidding to become the first large-school division to finish the regular season with an undefeated record in five years when it was defeated in its finale by league-rival Cajon.

San Bernardino (25-1) fell from the probable top-seeded position to the fourth-seeded position with the loss, with Mater Dei (22-4) moving into the top spot. Cajon (21-4) is seeded second and Irvine (22-3) third in the section’s toughest division.

“San Bernardino’s loss caused some major problems in the bracketing of Division I-A,” said Dean Crowley, Southern Section associate commissioner. “Drawing the playoffs was the most difficult assignment I’ve had in 16 years. Division I-A took over two hours alone and was by far the toughest to seed and bracket.”

Quality? Among the teams already qualified in the division are 11 league champions and nine league runners-up among the 14 teams with 17 or more victories. Quantity? Thirty teams, including Diamond Bar, Corona and Esperanza with 17 or more victories, will compete in the division’s qualifying round.

The division also features the best first-round matchup of the playoffs with Sunset League tri-champion Huntington Beach (17-7) playing host to Cerritos (17-8), the runner-up of the San Gabriel Valley League.

Ocean View, a perennial county power, earned the toughest draw of the 10 divisions. Ocean View (13-11) meets host Moreno Valley (16-8) in the qualifying round with the winner advancing to play San Bernardino on Friday.

“In all my years, this is the worst draw I’ve ever gotten,” said Jim Harris, Ocean View coach. “I can’t imagine anything worse.” Well, consider this: Moreno Valley Coach John Dahl will be going for his 400th career victory against Ocean View.

San Bernardino’s loss also scrambled the upper bracket of the division. Mater Dei, Los Alamitos, Capistrano Valley and San Bernardino are grouped in the bracket. Mater Dei conceivably could play Capistrano Valley in the quarterfinals and San Bernardino in the semifinals.

Esperanza (18-8) is coming off its most successful season in 10 years but was grouped into the qualifying round because league officials reported an incorrect record of 16-8 for the Aztecs. Esperanza and Pasadena are the only league runners-up playing a qualifying game in the section’s 10 divisions.

“It’s conceivable that a second-place team could fail to reach the playoffs, and I don’t think that’s ever happened before,” said Mark Hill, Esperanza coach. “We won more games than Huntington Beach or Cerritos and they’re in the playoffs but we’re not.”

This year, the playoffs were open to any school that desired to participate and 166 at-large schools accepted. Only 62 schools declined an invitation with most of those in Division V.

The open-door policy allows some mediocre teams to compete, including Hemet (1-19) in Division I-A, Compton (2-16) in Division II-A, Culver City (3-23) in Division III-AA and Oak Park (0-18) in Division IV-A.

Division III-AA includes 18 teams with losing records in the 32-team field and two others--Los Amigos (4-20) and Magnolia (6-16)--playing in the division’s only qualifying-round game.

Defending state Division III champion Servite (17-6) is seeded second in the division III-A behind Morningside (23-3).

Woodbridge, the state Division III champion in 1987, is seeded third in Division II-A. Defending state champion Artesia (20-2) is the division’s top-seeded team.

Both Division IV-AA and IV-A will have 16-team brackets with all but the top four seeds competing in the qualifying round. Laguna Beach (15-9) appears to have the county’s best chance of advancing in Division IV-A after finishing second in the Pacific Coast League against larger schools.

Championship games in I-AA, I-A, II-AA, II-A, III-AA and III-A divisions are scheduled for March 2 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. All other division title games will be held at alternate sites.

TOP SEEDS DIVISION I-AA

No. 1: LB Jordan

No. 2: Millikan

No. 3: Chaffey

No. 4: Channel Islands

DIVISION I-A

No. 1: Mater Dei

No. 2: Cajon

No. 3: Irvine

No. 4: San Bernardino

DIVISION II-AA

No. 1: J.W. North

No. 2: Muir

No. 3: Tustin

No. 4: Gahr

DIVISION II-A

No. 1: Artesia

No. 2: San Marcos

No. 3: Woodbridge

No. 4: Palm Desert

DIVISION III-AA

No. 1: Estancia

No. 2: Pomona

No. 3: Western

No. 4: Mira Costa

DIVISION III-A

No. 1: Morningside

No. 2: Servite

No. 3: La Canada

No. 4: South Pasadena

DIVISION IV-AA

No. 1: Santa Clara

No. 2: Pius X

No. 3: Banning

No. 4: Palo Verde

DIVISION IV-A

No. 1: St. Joseph

No. 2: Valley Christian

No. 3: St. Monica

No. 4: Crossroads

DIVISION V-AA

No. 1: Bishop Diego

No. 2: Mission

No. 3: Brethren

No. 4: Montclair Prep

DIVISION V-A

No. 1: Ribet Academy

No. 2: Rio Hondo Prep

No. 3: South Bay Lutheran

No. 4: Gethsemane Baptist