SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PAIRINGS : Coin Toss Could Seal Their Fate

A simple coin flip could signal an early ending for the Edison or Irvine high school boys’ basketball teams in the Southern Section Division I-A playoffs.

Edison (16-8) and Irvine (21-5) have been ranked among the top-10 teams in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. prep poll most of the season. But the teams probably will meet in the first round of the playoffs Friday night.

Edison, co-champion of the Sunset League with Marina, lost a coin flip Saturday morning to determine the league’s No. 1 representative in post-season play after both teams finished with 9-3 records in the seven-team league.

Marina (17-9) won the flip and was awarded a home game in the first round of the playoffs Friday. Marina will play host to the winner of Tuesday night’s qualifying game between Valley View (15-9) and Don Lugo (12-11).

Despite winning the league title, Edison will play host to Cerritos (7-16) in the qualifying round Tuesday. If Edison wins, it will travel to Irvine Friday night for a game that neither Edison Coach Jon Borchert or Irvine Coach Steve Keith is happy about.

“I hate to come down here and whine, but you’d think a team that finished 21-5 would get a little more consideration,” Keith said. “Usually, a good team plays someone that barely has a .500 record in the first round and then might get a league champion in the second round.

“We’ve played Edison almost every year in the Estancia tournament for the past five seasons and no one plays us tougher. Jon Borchert knows how to defend us as well as any coach in the county.”

Borchert found it difficult to believe his team would have to play a qualifying-round game after winning a league championship, and he found it even more difficult to anticipate a matchup with Irvine.

“They (Southern Section administrators) certainly didn’t do us any favors,” Borchert said. “We won the league. Then we have a coin flip. I called tails, lost the flip and now it looks like we’re going to have to play at Irvine.”

Popovich, who called the coin flip significant, said he wasn’t aware it was necessary to determine the league’s No. 1 entry into the playoffs. Popovich said he was unaware of Saturday morning’s coin flip until he tuned in the Orange County Newschannel late Friday night.

“I wasn’t there when they flipped the coin,” Popovich said. “I got a call at 8:30 Saturday morning from my principal (Gary Ernst) saying we won the flip. It was a big break for us. I don’t know anything about Don Lugo or Valley View, but I know we’re better off than Edison. A first-round game between Edison and Irvine is incredible.”

Borchert questions whether Edison should be placed in the Division I-A, where schools with enrollments between 2,000 to 2,370 are competing. Edison has about 1,850 students but a center for severely handicapped students built on the campus pushed enrollment to 2,056.

“The district built the center on our campus to save money,” Borchert said. “The center has about 200 students who play on their own teams, with separate coaches and with different schedules.

“We protested twice to the Southern Section office and have received two letters from (Commissioner) Stan Thomas denying our request. I just don’t see how severely handicapped kids who don’t attend Edison could count as part of our enrollment.”

Thomas said the issue is clearly spelled out in the State Federated rule book.

“If the students are on Edison’s campus, then they’re part of Edison’s enrollment,” Thomas said.

Defending State Division II champion Tustin (19-7) also received a difficult draw in the II-AA playoffs, which drew a Yogi Berra-type response from Tillers’ Coach Tom McCluskey.

Tustin opens against La Serna at home and then probably will travel to Gahr for its second-round game Feb. 25. Gahr features two-time All-Southern Section forward Brandon Titus, who averages nearly 30 points per game.

If Tustin is successful against Gahr, the Tillers probably would face fourth-seeded Muir and its multitalented guard, Jacques Vaughn, in the quarterfinals. Tustin beat Muir, 72-57, in the semifinals last year.

“Wow, this could be ugly,” McCluskey said. “I guess that’s the way it goes. You gotta play who you gotta play, that’s the way it works.”

Glendora (26-0), the only undefeated team in the section, was seeded first in the division, but could find it difficult advancing to the championship in the upper bracket. Tustin, Gahr and Muir are worthy opponents. In contrast, second-seeded Artesia (21-3) should breeze to the title game.

Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton was surprised that his team wasn’t top-seeded in Division I-AA. Capistrano Valley (23-3) was ranked second and Lynwood 21-5) was ranked fourth in last week’s Division I poll.

Lynwood was coming off a 90-60 nonleague loss to South Lake Tahoe Saturday night while Capistrano Valley won 10 consecutive games in the South Coast League.

“I came up here expecting to be No. 1, but we’re No. 2,” Thornton said. “I’m not exactly upset about that. We’re opposite Lynwood and that’s where I wanted to be.”

But Capistrano Valley will have a tougher road to the championship game with defending champion Long Beach Jordan (19-6) and Lakewood (19-6) in the same bracket. Most figure Capistrano Valley, Jordan and Lakewood are the only teams in the division capable of defeating Lynwood.

“We could get Lakewood in the quarterfinals, and that makes me a little angry,” Thornton said.

Defending State Division III champion Estancia (20-6) was seeded second behind Morningside (17-6) in III-AA. But Estancia Coach Tim O’Brien was more concerned about whether rapidly improving Servite (13-11) was placed in the Eagles’ bracket.

“I’m just glad to see Servite is in the opposite bracket,” O’Brien said. “They always play us tough. Servite has four starters back from last year’s playoffs and experience is so important in the playoffs.”

Servite Coach Richard Smith said his team reached a low point after a 57-39 loss at Bishop Amat that left the Friars with a 1-3 record in the Angelus League before getting its act together.

“We had to sink to the bottom before putting all the pieces together,” Smith said. “We’d sit and talk about our problems, but nothing seemed to happen. We had a lot of problems. One guy would play well and three guys would be out to lunch.

“After the Bishop Amat game, we started playing very well. We’ve got some momentum going, and I think our kids are ready to play.”

Santa Margarita (17-8) is going in the opposite direction heading into the playoffs. The Eagles have lost six of their last seven games but Coach Roger Holmes hasn’t panicked.

“Our luck was really good in the first round of league, and it changed in the second round,” he said. “Things went the other way in the last minute of our games the past couple of weeks. Basically, we’re playing well.”

Southern Section officials were anticipating that playoff entries would decline by 10% from last year and they were correct.

Last year, 367 boys’ teams entered 10 playoff divisions. This year, 347 teams entered--a decline of 11%.

Among the county schools electing not to participate include Bolsa Grande (1-21), Loara (4-19), Anaheim (4-20) and Orange (8-15).

Among the county schools that should have elected not to participate include Dana Hills (2-21), La Quinta (4-20), Costa Mesa (4-18), La Habra (4-19) and Santa Ana (6-18).

Even Dana Hills Coach Tom Reich admitted Sunday that his team “probably” didn’t belong in the playoffs.

“But we have so many young kids, it will probably be a good experience for them,” Reich said. “The kids worked hard all season, and it was totally my decision to make. Unless I was told otherwise, I had planned all along to go (into postseason play).”