Monroe Boys Seeded 1st in 3-A Division

The Monroe High boys’ basketball team has been selected by coaches as the top-seeded team in the City Section 3-A Division playoffs, it was announced Thursday.

Monroe (19-3) clinched its first league title since 1975-76 this week, defeating Birmingham to claim the Mid-Valley title. The Vikings could open with either El Camino Real, Wilson or Belmont, depending on the outcome of today’s final regular-season games.

The playoffs open Wednesday.

San Fernando (13-7), the North Valley League champion, will open with Verdugo Hills (7-12).

Birmingham (17-6) plays either Bell or Garfield; Canoga Park (9-10) plays either Banning or Gardena--whichever places first in the Pacific League--and Reseda (6-11) will play the Pacific’s second-place team.

North Hollywood (23-1) was seeded second in the 4-A and will play Taft (10-9). Crenshaw (20-2) was seeded first and will open with Van Nuys (8-13).

The City also announced that the playoffs probably will be held in spite of a teachers’ strike scheduled for Tuesday. Commissioner Hal Harkness said that, barring violence at campuses, games will be played.

“If the strike happens, we will try to play the games,” Harkness said. “But I don’t see any reason to cross the picket lines if there’s a chance that people could get hurt. If there are problems, I’m washing out the playoffs.”

The girls’ 4-A seeding was tabled until Saturday, because North Hollywood is tied with Van Nuys in the Mid-Valley League. Crenshaw is expected to be seeded first.

In girls’ 3-A, Taft opens with Birmingham; Sylmar plays Gardena.