CRUNCH TIME: League titles and playoff berths...

CRUNCH TIME: League titles and playoff berths are at stake in this final week of prep basketball’s regular season. . . . Orange County has two of the nation’s top teams--the Mater Dei boys are ranked fourth, the Brea-Olinda girls fifth--and is expected to contend for state titles. . . . Looking to shake up the status quo is Orange, which in 1920 became the county’s first state champion. But it might be tough for the Panthers, ranked third in the county; they’re in the same division as Mater Dei and lost an earlier meeting, 69-30. “We’re not really concerned about it,” Coach Richard Bossenmeyer said. “Our goal has been to win the Century League . . . then we’ll worry about the playoffs.”

NOT SO FAST: Unlike the pros, boys’ basketball does not have a time limit for attempting a shot, which coaches like Capistrano Valley’s Mark Thornton appreciate. . . . In an effort to keep a recent game with Mater Dei close, Thornton’s Cougars held the ball for long stretches without shooting and still lost by 24 points. Said Thornton: “You want to see a shot clock, so we have to run up and down the court with those guys? They’d score 1,000 points.” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight called the stalling tactics a mere nuisance and quipped: “I’d love to see a 15-second shot clock.”

ALL KEYED UP: Newport Harbor senior Genevieve Evarts began playing piano at age 4, and says it has helped her in basketball. The Sailors’ leading scorer competed in recitals worldwide until her freshman year. “Here on the basketball court, you’re dealing with the same kind of pressure--of having to perform well and finish the performance no matter what.”

TOUGH TEAM: Perhaps no girls’ team has handled adversity as well as Fountain Valley. The Barons didn’t practice in their own gym until Jan. 3, because it was being repaired after vandals flooded it. And they won a tournament without Coach Carol Strausburg, who was attending her mother’s funeral in Ohio. . . . Still, the team of mostly juniors and sophomores is No. 7 in the county. Said Strausburg: “We’ve gotten more out of this team than anyone thought we would.”