SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL PAIRINGS : Seven Orange Empire Teams Make Cut for the Playoffs

Six teams from Orange County received berths in the Southern California community college men’s basketball playoffs, which were announced Tuesday.

Riverside, which won the Orange Empire Conference, joins conference members Saddleback, Fullerton, Rancho Santiago, Irvine Valley, Cypress and Orange Coast in the first round of the playoffs which are Friday and Saturday.

Game times--7 or 7:30 p.m.--will be determined today.

Friday’s games in Bracket 2: No. 31 Mt. San Jacinto (15-15) is at No. 2 Long Beach (26-6), No 18 Irvine Valley (18-14) is at No. 15 Los Angeles Southwestern (20-7), No. 23 Rio Hondo (17-15) is at No. 10 Cuesta (22-9), and No. 14 MiraCosta (14-14) is at No. 7 Saddleback (21-8).

Friday’s games in Bracket 4: No. 29 Los Angeles Trade Tech (14-16) is at No. 4 Chaffey (28-5), No. 20 San Diego Mesa (15-13) is at No. 13 College of the Canyons (14-16), No. 21 Bakersfield (14-18) is at No. 12 Fullerton (23-10) and No. 28 Oxnard (12-17) is at No. 5 Los Angeles City (25-5).

Saturday’s games in Bracket 1: No. 32 Los Angeles Harbor (13-16) is at No. 1 Ventura (31-2), No. 17 Compton (18-14) is at No. 16 Rancho Santiago (20-11), No. 24 Santa Monica (20-10) is at No. 9 Cerritos (25-6) and No. 25 Cypress (15-18) is at No. 8 Imperial Valley (19-11).

Saturday’s games in Bracket 4: No. 30 Cerro Coso (11-12) is at No. 3 Riverside (26-6), No. 19 Pasadena (15-15) is at No. 14 Antelope Valley (19-11), No. 22 Glendale (15-14) is at No. 11 Southwestern (24-5) and No. 27 Orange Coast (13-16) is at No. 6 Moorpark (23-8).

Winners advance to the second round March 2. The regional finals are March 5 and the four finalists in Southern and Northern California advance to the State tournament March 10-12 at UC Irvine.