SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

DIVISION II-AA

Defending champion: Woodbridge.

Top teams: Woodbridge (25-1); Riverside J.W. North (20-3); Mission Hills Alemany (20-4); Ocean View (19-7).

Dark horse: Marina (18-6) went through a midseason tailspin, but has one of the division’s best players in Shandy Robbins, and matches up in height with most teams--including Woodbridge--though the Vikings depth makes them susceptible to foul trouble. The Vikings would likely play Ocean View in the quarterfinals, a team they beat, 52-34, earlier this season.

Top players: Courtney Bond (Yucaipa), Sonya Bryant (Marina), Angela Burgess (Woodbridge,), Angie Ching-Sam (Santiago), Krissy Duperron (Woodbridge), Elizabeth Edmond (J.W. North), Shontey Edwards (Moreno Valley), Emily Ela (San Clemente), Amber Farroux (Westminster), Becky Fraser (Ocean View), Carly Funicello (Alemany), Jennifer Garrett (Capistrano Valley), Michelle Greco (Arroyo), Shelly Higham (Mission Viejo), Heather Hollis (San Clemente), Brianna Kanongata’a (Oxnard Rio Mesa), Renee Kimoto (Huntington Beach), Raschelle Lawrence (University), Amirah Leonard (Arroyo), Pamela Loud (University), Monique Mathews (University), Kelly McKay (Alemany), Nicole Oliver (Cerritos Gahr), Melanie Pearson (Woodbridge), Phouangmaly Pravonguiengkham (Huntington Beach), Ayesha Rembert (North), Samantha Rigley (Alemany), Shandy Robbins (Marina), Kristin Schult (Westminter), Janine Shaw (Garden Grove), Heather Snavely (University), Sasha Spalding (Arroyo), Erin Stovall (Woodbridge), Jennifer Tuiolosega (Ocean View), Tami Weaver (Woodbridge), Monique Whitfield (Cerritos Gahr).

Notes: Alemany could probably win a Division III-AA title, but moved up in class to try to avenge last year’s State regional loss to Woodbridge. The Indians lost their only two games against Orange County teams, 56-52 to Mater Dei and 61-46 to Brea. Alemany plays its home games at L.A. Baptist in North Hills because its gym was destroyed in the Northridge earthquake. . . . University got the worst draw of the tournament. Despite winning the Pacific Coast League title, it plays the fifth-place team from the Sunset League, Huntington Beach, in the opening round. Huntington Beach beat county powers Marina and Esperanza in the final weeks of the season. . . . La Crescenta Crescenta Valley has the upper bracket’s second-best record and should face top-seeded Woodbridge in the quarterfinals; Crescenta Valley lost to Newport Harbor by 12 points and Huntington Beach by 11. Woodbridge beat Newport by 17 and 20, and Huntington Beach by 42. . . . Second-seeded North lost three of its last five games, beginning with a 63-53 loss to Brea Olinda. . . . A possible second-round matchup would be San Clemente and Marina; the Tritons upset Marina--then ranked fourth in the county--by 10 points after trailing by 22. . . . Capistrano Valley caught a break; should it win its opener at Whittier La Serna, it would play host to Alemany.

DIVISION II-A

Defending champion: Mission Hills Alemany (now in Division II-AA).

Top teams: Brea Olinda (24-2), San Bernardino (23-3), Pasadena Muir (21-2), Edison (18-6).

Dark horse: El Dorado (18-5) went unseeded despite winning a league title and made out like a bandit. With the third-best record in the lower bracket, it should get through the first two rounds before facing Muir in the quarterfinals, a game Coach Gary Raya thinks it can win. One catch--El Dorado failed to hang onto fourth-quarter leads against big game opponents Fountain Valley and Newport Harbor; Muir has won 15 straight.

Top players: Ember Brown (Ventura), Beau Bryant (El Dorado), Missy Bynon (Villa Park), Kelly Chavez (La Puente Bishop Amat), Yanick Clay (Inglewood), Michelle de Bruijn (El Dorado), Erryn Gutjahr (Kennedy), Tayyiba Haneef (Laguna Hills), Barbara Hannah (San Bernardino), Sasha Harris (Temple City), Kizzy Hollman (San Bernardino), Tomisha Hughes (Pasadena Muir), LaTonya Kindle (San Bernardino), Karin Kitagawa (Kennedy), Robynn Kuhlmann (Canyon), Tanisha LeBrane (San Bernardino), Melissa Lopez (Glendora St. Lucy’s), Dawn Metz (Brea Olinda), Kiyoko Miller (Brea Olinda), Lee Moulin (Brea Olinda), Stacey Nuveman (St. Lucy’s), Marlena O’Bannon (Dominguez), Mary Jo Pennington (Villa Park), Marie Philman (Edison), Shanna Renken (El Dorado), LaShawna Robertson (Compton Dominguez), Jennifer Saari (Brea Olinda), Kiana Webb (Bishop Amat).

Notes: Canyon had early season problems but jelled going into Century League play; the Comanches have won 14 in a row and could present problems for any of the favorites, but are in Brea Olinda’s quarter bracket. . . . Brea Olinda scored 80 points or more 13 times and surpassed 100 points four times. . . . Laguna Hills set a school record for victories in a season (16) and was considered among the others in the county poll for the first time. . . . St. Lucy’s beat Riverside Rubidoux, 68-40, earlier this year; the winner of that first-round game plays the El Dorado-Villa Park winner. St. Lucy’s beat Chino Don Lugo, 62-40; El Dorado beat Don Lugo, 64-12. . . . El Dorado could face San Bernardino (last year’s runner-up) in the semifinals. Cerritos beat El Dorado, 53-31, and San Bernardino, 64-42.

DIVISION III-A

Defending champion: Lompoc.

Top teams: San Dimas (20-4), Costa Mesa (18-8), Inglewood Morningside (17-6), Norwalk John Glenn 14-9.

Dark horse: Rosary (15-5), second in the newly formed Golden West League, could make a run to the final if it can get past Morningside in the second round--at Morningside. It would meet Costa Mesa in the semifinals.

Top players: Chanel Anderson (Costa Mesa), Angela Baca (Norwalk Glenn), Sara Belavic (Rosary), Erin Brown (Costa Mesa), Maria Camacho (Whittier Pioneer), Nikki Casapulla (San Luis Obispo), Kathleen Celio (Rosary), Maggie Dixon (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame), Karla Dominguez (Estancia), Jamie Howard (Rancho Alamitos), Arnika Hughes (West Covina South Hills), Koo Kim (Costa Mesa), Erin Kiyomura (Pacifica), Corri Lurmann (Costa Mesa), Colleen Mitchell (Lompoc), Letty Orozco (La Puente Bassett), Erin Osajima (Rosary), Holly Pawlowski (Pacifica), Cyndi Richards (Estancia), Beth Stanton (La Canada), Jessica Waltz (Estancia).

Notes: Rosary has scored 70 or more points seven times and scored fewer than 50 points twice; its first-round opponent, Moorpark, has scored 70 twice and fewer than 50 seven times. . . . Estancia (16-6) is an at-large team, but will play host to fourth-seeded Glenn because there is a conflict with a Southern Section wrestling meet at Glenn. “We went from not being in the playoffs to hosting a first-round game,” Coach Russ Davis said. “I can’t complain about that.” . . . Rancho Alamitos’ opponent, Pioneer, has won 10 of its last 11.