PREP BASKETBALL / STATE REGIONAL FINALS : Clovis West Boys Are in Rare Company

High school basketball fans anticipating another boys’ showdown between Santa Ana Mater Dei and Crenshaw for supremacy in Southern California were thrown for a loop Thursday night.

Crenshaw, the two-time defending state Division I champion, was upset by Fresno Clovis West, 67-62, in the second round of the state tournament.

“We entered the game very much in awe of Crenshaw and all its tradition,” said Clovis West Coach Vance Walberg. “We somehow managed to escape with a win, and now we’re just trying to keep our feet on the ground. There’s no time to dwell on the past.”

Clovis West’s reward for its biggest victory in school history is a date with Mater Dei, the state’s top-ranked team, in the Southern Regional Division I final tonight at 8 at The Pond of Anaheim.

Crenshaw defeated Mater Dei in the last two regional finals, and the teams figured to meet again after being seeded No. 1 and No. 2.

Clovis West never advanced this far in the state tournament, and it has worn an underdog label well. It came from behind to defeat Fontana, the Southern Section Division I-AA champion, on Tuesday, and used a fourth-quarter rally to knock off Crenshaw, the City 4-A winner.

Clovis West (28-2) will have its hands full with Mater Dei, which has won 23 consecutive games and defeated La Puente Nogales by a record 50 points in the Southern Section I-A final last weekend. “I had a chance to see that Mater Dei-Nogales game and it certainly was intimidating,” said Walberg, in his sixth season at Clovis West. “They’re like men among boys. But we’re not going to fold up our tents just yet.”

Walberg and his staff locked themselves in an Orange County hotel room Friday morning to review game film and plot strategy. Although Clovis West is averaging 75 points a game, Walberg said his team’s only chance is to slow the tempo against Mater Dei.

Fairfax used the same strategy with fairly positive results Thursday. It led Mater Dei, 18-16, at halftime and 20-18 in the third quarter before collapsing.

Tournament Notes

For the second consecutive year, The Pond of Anaheim is the site of the boys’ and girls’ Division I, II and III Southern Regional finals. The six games will be split into two sessions. A ticket for the first session includes the Division II and III games, and the second session is for Division I. Play begins at 9 a.m. with the girls’ Division III championship game between Newbury Park and Santee Santana. . . . For the first time, the boys’ and girls’ Division I finals will involve the same schools. The girls’ championship game will also be between Mater Dei and Clovis West, beginning at 6 p.m. . . . The Division IV and V title games will be played today at Cal State Fullerton, beginning at 2 p.m. . . . Today’s winners face the Northern Regional champions in the state finals next Friday and Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.