DIVISION III-AA

Defending champion: Newbury Park.

Top teams: Moorpark (22-0), Pasadena Muir (22-4), La Verne Bonita (20-5), San Luis Obispo (21-2).

Dark horse: Torrance Bishop Montgomery (9-17). The Knights finished third in the Del Rey League, but only because they forfeited six league victories (12 overall). Among teams they beat: powerful Atherton Sacred Heart and L.A. Crenshaw, both forfeited, and Alemany and Cerritos. The Knights played Brea tough, losing 62-55.

Top players: Erin Allard (La Habra), Danielle Beck (San Luis Obispo), Randi Breach (Bonita), Angelina Baca (Norwalk Glenn), Maria Camacho (Whittier Pioneer), Niki Casapulla (San Luis Obispo), Thiaice Clay (Bonita), Heather Green (Pacifica), Jana James (Bolsa Grande), Erin Kiyomura (Pacifica), Tracey Milburn (Moorpark), Aiyana Nash (Sonora), Jaymee Pendergast (Pacifica), Andrea Picchi (Magnolia), Stacy Tewell (Magnolia), Andree Verhulst (Newport Harbor), Yolanda White (San Luis Obispo).

Notes: Magnolia Coach Doug Romeo was upset his team was stuck with a wild-card game against Bishop Montgomery. The Sentinels finished second to Brea in the Orange League for the third year in a row. “I’m under the impression they’re the second-best team in the division,” Romeo said, not too far off the mark. “This is my worst nightmare. I could not have imagined this, not in III-AA--maybe if we played in a higher division.” . . . Magnolia played Brea twice, including a 96-21 loss on Thursday. . . . Magnolia and Newport Harbor are second-place teams facing third-place teams in two of the five wild-card games. . . . La Habra, a third-place team from the Freeway League, hosts a wild-card game against another third-place team, Redondo Beach Redondo Union; a fourth-place team, Bolsa Grande from the Garden Grove League, plays at Glenn, the third-place team from the Suburban League. Romeo would prefer any of those options to the one he faces. . . . Sonora and Pacifica were the only county teams to make the main draw. Sonora, second place in the Freeway League, plays the Newport Harbor-Newbury Park winner, and Pacifica plays the La Habra-Redondo Union winner. . . . Sonora’s Nash led Orange County in scoring, averaging 28.2 points. None of her teammates averaged more than seven; Sarah Fister averaged seven points and 12.8 rebounds. . . . Pioneer’s Maria Camacho averaged 21.9 points and 11.1 rebounds. . . . Glenn guard Angelina Baca averaged 26.1 points. . . . Top-seeded Moorpark plays only two seniors--who average 13 points between them; the Musketeers’ other players average 46 points. Senior Tina Milburn averages 10 points and 10 rebounds.