Mater Dei, Crenshaw Seeded 1-2

For the fourth consecutive season, Santa Ana Mater Dei High and Crenshaw were awarded the two top spots in the CIF Southern Regional boys’ basketball pairings, which were released Sunday.

Mater Dei, top-seeded in the Southern Region for the fifth consecutive season, won the Division I State title last year, 71-67, over Oakland Fremont.

Mater Dei won the Southern Section Division I-A title Saturday with a 57-47 victory over Glendora.

The Monarchs, winning the title for the 10th time in 14 years, led by 16 points with 7:49 left.

Crenshaw, which earned the No. 2 seeding with a last-second 82-81 victory over Fremont in Saturday’s City 4-A final, won State titles in 1993 and 1994.

The Cougars have won the City title four times in a row and 15 times since 1971.

Mater Dei (32-1), which enters the Southern Regional tournament with a 32-game winning streak, will play host to Victor Valley (27-3) in a first-round game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Ocean View High in Huntington Beach.

Crenshaw (25-5) will play host to Glendora (25-6) in the first round Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“We’ve been fortunate to reach the regional finals against Crenshaw in recent years,” said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight. “Crenshaw is always a tough opponent.

“But a lot of things can happen to knock out those familiar faces before Saturday’s final.”

The Ventura Buena girls (28-1) are top-seeded in Division I and will play host to Pacific Palisades (19-8) in a first-round game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Boys’ and girls’ semifinals in all five divisions will be played Thursday.

The Southern Regional finals for Divisions I, II and III will be held at The Pond of Anaheim on Saturday.

The Division IV and V finals will be held at Cal State Fullerton.

Southern Regional winners will play their Northern Regional counterparts in the State finals March 15-16 at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

* PAIRINGS: C11