County Teams Will Get a Good Look at One Another

Something old, something new.

Hey, we know it’s a cliche, but placing teams in regional brackets for easier travel has added a new dimension to the CIF Southern Section basketball playoffs.

Now, just about every first-round game pits one Orange County team against another. The region I bracket in Division I-A, for example, looks like a replay of the South Coast League season, with top-seeded Mater Dei (25-2), Dana Hills (15-12), San Clemente (17-8) and Mission Viejo (16-10) taking part. But some things never change. Mater Dei will be seeking its sixth consecutive section title.

The county has produced several other highly seeded teams. Sonora (23-3) is seeded No. 3 in Division II-A, the top team in its Region III bracket, which counts all eight teams from Orange County. But in a departure from total regionalism, Brea Olinda (23-3) is seeded fourth atop a Division II-A bracket that includes seven teams from the Inland Empire.

Southern Section officials say that as many as 75% of the teams were bracketed based on their localities.

Brethren Christian opens the playoffs Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. by hosting Burbank Providence (13-9) in a Division IV-A wild card game.

All other first-round games will be Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

Here’s a division-by-division look at the playoffs:

DIVISION III-AA

Defending champion: Pasadena Muir.

Top teams: Hemet West Valley (23-3); Pasadena Muir (19-8); Cathedral City (18-6); Perris (16-9).

Dark horse: Brawley Union (19-4). The Wildcats have five players averaging between nine and 12 points.

Top players: Steven Albitre (La Puente Bassett); Zamiro Bennem (Magnolia); Ryan Coleman (Calabasas); Caleb Gervin (Cathedral City); Aaron Johnson (Compton Centennial); Duc Nguyen (Bolsa Grande); John Parker (Muir); Brandon Rosenthal (Fullerton).

Notes: Fullerton and Magnolia are happy to be in the playoffs but can’t be happy having to play each other in the first round. The Indians are paced by 6-1 senior guard Rosenthal (12 points). Bennem (14.2 points), a 6-2 junior guard, leads the Sentinels. . . . Bolsa Grande is the other county team here, opening against Perris. The playoffs should be a good showcase for Nguyen. The senior guard is third in scoring (20.6), second in three-point field-goal percentage (.458) and 12th in free-throw percentage (.776) in the county. . . . Muir has to be pleased with the development of 6-4 sophomore Parker (12 points, nine rebounds). . . . Bassett has an excellent sophomore in 6-1 guard Albitre (20.4 points). . . . How does a 7-17 team such as Bloomington make the playoffs? When it goes 6-4 to finish second in league. The Bruins’ leading scorer is 5-9 senior guard Chris Arzola (20.5 points). . . . Calabasas brings one of the higher-scoring teams into the tournament. The Coyotes are averaging 70.7 points, paced by two senior guards: Coleman (23.2 points) and Bobby Baumann (22.1).