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-A

Defending champion: North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake.

Top teams: Harvard-Westlake (27-1); Inglewood Morningside (18-5); Torrance Bishop Montgomery (20-4); San Dimas (20-6).

Dark horses: Duarte (20-6), which has won 11 of its past 12 games, and West Hills Chaminade (18-7), which has beaten several larger-school teams this season, including Golden West League champion Servite, 78-72. Beyond powerful Harvard-Westlake, this is a tough division to figure out because there are many teams with many victories.

Top players: Jarron Collins (Harvard-Westlake); Jason Collins (Harvard-Westlake); Delano D’Oyen (Bishop Montgomery); Solomon Hughes (Bishop Montgomery); Sam Nelson (Estancia); Scott Ogilvie (La Quinta); DuJuan Sharkey (Pasadena Blair); Justin Stewart (West Hills Chaminade).

Notes: Harvard-Westlake was described by one national ranking service earlier this season as the best prep team on the West Coast. The Wolverines are expected to cruise through this division on their way to their second consecutive state title. They have defeated many of the top teams in the Southern Section, including Mater Dei, 64-38, at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. The Wolverines have also beaten national power Baltimore St. Francis, 59-54, and two-time defending Nevada state large-school champion, Las Vegas Durango, 80-61. Jarron Collins (13.8 points, 9.1 rebounds) and his twin brother, Jason (19.7 points, 10.8 rebounds), lead the team. They are headed to Stanford in the fall. . . . Bishop Montgomery’s D’Oyen averaged 18.9 points and Hughes averaged 11.1 rebounds. Blair’s Sharkey averaged 20.6 points and 7.2 rebounds. Chaminade’s Stewart was solid, averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds.