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 IV-A

Defending champion: Santa Monica Crossroads.

Top teams: Crossroads (23-3); Los Angeles Verbum Dei (18-5); Calvary Chapel (22-4); L.A. Baptist (22-2).

Dark horse: Burbank Bellarmine-Jefferson (20-6). The Guards bring a 13-game winning streak into the playoffs and only one game was close, a 62-54 victory over Los Angles Salesian that started the streak.

Top players: Jacob Brown (Brethren Christian); Baron Davis (Crossroads); Ruben Douglas (Bellarmine-Jefferson); Kevin Falconer (Calvary Chapel); Joe Ortiz (Calvary Chapel); Jon Stoa (Whittier Christian); LeQuan Tolbert (Crossroads); Cash Warren (Crossroads).

Notes: Calvary Chapel Coach Craig Falconer was probably the happiest coach at the seeding meeting Sunday at the Southern Section office in Cerritos, regionalism or not. “We’ve been playing our entire season all year to be the No. 3 seed,” he said. “And that’s what we are.” Falconer expects to meet Verbum Dei in the semifinals and, with a little luck, Crossroads in the finals March 7 at the Bren Center. “Realistically, they are better than us, but we’re both fine teams,” Falconer said. Joe Ortiz (17.9 points), Kevin Falconer (14.8) and Robert Cutler (10.5) lead the Eagles in scoring. Falconer, the coach’s son, also averages nine assists. . . . Four players average in double-figure scoring for Crossroads, including Baron Davis (24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds), who has orally committed to UCLA. . . . Sierra Madre Maranatha (9-12) won three of its final four games.