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 V-A

Defending champion: Los Angeles Pacific Hills.

Top teams: Santa Maria Valley Christian (14-8); Pacific Hills (16-7); Rolling Hills Prep (19-1); L.A. Pilgrim (8-2).

Dark horse: Redlands Calvary Chapel. The Bears (12-4) have won 10 of their last 12 games.

Top players: Matt Boylan (Encino Landmark West); Brandon Cruz (Victor Valley Christian); Joey Perry (Rolling Hills Prep); Scott Rissman (Redlands Calvary Chapel).

Notes: Orangewood Academy has its work cut out against West L.A. Baptist. Spartan guard Joey Oswald is averaging 14.6 points and six rebounds and center Nicholas Wolfsen is averaging 12.8 points and 11 rebounds. West L.A. Baptist has won five of its last six. Guard Joey Vavasseur averages 18 points and off-guard Ernest Dabbs averages 17 points.