Mater Dei Opens Regionals With Fontana Miller

Mater Dei, winner of six consecutive Southern Section titles, and Los Angeles Crenshaw, which has won five consecutive City Section crowns, continue their course toward a much-awaited boys’ basketball rematch as Southern California Regional basketball pairings were released Sunday.

The regionals begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the semifinals Thursday and the finals Saturday at the Pond and Cal State Fullerton.

Crenshaw, the defending state Division I champion, defeated Mater Dei in last season’s regional final.

The Monarchs (30-2), second-ranked in the state, host Fontana Miller (22-8) at the Bren Center in the regional Division I playoffs. Crenshaw (23-3) will host Etiwanda (24-6). Mater Dei defeated Etiwanda, 88-70, Saturday in the Southern Section Division I-A final.

Woodbridge (27-3) will host its first regional playoff game when it plays Bakersfield South (20-6) in another Division II game. Villa Park (24-5), which lost to Woodbridge in the Southern Section Division II-AA title game, is at Oceanside El Camino (29-2).

Calvary Chapel (25-4), which lost to Santa Monica Crossroads in the Southern Section Division IV-A final, travels to La Jolla The Bishop’s (20-7). Crossroads (26-3) will host Coronado (26-4).

The girls’ pairings also were released Sunday and the state’s top team, Brea Olinda (27-3), winner of nine consecutive Southern Section titles, will host Cerritos Gahr (19-9) in Division II.

Second-ranked Laguna Hills (27-3), which won its first Southern Section title Saturday, will host Lemoore (21-5) in another Division II matchup.

Should both local teams win Tuesday and Thursday, they finally would meet to determine No. 1.

“We’ve had a chance the last two years to play Brea three times, and we haven’t won that last game,” Laguna Hills Coach Lynn Taylor said. “They’ve done their part, but we haven’t done ours.”

Capistrano Valley Christian (23-6) plays San Diego Horizon (22-8), seeded second in Division V.