Crenshaw Prepares for Historic Division I Finals Doubleheader

Gym time will be tight at Crenshaw High this week as the school’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams prepare for the state Division I finals Saturday night at the Pond of Anaheim.

The finals, which match Southern and Northern regional winners in five divisions, return to Southern California for the first time since 1983.

Since the tournament began in 1981, no school has advanced its boys’ and girls’ teams to the Division I final.

Crenshaw did with victories in the Southern Regional finals Saturday night at the Pond. The girls routed Harbor City Narbonne, 50-30, and the boys followed with a 71-66 victory over Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Although the Crenshaw boys have won a record seven state titles and are the defending champions, no City Section girls’ team has ever reached a state final.

The Crenshaw girls will meet Berkeley in the title game at 6 p.m., and the Crenshaw boys will follow against Alameda St. Joseph at 8.

“This is exciting for our school, and it certainly shows how far City Section girls’ basketball has come over the last few years,” Crenshaw girls’ Coach Greg Cobbs said. “The coaching staffs at our school work together, so perhaps that’s why the success.”

Other defending champions back in the finals include the Compton Dominguez boys in Division II, the North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake boys in Division III, the Torrance Bishop Montgomery girls in Division III and the Moraga Campolindo girls in Division IV.