Fairfax Is Top-Seeded Team in Championship Division

The race for the City Section boys’ basketball championship was thought to be wide-open when the season began at the end of November.

Not much has changed now that the regular season is complete.

Fairfax (22-5) is the top-seeded team in the playoffs, sitting atop a 16-team Championship division bracket that is full of contenders.

The playoffs begin Friday. The City championship games will be played March 5 at Pauley Pavilion. The Divisional championship games, for the brackets that include teams ranked No. 17-32, will be played March 6 at Loyola Marymount.

“The bottom line is this: There is not a clear-cut favorite,” said Randolph Simpson, coach of the second-seeded Manual Arts boys. “Everybody can beat anybody at any time.”

Manual Arts (23-3) found out first-hand when the Toilers, last year’s runner-up to eventual state champion Westchester, lost to Fairfax, 76-73, in a Coastal Conference game on Jan. 15.

Although third-seeded Crenshaw (23-5) looked less than impressive in an intersectional loss to Huntington Beach Ocean View on Feb. 6, the 16-time City champion Cougars are a threat as always to win the title. Fourth-seeded Fremont (23-5), the Southeastern Conference champion, defeated Fairfax, 64-60, in a tournament in San Diego in December.

“I still think, from top to bottom, that Manual Arts is the best team,” Fremont Coach Sam Sullivan said. “But you have to watch out for Crenshaw and you better respect Fairfax. If we play to our potential, we should be right there too.”

With Harbor City Narbonne ineligible for the playoffs, Palisades is the clear favorite to win the girls’ title.

Palisades, which lost to Narbonne in last year’s championship game, won the Coastal Conference, the Huntington Beach Marina tournament and registered an impressive victory over perennial state Division I power Berkeley.

Crenshaw is the second-seeded team, Washington third and North Hollywood fourth.

Correspondent Mike Bresnahan contributed to this story.

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Friday’s City Section Playoff Schedule

* BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET: No. 16 Venice at No. 1 Fairfax; No. 9 Cleveland at No. 8 Palisades; No. 12 Grant at No. 5 Westchester; No. 13 Franklin at No. 4 Fremont; No. 14 Jordan at No. 3 Crenshaw; No. 11 Carson at No. 6 Sylmar; No. 10 Chatsworth at No. 7 Washington; No. 15 Dorsey at No. 2 Manual Arts.

* BOYS’ DIVISIONAL BRACKET: No. 16 Banning at No. 1 South Gate; No. 9 Monroe at No. 8 North Hollywood; No. 12 San Fernando at No. 5 Locke; No. 13 Poly at No. 4 Marshall; No. 14 Mid-City at No. 3 Hamilton; No. 11 University at No. 6 Jefferson; No. 10 Taft at No. 7 Hollywood; No. 15 Wilson at No. 2 Kennedy.

* GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET: No. 16 Birmingham at No. 1 Palisades; No. 9 San Pedro at No. 8 Venice; No. 12 Locke at No. 5 El Camino Real; No. 13 Franklin at No. 4 North Hollywood; No. 14 Grant at No. 3 Washington; No. 11 Taft at No. 6 Westchester; No. 10 Fairfax at No. 7 South Gate; No. 15 Marshall at No. 2 Crenshaw.

* GIRLS’ DIVISIONAL BRACKET: No. 16 Huntington Park at No. 1 Los Angeles; No. 9 Bravo at No. 8 Belmont; No. 12 Wilson at No. 5 Gardena; No. 13 Roosevelt at No. 4 Cleveland; No. 14 Jefferson at No. 3 Hamilton; No. 11 Eagle Rock at No. 6 Monroe; No. 10 Reseda at No. 7 Bell; No. 15 Garfield at No. 2 Chatsworth.