Fillmore Is Familiar to Santa Paula

Manny Elizarraraz, Santa Paula High boys’ coach, didn’t have to look far to find his team’s first-round opponent in the Southern Section Division IV soccer playoffs: It’ll be neighboring Fillmore, the Cardinals’ biggest rival.

Elizarraraz was notified of the draw Monday but didn’t tell his players for more than a day, worried that their excitement over playing the Flashes on Saturday could build into a costly distraction.

“I don’t want them to get overconfident,” said Elizarraraz, whose team beat Fillmore, 3-1, in a nonleague game. “We have a team I think can go all the way.”

Santa Paula (21-3-3) is top-seeded in the division and in search of its first section title since 1988, when Elizarraraz and his two brothers played in the Cardinal midfield.

“Every time we play Fillmore in any sport it’s a rivalry because we’re kind of the same city,” Elizarraraz said. “Even when I used to play AYSO, we had a rivalry. Now I see those guys at the store and we laugh.”

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The Chaminade girls, two-time defending Division III champions, struggled to a second-place finish in the Mission League after a season of injuries and ejections. Nonetheless, the Eagles (18-4-2) are seeded third in Division IV and are a decent bet for a third consecutive title if they can get healthy.

“We don’t have the focus we’ve had in other seasons but it may come together because it’s the playoffs,” said Mike Evans, Chaminade coach. “It’s a winnable division and we have the talent to do it.”

Crucial to the Eagles’ chances is the participation of standout forward Kim Taylor, who has played only twice in the last five weeks because of an ankle injury.

Others nursing injuries include forward Kelly Lavery, stopper Lindsey Horn and sweeper Liz Buhn, whom Evans expects to play Friday for the first time in more than a month when Chaminade opens by hosting South Hills (15-4-3).

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Reseda boys’ co-Coach Julio Castillo was happy his Regents were seeded second and not first in the 32-team City Section playoff draw announced Tuesday. Two years ago, No. 1 Reseda was upset by No. 17 El Camino Real in a quarterfinal. Last season, top-seeded Manual Arts lost its playoff opener to No. 32 San Pedro. . . .

The Canyon girls finished the season ranked No. 7 in Division II but finished in a three-way tie for second in the Foothill League and were shut out of the postseason by a tiebreaker . . . .

Kevin Corley, the boys’ coach and formerly the girls’ coach at Royal, will miss the playoffs for the first time in 17 years after his team finished 7-14-4 and 3-7-2 in Marmonte League play. The Highlanders won the Division I title in 1995 and 1997. . . .

Crescenta Valley and Channel Islands will be on more familiar terms after Division I wild-card games Wednesday in which the schools’ boys teams play at Channel Islands and their girls’ teams face off at Crescenta Valley.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

City Section Playoffs

BOYS’ CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS

* (1) Banning vs. (32) Canoga Park; (2) Reseda vs. (31) Freemont; (3) El Camino Real vs. (30) Bell; (4) Franklin vs. (29) Hamilton; (5) Jefferson vs. (28) Elizabeth Street; (6) Manual Arts vs. (27) Washington; (7) Foshey vs. (26) Garfield; (8) Birmingham vs. (25) Grant; (9) Roosevelet vs. (24) Granada Hills; (10) San Pedro vs. (23) Wilson; (11) Belmont vs. (22) Venice; (12) Monroe vs. (21) Carson; (13) Locke vs. (20) University; (14) Palisades vs. (19) Chatsworth; (15) Lincoln vs. (18) Huntington Park; (16) Narbonne vs. (17) Poly

GIRLS’ CITY PAIRINGS

* (1) Chatsworth vs. (16) Van Nuys; (2) San Pedro vs. (15) Marshall; (3) El Camino Real vs. (14) North Hollywood; (4) Birmingham vs. (13) Garfield; (5) Hamilton vs. (12) Palisades; (6) Kennedy vs. (11) Westchester; (7) Cleveland vs. (10) Granada Hills; (8) South Gate vs. (9) Grant

GIRLS’ DIVISION PAIRINGS

* (1) Manual Arts vs. (16) Jefferson; (2) Bell vs. (15) Eagle Rock; (3) Belmont vs. (14) Venice; (4) Narbonne vs. (13) Franklin; (5) Monroe vs. (12) Sherman Oaks CES; (6) San Fernando vs. (11) Roosevelt; (7) Huntington Park vs. (10) Elizabeth Street; (8) LACES vs. (9) Verdugo Hills

SOUTHERN SECTION: Page 10