Alemany Playoff Site Switched to Canyons

The site for the Southern Section Division III-AA boys’ semifinal tonight between Alemany and San Dimas has been changed to College of the Canyons.

The game had been scheduled at L.A. Baptist High. Price Christian and West L.A. Baptist will play a Division V-A semifinal at L.A. Baptist.

Sites for Southern Section girls’ playoff games Saturday also were announced.

Buena and Huntington Beach Marina will play their Division I-A quarterfinal at Huntington Beach Ocean View High. The same schools met in a semifinal last year, with Marina winning, 60-39.

Ventura, Buena’s cross-town rival, will play Moreno Valley at Buena in another Division I-A quarterfinal.

Moorpark and Santa Clara also drew home games. Moorpark will play Santa Ana Foothill in a Division II-AA semifinal at Westlake High. Santa Clara will host Bishop Diego in a Division V-AA quarterfinal.

Mission League champion Harvard-Westlake and second-place Alemany also will play close to home. Harvard-Westlake faces Santa Ynez in a Division III-A semifinal at Notre Dame High. Alemany plays Pomona Ganesha in a Division III-AA semifinal at Chaminade High.

All games start at 7:30 p.m.

BOYS’ NOTES

Coach Ed Prange of Anaheim Loara fought back tears after the Saxons’ 64-59 loss to Ventura in a Division I-A second-round game Tuesday.

But that didn’t prevent him from praising Ventura senior Jeff Staniland.

“He is by far the best point guard we’ve seen this season,” Prange said after Staniland scored nine of his game-high 32 points in the final 3:39. “We couldn’t contain him. We tried all kinds of defenses, but we couldn’t stop him. He scored from the perimeter. He scored from mid-range and he scored off the break.”

Staniland, who has scored 61 points in Ventura’s two playoff victories, made all 14 of his free throws against Loara (24-4) after a 10-for-10 performance against Mira Costa in the first round.

“I just went up there expecting to make every one,” Staniland said. “I knew I had to make them.”

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Ventura (18-10) had a 10-9 record after a 75-64 nonleague loss to Camarillo on Jan. 20, but the Cougars have turned their season around by becoming more consistent on offense, Coach Dan Larson said.

“We just weren’t executing very well at that time,” Larson said. “Now [executing plays] has become kind of habit for the boys.”

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Channel League teams have a 6-1 record in the playoffs.

Dos Pueblos (22-8), which won its third consecutive league title, lost to Santa Margarita, 72-53, in a Division II-A quarterfinal on Tuesday.

But Ventura and Santa Barbara (24-5), which tied for second, will play in Division I-A quarterfinals Friday.

Ventura plays Simi Valley and Santa Barbara faces San Bernardino Pacific.

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Santa Clara (23-3) will find out Friday how it might match up against top-seeded Pasadena Poly.

The No. 2-seeded Saints play a Division V-AA quarterfinal at Chadwick, which finished second to Poly in the Prep League.

Chadwick (17-12) lost twice to Poly by scores of 57-51 and 58-53.

“That means [Chadwick’s] a good basketball team,” Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich said.

GIRLS’ NOTES

Somehow, Ventura stopped (sort of) the best junior in the country and, in the process, won a second-round playoff game Wednesday.

Diana Taurasi scored 26 points, but she wasn’t as big of a factor as expected for No. 2-seeded Don Lugo (26-4). Foul trouble and tough defense by Ventura left Taurasi and Don Lugo with a 62-51 loss.

“I think we wore her down a little,” Ventura Coach Glenn Gray II said. “But I tell you, she made some shots that people on our campus are still talking about.”

Ventura (20-10) plays a quarterfinal Saturday night at Buena against Moreno Valley (23-5), which upset Arroyo and Cerritos in the first two rounds.

“In this division, after the first round, there’s a lot of parity,” Gray said.

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Buena has a chance to blast its past.

In a quarterfinal Saturday, the Bulldogs (24-3) get a rematch with Huntington Beach Marina, which embarrassed Buena last season, 60-39, in a Division I-A semifinal, denying the Bulldogs their ninth consecutive finals appearance.

Marina (25-3), which won the I-A title last season, is still an up-tempo team.

“They definitely like to fast break,” Buena Coach Joe Vaughan said. “Hopefully we can get back on defense.”

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Staff writer John Ortega and correspondents Mike Bresnahan and Lauren Peterson contributed to this notebook.

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UP NEXT

For today’s boys’ basketball matchups: Calendar, Page 17