City Playoff Seeding Begins in the Valley With Taft, Poly, Grant

Perhaps they should rename it the Valleyball playoffs.

That was what Coach Doug Magorien of Taft High suggested after the pairings for the City Championship Division playoffs were determined Thursday night at Venice High.

Three of the top four seeded teams, including No. 1 Taft, are from the Valley. The Toreadors (13-0), defending City champions, will play host to No. 16-seeded Fremont (9-4), the Coliseum League champion, in the first round at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“It was an all-Valley final last year and I think there’s a good chance that can happen again,” Magorien said.

Poly (13-0), which won the Sunset Six League and lost to Taft in the semifinals last season, is seeded second and will host No. 15 Eagle Rock (11-2), the second-place team from the Northern League, in its playoff opener.

Fourth-seeded Grant (10-3), which finished second in the Sunset Six, will host No. 13 Roosevelt (9-4), No. 3 team in the Eastern League.

The only team seeded in the top four from outside of the region was Western League champion Venice (13-0) at No. 3. The Gondoliers host Granada Hills (10-3), which finished third in the West Valley League.

Monroe and Chatsworth also were selected to City Championship playoffs.

Monroe (10-3), which won the Valley Mission League, is seeded No. 6 and hosts Westchester (7-6), the fourth-place finisher in the Western League.

Chatsworth (8-5), second in the West Valley, visits fifth-seeded Garfield (12-1), the Eastern League champion.

Van Nuys is top-seeded in the City Invitational Division. The Wolves (9-4), second in the Valley Mission, play host to Crenshaw (7-5) in the first round.

All first-round games are at 7 p.m.