Taft Lands No. 4 Seeding, Gets Sylmar in First Round

Six boys’ teams from the Valley, led by No. 4 Taft High, were placed in the 16-team City bracket in the City Section basketball seeding meetings Saturday at Manual Arts High.

Five area teams were selected to the Invitational tournament, which consists of next best 16 teams.

In the girls’ seeding meeting, five Valley teams made City bracket and seven teams made the Invitational bracket.

A 12-member committee, mediated by Jeff Halpern of the City Section Athletics Office, unanimously voted Crenshaw as the No. 1 seed in the City boys’ bracket, followed by Westchester, Fairfax, and West Valley League-champion Taft.

“This is the first time I’ve felt that the Valley teams got a better draw,” said Coach Mark Drucker of Taft, which tied with Cleveland but was awarded first place by virtue of a coin flip Friday night.

“I felt after winning the coin flip that either us or Fremont would be seeded fourth. That was one example of the City teams not getting what they wanted.”

Fremont finished second in the strong Coliseum League.

Taft hosts No. 13-seeded Sylmar in the first round of the playoffs Friday night, with the winner likely to play fifth-seeded Fremont. Fremont plays No. 12-seeded Washington in the first round.

“I’m not complaining,” Coach Bort Escoto of Sylmar said. “I knew we’d get in the upper bracket--that was an automatic. It was just a question of where.

“I’d rather play Taft than Fairfax or Westchester in the first round. We beat Fremont in a tournament so I think we have a good chance of getting to the semifinals.”

In another first-round pairing of Valley teams, seventh-seeded Cleveland will host No. 10-seeded Grant.

Monroe, which beat Sylmar on Friday to win the Valley Mission League, was seeded ninth and travels to play eighth-seeded Palisades.

Eagle Rock, Northern League champion, was seeded last among 16 teams and must play Crenshaw in the first round.

“All first-place teams are guaranteed a spot in the City bracket, but not necessarily a top-eight seeding,” Halpern said. “Part of the placement process has to with strength of schedule, and the Northern League was the weakest.”

With Taft, Monroe and Sylmar all in the top half of the draw, at least one team from the region is likely to reach the semifinals.

“We’re on the easier side of the draw,” Drucker said. “So whoever wins this first game--either us or Sylmar--has a good shot at the semifinals.”

Granada Hills, third-place team in the West Valley League, was the highest-seeded Valley-area team in the Invitational at No. 3. Fourth-seeded North Hollywood hosts No. 13 University, while No. 7 San Fernando hosts No. 10 Gardena.

Canoga Park, seeded No. 11, visits No. 6 Banning, and No. 16-seeded Birmingham plays at top-seeded Venice.

There were few surprises in the girls’ City bracket, which was mediated by City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege.

Narbonne was seeded No. 1 and defending-champion Palisades was No. 2.

West Valley League co-champion Chatsworth was seeded fifth after winning a coin flip over co-champion El Camino Real. The Chancellors host No. 12 Locke in the first round Friday night.

Seventh-seeded El Camino Real hosts No. 10-seeded Gardena, and Sunset Six League champion Grant, the No. 8-seeded team, hosts No. 9 Fairfax.

Valley Mission League champion Kennedy, seeded No. 13, travels to No. 4 South Gate, and No. 14 Taft plays at third-seeded Crenshaw.

Seven Valley teams made the Invitational bracket, with No. 2 North Hollywood hosting No. 15 Reseda on Friday night.

“This is where we belong right now,” said Coach Rich Allen of North Hollywood, whose team reached the City semifinals the last two seasons but finished second to Grant in the Sunset Six League this season.

“It was either this or being 16th in the upper bracket and having to play Narbonne in the first round. This better for our girls.”

In other girls’ Invitational games, No. 3 Monroe hosts No. 14 Carson; No. 4 Birmingham hosts No. 13 Jefferson; No. 6 Eagle Rock hosts No. 11 Jordan; No. 10-seeded Canoga Park travels to No. 7 Marshall, and No. 12-seeded San Fernando plays at No. 5 Dorsey.

Halpern said the Interscholastic Athletics Committee will vote in May on a proposal to create a single playoff bracket, with each individual sport choosing the number of teams to qualify for its tournament.

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COMPLETE CITY SECTION PLAYOFF

PAIRINGS, PAGE 16.