Oxnard’s Lobo Won’t Pull Rank

Oxnard High finished the regular season with a 13-game winning streak and was seeded No. 7 in the Southern Section Division I-AAA playoffs, but Coach Henry Lobo isn’t concerned with the Yellowjackets’ ranking.

“After the [top] four, I don’t care,” Lobo said. “We just need to focus on Friday’s game.”

Oxnard (23-3), the three-time defending Pacific View League champion, will host the winner of Wednesday’s Lakewood-Bell Gardens wild-card game in a first-round game Friday.

If the Yellowjackets win, they’ll play the winner of the Arcadia-Canyon Springs game next Tuesday.

A victory in that game would move Oxnard into the quarterfinals, most likely against No. 2-seeded Rialto Eisenhower.

But Lobo says he’ll make sure his team doesn’t look that far ahead.

“It’s one challenge after another,” he said. “You can’t look past one game or you might not be playing another.”

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Preventing a team from clinching a league title on your home court can be powerful incentive.

Simi Valley and Westlake proved that last week with victories over Thousand Oaks and Agoura, respectively.

Simi Valley, which finished fourth in the Marmonte League, defeated first-place Thousand Oaks, 73-65, on Wednesday, and third-place Westlake beat second-place Agoura, 65-52, on Friday.

“We didn’t want them clinching a league title on our court,” said Simi Valley Coach Christian Aurand. “That had been the theme for us leading up to this game.”

Thousand Oaks rebounded to clinch its first league title since 1994 with a 75-56 victory at Newbury Park on Friday. But the Lancers would have shared the championship with Agoura if the Chargers would have beaten Westlake.

“We felt we owed it to ourselves and to the rest of the league to play as hard as we could,” Westlake Coach Rich Sanders said. “When you’re in a league as competitive as ours, you have to go out and do your very best and leave it all on the floor.”

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BOYS’ PLAYOFFS

Southern Section

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Wild-card round

Division I-AA

Palmdale at Century

Division I-A

Simi Valley at Foothill

Katella at Ventura

Division IV-AA

Paraclete at Morro Bay

Division IV-A

Loma Linda Academy at L.A. Baptist

First round

Division II-A

Newbury Park at Dos Pueblos

Division III-AA

Nordhoff at Bassett

Covina at La Canada

Morningside at Santa Paula

Ganesha at Chaminade

St. Francis at Banning

Division V-AA

Oakwood at St. Margaret’s

Bell-Jeff at Serra

Armenian General Benevolent at Whitewater

La Verne Lutheran at Thacher

Holy Martyrs at Boys Republic

Laguna Blanca at Flintridge Prep

Fairmont at Lancaster Desert Christian

Villanova Prep at Valley Torah

Pasadena Poly at Grace Brethren

Division V-A

Santa Clarita Christian at Price

Tarbut V’Torah at Trinity Lutheran

First Lutheran at Santa Maria Valley Christian

Skyward Christian at Stoneridge Prep

Cuyama Valley at Delphi Academy

Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian at Newbury Park Adventist

Riverside Calvary at Antelope Valley Christian

*

Friday, 7:30 p.m.

First round

Division I-AAA

Highland at Long Beach Jordan

Lakewood/Bell Gardens at Oxnard

Division I-AA

Palmdale/Century at Irvine University

Camarillo at Quartz Hill

Hart at Thousand Oaks

Marina at Crescenta Valley

Loyola at Valencia

Division I-A

Buena at Lancaster

Simi Valley/Foothill at Canyon

Rio Mesa at California

Saugus at Perris

Katella/Ventura at Corona Centennial

Division II-AA

Westlake at La Serna

Moorpark at Paso Robles

Pasadena at Agoura

Division IV-AA

Big Bear/Kern Valley at Crespi

Oak Park at Murphy

Paraclete/Morro at St. Bonaventure

Division IV-A

Maranatha/St. Bernard at Providence

Loma Linda Academy/L.A. Baptist at Santa Ana Calvary Chapel

*

City Section

Friday, 7:30 p.m.

First round

Championship division

Grant at Taft

North Hollywood at Fremont

Sylmar at Washington

Chatsworth at Fairfax

Invitational division

Kennedy at L.A. Jordan

Hamilton at Granada Hills

Jefferson at Birmingham

Reseda at Canoga Park

Monroe at Narbonne