Mater Dei Seeded No. 1 for Division I Boys’ Regional

Mater Dei, bidding for another appearance in the state championship game, will be the top-seeded team in the Southern California Regional playoffs, which begin Tuesday for boys’ and girls’ basketball.

The state released the playoff pairings on Sunday for the regionals, which will be played Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The four Orange County teams in Division I that lost Southern Section title games, the El Toro and Capistrano Valley boys and the Esperanza and Irvine girls, failed to receive the one available at-large berth into the playoffs.

Division I-A champion Mater Dei (29-2) is the only county team that was top-seeded in the eight-team regional divisions. The Monarchs’ first-round game will be at Ocean View High against Glendora (27-4), which defeated El Toro for the Division I-AA title. If Mater Dei wins, it would also host its second-round game. The regional final will be at the Great Western Forum.

Westchester was seeded No. 2, and Clovis West and Upland followed, though Upland had a travel priority number lower than Del Mar Torrey Pines.

There was no shortage of county girls’ teams that advanced.

Troy’s Division I-A section championship victory over Ventura Buena, the top-ranked team in the state, didn’t benefit the third-seeded Warriors (27-4) as much as they thought. Despite having the No. 3 travel priority number, Troy must play at San Diego Mt. Carmel (28-3), the San Diego Section champion in a first-round game. Mt. Carmel’s travel priority is six.

“Every section is guaranteed a first-round home game,” said Dean Crowley, the Southern Regional tournament director and supervising coordinator for state championships. “That’s a state rule.”

It is a rule that Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan did not know, and one that has him thinking the Warriors’ chances of playing on campus are virtually nil.

“I thought we’d get a home game after beating the No. 1 team in the country, throw us a bone,” Kiernan said. “But San Diego’s not that unpleasant of a place to go. You know, I’m happy to be there. It took almost a miracle to get us there; if we had lost, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Troy gave Buena its first loss of the season, 58-51. The only chance the Warriors have of playing a home game is if Westchester upsets second-seeded Lynwood.

San Clemente was also a big loser among local teams. The Tritons (28-3) won the Division I-AA title, but must face top-seeded Harbor City Narbonne in the first round. The reason for that, Crowley explained, was that Westchester (23-8) lost to Narbonne in the Los Angeles City Section final and shouldn’t meet again in the first round. “We’ve always tried to protect divisions like that,” Crowley said.

Brea Olinda (25-5), the defending state champion in Division II, is seeded third, behind No. 1 Hanford (27-2) and No. 2 Artesia (30-2). Brea’s first-round game will be at home against Santee Santana (28-2), the team it beat last year in the second round. Santana was top-seeded in the San Diego Section, but lost to University City (20-3). Brea’s second-round game will likely be at Artesia.

Despite losing in the semifinals, Rosary was seeded fifth in Division III. The Royals (22-8), who lost to North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in section play, open at fourth-seeded University of San Diego High (18-12). Harvard-Westlake is the top-seeded team in the regional, and is Rosary’s likely opponent in the second round. Harvard-Westlake opens against Bakersfield Liberty. Torrance Bishop Montgomery, defending state champion, is the No. 2 team and plays host to Escondido Valley Center.

Calvary Chapel, which lost the section IV-A final to Playa del Rey St. Bernard, is seeded eighth and opens at top-seeded La Jolla The Bishop’s. St. Bernard was No. 4, behind Corcoran and Oak Park.

Brethren Christian (21-10) was also the No. 8 team, in Division V. The Warriors will play at top-seeded La Jolla Country Day (25-5). Van Nuys Montclair Prep (27-0), which beat Brethren Christian, is the No. 2 team.

The state finals will be March 16-17 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento.