A Formidable Draw for Santa Margarita

Santa Margarita may be the second-seeded team in the Southern Section Division III-AA girls’ basketball playoffs, but Coach Rich Schaaf feels as if he is a second-class citizen. That’s because his Eagles will probably face the third-best team in the division -- in the quarterfinals.

“I told my assistants on the way to the pairings, ‘The only way we get [a bad draw] is if we have to play Newbury Park before the semifinals,’ ” Schaaf recalled, his assistant coaches verifying the story as he spoke.

Schaaf has good reason to be worried going into the playoffs, which begin today around the Southland.

Newbury Park (13-7) was 5-5 at one point while Brynn Cameron was suffering a sprained ankle. Over the last three games, the Panthers avenged two losses, including a 25-point turnaround to beat Simi Valley Royal for the Marmonte League title, 59-58, and took No. 14 Ventura into overtime before losing, 68-64.

USC-bound Cameron averaged 25 points in those three games against teams with combined records of 63-12, and scored 31 in the game before that against Thousand Oaks.

While Santa Margarita got the short straw, so too did Newbury Park.

Voting members of the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Assn., which produces the section rankings, ignored Newbury Park until the final Southern Section poll on Saturday, ranking the Panthers ninth. They were placed in what is the seventh-seeded position by the seeding committee.

“We couldn’t put them in the top four because they hadn’t been in the poll all year,” said Paul Castillo, Southern Section assistant commissioner in charge of basketball. “What’s frightening is a team that good escaped [being ranked] all year long.”

A division-by-division look at the playoffs:

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DIVISION I-AA

Defending champion: Lynwood

Seeded teams: 1. Long Beach Poly (23-2); 2. Lynwood (21-1); 3. Long Beach Wilson (24-4); 4. Temecula Valley (22-4).

Dark horse: Brittney Blankenship-led Palmdale (19-8) isn’t among the top eight teams, but the Falcons played Newhall Hart and Ventura to seven-point games, and lost to Valencia, the Falcons’ probable second-round opponent, 48-45.

Outlook: It will be a disappointment, and a major upset, if it’s not Long Beach Poly vs. Lynwood for the third year in a row. Five teams among The Times’ top 25 are in the division.

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DIVISION I-A

Defending champion: San Clemente

Seeded teams: 1. San Clemente (21-4); 2. Newhall Hart (24-1); 3. Ventura (23-1); 4. Moreno Valley Canyon Springs (21-4).

Dark horse: Riverside Poly (18-7), the third-place team from the Ivy League, played some close games against Riverside North and Canyon Springs, which makes them a dangerous foe for Ventura in a possible quarterfinal matchup.

Outlook: San Clemente beat Hart in the finals the last two seasons, but a rematch could be tough to come by. The Tritons, led by 6-foot-3 Lindsey Pluimer and 6-4 Lauren Riley, have to contend with a Canyon Springs team that probably should have been seeded third and has two dominant scorers in Jennifer Risper and Brandi Jones-Fitzgerald. Hart can avenge its only loss, to Ventura, in the semifinals.

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DIVISION II-AA

Defending champion: Fullerton Troy

Seeded teams: 1. Troy (25-1); 2. Riverside North (23-4); 3. Norco (23-3); Placentia El Dorado (23-3).

Dark horse: If Huntington Beach Edison (17-8) can get past Perris (19-8) in the second round, the Chargers could engage in a low-scoring defensive struggle with Troy in the quarterfinals. That’s the kind of game they have a chance to win.

Outlook: Defending Division II state champion Troy is the soundest team in the division. The Warriors beat Norco on a neutral court, 63-49, but they don’t match up with the quickness of North. San Bernardino Cajon (25-1) could prove troublesome to Norco in the quarterfinals, especially on the Cowboys’ home floor.

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DIVISION II-A

Defending champion: Santa Ana Mater Dei

Seeded teams: 1. Brea Olinda (21-5); 2. Ventura Buena (19-6); 3. Mater Dei (13-10); 4. Alhambra Keppel (21-7).

Dark horse: Irvine Woodbridge (21-5) isn’t a world-beater, but it couldn’t be in a better spot. The Warriors must go through Mater Dei in the quarterfinals, which means a low-scoring game that might be winnable.

Outlook: Brea hasn’t reached a section championship game in the last two seasons, a remarkable drought for a program that had played in 13 straight and won 12. Behind guard Lauren Pedersen, and with more playoff savvy than Keppel, Brea should reach the finals again.

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DIVISION III-AA

Defending champion: Lakewood Artesia

Seeded teams: 1. Inglewood Morningside (25-3), 2. Santa Margarita (21-6); 3. Pomona Diamond Ranch (23-4); 4. Mission Hills Alemany (19-7).

Dark horse: Most losses for Newbury Park (13-7) came early when the Panthers weren’t healthy. Based on talent, Newbury Park could have been seeded as high as third.

Outlook: Morningside’s Lorie Rayford transferred from Lynwood, and her impact is obvious: 19.3 points, 14.4 rebounds. She has four teammates averaging at least 9.5 points. Huntington Beach Ocean View (21-2) has solid guards and an inside presence in 6-2 freshman D.J. Butler (11.8 points, 10.4 rebounds), but she will face a 6-2 senior, Natasha Lobendahn (19.2 points, 13.5 rebounds), from Norwalk Glenn in the first round.

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DIVISION III-A

Defending champion: Torrance Bishop Montgomery

Seeded teams: 1. Fullerton Rosary (22-4); 2. La Puente Bishop Amat (24-3); 3. North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (23-3); 4. Bishop Montgomery (21-7).

Dark horse: Pasadena Muir (19-6) lost twice to Crescenta Valley in league but has a victory over Bishop Montgomery and a 67-62 loss to Rosary. The Mustangs are matched against Bishop Montgomery in the second round.

Outlook: This is the toughest division, top to bottom, with five of the 16 teams ranked in The Times’ top 25. Serra League champion Rosary’s last section title came in 1999.

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DIVISION IV-AA

Defending champion: Los Angeles Marlborough

Seeded teams: 1. Marlborough (22-3); 2. Cerritos Valley Christian (20-6); 3. Inglewood St. Mary’s (18-6); 4. Twentynine Palms (21-3).

Dark horse: Twentynine Palms, with five starters returning from last year’s team, may be athletic enough to give Marlborough cause for concern, but how much of a dark horse can you be if you’re seeded fourth?

Outlook: If Marlborough remains healthy, the championship is a done deal behind guard Emily Tay and 6-3 center Abi Olajuwon.

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DIVISION IV-A

Defending champion: Westlake Village Oaks Christian

Seeded teams: 1. Downey Calvary Chapel (22-3); 2. Brentwood (21-6); 3. Los Angeles Windward (21-4); 4. Burbank Bell-Jeff (19-4).

Dark horse: Cantwell Sacred Heart (19-7) has three players, Kathy Suria, Maritza Villalta and Jackie Vizcaino, who started on the 2002 team that upset the No. 1 seeded team on its way to the title.

Outlook: It should boil down to the two Olympic League teams, Downey Calvary Chapel and Brentwood, that beat each other during the regular season. Both have victories over Windward.

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DIVISION V-AA

Defending champion: Ojai Thacher

Seeded teams: 1. Los Angeles Pacific Hills (14-11); 2. Thacher (13-3); 3. Palos Verdes Estates Rolling Hills Prep (12-1); 4. Santa Monica New Roads (16-4).

Dark horse: Carpinteria Cate (10-6) lost twice to Thacher by a combined 11 points and could face the top-seeded team in the second round.

Outlook: Thacher, with four starters returning from last year’s unseeded team, including 6-1 Steffi Rauner (21.5 points) and 6-2 Whitney Livermore (9 points), won’t sneak up on anyone.

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DIVISION V-A

Defending champion: Hesperia Christian

Seeded teams: 1. Huntington Beach Liberty Christian (21-4); 2. Santa Maria Valley Christian (17-8); 3 Calimesa Mesa Grande (13-7); 4. Atascadero North County Christian (15-8).

Dark horse: Victory League runner-up Redlands Adventist (15-5) lost twice, each time by 10 points, to third-seeded Mesa Grande.

Outlook: North County Christian would have been the third-seeded team but had to be on the opposite side of the bracket from Valley Christian because they are in the same league.