Mater Dei Gets the Top Slot in Division II-AA

Santa Ana Mater Dei was chosen over Compton Dominguez as the top-seeded team in the Southern Section Division II-AA boys’ basketball playoffs, section officials announced Sunday.

Mater Dei and Dominguez have won 28 section titles between them since 1983 and have won at least one section championship every year since 1992. However, they have never met in a section final.

The teams did not play during the regular season, but Dominguez recorded bigger victories against two opponents that both schools faced.

The Dons posted a 17-point victory over Westchester during the Pangos Dream Classic at Hope International University on Jan. 14. Three weeks later, the Monarchs needed two overtimes to defeat the Comets in the Nike Extravaganza at the Anaheim Convention Center. In two victories over Cerritos Gahr in San Gabriel Valley League play last month, the Dons won by a bigger margin than Mater Dei in its tournament victory over the Gladiators in mid-December.

The playoffs begin Wednesday with wild-card or first-round games.

Mater Dei and Dominguez are defending section champions. The Monarchs won their title in Division II-A last season, Dominguez won the Division II-AA crown. Mater Dei then defeated the Dons, 68-61, in the Southern California Regional Division II final at the Sports Arena before losing to El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge, 60-44, in the state championship game in Sacramento.

A slight boost in enrollment lifted the Monarchs over the cutoff for Division II-AA by 19 students this season, where they could face Dominguez, third-seeded Villa Park and fourth-seeded Chino Hills Ayala, each among the Southland’s top dozen teams this season.

In addition, Los Angeles Loyola finished strong under first-year Coach Jamal Adams, defeating North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, 98-81, two weeks ago to earn a share of the Mission League title. Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley has played in a string of competitive South Coast League games, and Huntington Beach Edison, Lakewood Mayfair and Santa Barbara have proved they can play with the best in the Southland.

“This division is so tough it’s ridiculous,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said.

Los Alamitos, which lost one of two Sunset League games to Edison this season, is top-seeded in Division I-AA. Ontario Colony, which suffered a one-sided loss to Villa Park a month ago, is top-seeded in Division II-A, and Lakewood Artesia, which needed overtime to defeat Mayfair last month in a Suburban League game, is top-seeded in Division III-AA.

Los Alamitos has never played in a section final, Colony was blown out by Mater Dei in its first finals appearance last season and Artesia will be trying for its second title in four years and fifth since 1998.

Other top-seeded teams are Pasadena, which moved up to Division I-A after losing to Dominguez in the Division II-AA final last season; Compton Centennial in Division III-A; North Hollywood Campbell Hall in Division IV-AA; Van Nuys Montclair Prep in Division IV-A; Hesperia Christian in Division V-AA; and L.A. Price in Division V-A.

Santa Margarita, which tied for second behind Mater Dei in the four-team Serra League but did not receive one of the league’s two automatic berths, was seeded second in Division III-AA, where it will be forced to open play in a wild-card game Wednesday against visiting Santa Paula.

There was no such influx of teams in Divisions III-A, IV-AA and V-AA.

Only 24 teams qualified either automatically or by securing at least 12 victories in Divisions III-A and V-AA, meaning eight schools in each division will have first-round byes Wednesday.

In Division IV-AA, six teams have first-round byes Wednesday.