Westchester, Taft, Crenshaw seeded 1-2-3 in City playoffs

After nearly three months of boys’ basketball play in the City Section, the top three teams haven’t changed much and that was reflected in the Division I playoff pairings released Saturday, with Westchester (23-3) earning the No. 1 seeding, followed by No. 2 Woodland Hills Taft (21-4) and No. 3 Crenshaw (19-3).

The only uncertainty was which team would be awarded the No. 4 seeding, and that went to Washington (20-6), which was helped by a late-season victory over Southern Section power Los Angeles Price.

If all goes as expected, the top four seeded teams will meet in the semifinals Feb. 26 at USC’s Galen Center, and that’s when the real action begins. Westchester, bidding for its 11th City title, would face Washington, and Crenshaw would take on Taft.

Last season in the quarterfinals, Taft defeated Crenshaw, 74-62, and Toreadors Coach Derrick Taylor said, “They’re going to be a handful next year.”

Crenshaw has improved, and Coach Ed Waters is glad that if the teams meet again, it will be on a neutral court, unlike last season at Taft.

“If we get there, we feel real good about playing Taft,” Waters said.

Of course, there could be obstacles ahead. Washington figures to face longtime power Fairfax (16-10), seeded No. 5, in the quarterfinals. And Crenshaw will likely have to get past Palisades (19-8), a talented but inconsistent squad, in the quarterfinals.

First-round play begins Friday, and the championship game is set for March 6 at the Galen Center.

Harbor City Narbonne (19-9) received the No. 1 seeding in Division II, with Granada Hills (16-10) No. 2, Gardena (16-9) No. 3 and University (16-13) No. 4.

In Division III, Woodland Hills El Camino Real (13-13) picked up the No. 1 seeding, followed by No. 2 Verdugo Hills (20-7), No. 3 Hamilton (11-14) and No. 4 Huntington Park (16-16).

View Park Prep (12-16) is the seeded No. 1 in the small schools division, followed by No. 2 LACES (8-18), No. 3 Sherman Oaks CES (16-6) and No. 4 Harbor Teacher Prep (13-4).

Los Angeles Roybal will serve as the site for the Division II, Division III and small school finals to be played March 4, 5 and 6.

In girls’ pairings, Taft (14-8) was seeded No. 1 in Division I, followed by Washington (19-10), Carson (18-8) and Narbonne (19-9).

eric.sondheimer

@latimes.com