Crenshaw, Washington hope to join elite boys’ basketball club

Since 2000, either Westchester, Woodland Hills Taft or Los Angeles Fairfax has won every City Section upper-division boys’ basketball championship.

“It’s a rare fraternity,” Taft Coach Derrick Taylor said. “To get into it is difficult.”

But that’s what Crenshaw and Washington want to do this weekend. On Friday in the Division I semifinals at USC’s Galen Center, No. 4 Washington (22-6) will play No. 1 Westchester (25-3) at 6 p.m., followed by No. 2 Taft (23-4) taking on Crenshaw (21-3) at 8.

Ed Waters, the third-year coach at Crenshaw, has been trying to help the Cougars regain their past luster. They won 16 City titles under Coach Willie West, the last coming in 1997.

“It’s a big step for us,” he said of reaching the semifinals, “but not enough.”

Crenshaw must find a way to deal with Taft’s two standouts, 6-foot-8 DeAndre Daniels and 6-5 Bryce Jones, who have raised their game in the playoffs. Both sat out last season after transferring, and they’ve finally reached peak form. Crenshaw, though, has the offensive firepower to match the Toreadors with guards Reynaul Baker and Isaac Hamilton.

“We’re comfortable and confident about playing this game,” Waters said.

In the Southern Section playoffs, the No. 1-seeded teams have held up pretty well entering Friday’s semifinals, with only two out of 12 No. 1 teams eliminated. But the competition is starting to get tougher.

The latest team to take a crack at Santa Mater Dei, seeded No. 1 in Division 1AA, is Moreno Valley Rancho Verde and standout guard Kyle Fuller. The game will be played at Huntington Beach Ocean View. The other 1AA semifinal matches Etiwanda and No. 2 Long Beach Poly at Long Beach City College.

One of the surprise teams is Santa Monica, seeded No. 8 in 1A. The Vikings ousted No. 1 Chino Hills on Tuesday and play Ontario Colony in the semifinals at Santa Monica City College. The other semifinal features No. 2 Los Angeles Loyola against No. 3 Lawndale Leuzinger at Hawthorne.

The 3A semifinal matchups are as good as it gets. No. 1 Gardena Serra faces No. 4 Cerritos Gahr at Cerritos, and No. 2 North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake takes on No. 3 Compton Centennial at Lynwood.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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