Postseason is crunch time

Jeff Tully

The local teams didn’t exactly light the high school girls’ and boys’

basketball world on fire this season.

However, despite some struggles, five of the eight teams have

qualified for the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

There were no league championships won by the squads from Burbank,

Burroughs, Bellarmine-Jefferson and Providence highs, and just one

team -- the Bell-Jeff girls -- finished as runner-up in its

respective league.

Two other teams finished third in league and two more made it to

the playoffs by winning the minimum 11 games needed to qualify for an

at-large berth.

Here is a look at how the playoffs shape up:

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Panorama City St. Genevieve at Bell-Jeff (7:30 p.m. Thursday): The

Guards come into the Division IVA playoffs with fond memories of what

it’s like to put together a successful postseason run.

Last season, Bell-Jeff (19-4) played well in the playoffs and

advanced to the division final, losing to Westlake Village Oaks

Christian, 53-44, at the Long Beach Pyramid.

With the exception of Jennae Peoples -- who graduated -- most of

the Bell-Jeff players are back and ready to make another spirited run

to the championship game.

The team’s quest for its first title since 1997 would have been a

lot tougher, if it wasn’t for an unexpected change in the Division

IVA playoff bracket Monday.

When the 25-team draw was released Sunday, Bell-Jeff Coach Bryan

Camacho -- along with a handful of other coaches in the division --

pointed out that the playoff seeding committee had violated its own

rules in seeding two of the top four teams.

On the initial bracket, Olympic League co-champion Brentwood

(21-6) was recognized as the top seed and league co-champion Downey

Calvary Chapel (22-3) as the No. 3, meaning the No. 4 Guards would

have potentially faced Brentwood in the division semifinals.

But the controversy arose when it was discovered that Brentwood

was listed as the No. 2 entry from the league and Calvary Chapel was

No. 1, which broke the committee’s long-standing rule that says: “A

league No. 2 entry may not be seeded higher than a No. 1 entry from

that league.”

So, after seeing the error of their ways, CIF officials corrected

the draw Monday, moving Calvary Chapel to the top seed, Brentwood to

No. 2 and L.A. Windward from No. 2 to No. 3, based on Brentwood

owning two victories against Windward (21-4) during the regular

season.

“We got the draw we wanted, and now we have to go out and take

care of business,” Camacho said.

“It’s all up to us [from this point on]. We’ve been given a great

opportunity and we need to take advantage of that.”

The Guards are led by Andrea Morgan, Idessa Reyes, Kelly Hobbs and

Julie Van Dyke.

St. Genevieve (8-10) is the third-place team from a weak Horizon

League.

Providence at Carpinteria (7:30 p.m. Thursday): The Pioneers are

happy with their draw for the first two rounds of the Division IVAA

playoffs.

“I think the first two games for us are very winnable games,” said

Providence Coach Andrew Bencze, whose team finished third in the

Liberty League and has a 17-8 record. “I think if we play well,

there’s no reason why we can’t win two games.

“Our goal is to win a few games and make it to the quarterfinals,

which in a 32-team bracket, means winning two games.

“I am hoping we can make it back to the quarterfinals like we did

last season, and we would probably have to face [Cerritos] Valley

Christian again.”

Valley Christian knocked the Pioneers out of the postseason a year

ago.

Bencze said he can’t see his team struggling in its opening game

against Carpinteria (16-8), which finished tied for second in the

Tri-Valley League behind champion Oak Park.

“I know Carpinteria doesn’t have a lot of size, and they don’t

shoot the ball very well,” Bencze said. “I’m hoping we can take it

inside.”

The inside game is led by 6-foot-4 senior post player Megan

Campbell, who can be a lot for smaller teams to handle. Campbell

leads the Pioneers in points per game (9.8), rebounds (7.3) and

blocks (2.7).

Providence also has fine players in Talar Bouldoukian (eight

points) and Heather Hansen (6.5 points).

The Warriors are led by Karla Martinez, Lisa Guerrero and Carmin

Torres.

If the Pioneers defeat the Warriors, they would play the winner of

the L.A. Milken Community-L.A. Marymount game at 7:30 p.m. on

Saturday.

Paso Robles at Burroughs (7:30 p.m. Thursday):

The Indians (11-16) needed a win in their regular-season finale

against Burbank just to be able to petition for an at-large berth in

Division IIA.

But considering that it did, Burroughs is just happy to be in its

current position, entering a wild-card showdown with Paso Robles

(11-12).

Coach Doug Nicol’s squad won the coin flip, allowing it to play at

least one more home game, which is the last thing the 11th-year coach

expected in the playoffs.

“I thought there was no chance we’d get a home game,” said Nicol,

whose squad defeated Burbank, 45-38, in Thursday’s finale to record

its all-important 11th win.

“But now it’s one more chance for our seniors to play at home. And

we also have a chance to get some momentum going [entering Saturday’s

first-round game at No. 2 Ventura Buena (19-6)].”

Nicol isn’t overlooking Paso Robles, an at-large entry from the

PAC-5 League, but with the schedule the Indians have played --

including Moreno Valley Canyon Springs, Santa Margarita, Hart and

Valencia -- he feels confident in his team’s chances to earn a

showdown with Buena.

The Indians have received fine play from Janette Galindo (12.5

points, 6.3 rebounds a game), Shannon Davies (6.6 points) and jayde

Dennis (6.8 points, 5.3 rebounds).

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Providence at Lake Isabella Kern Valley (7:30 p.m. today):

According to Pioneer Coach Paolo Velasco, the Division IVAA

first-round game should be a contest of like teams.

“[Kern Valley] and us are very similar teams,” said Velasco, whose

team finished third in the Liberty League. “They will have a little

more size than us, but they should be a lot like us.

“We both have also played three of the same teams: Santa Clarita

Christian, [Sherman Oaks] Buckley and Mammoth, and the scores have

been similar.”

Providence (13-9) began the league campaign strongly and looked

like the team to beat for the league championship. However, the

Pioneers struggled down the stretch and ended up limping to the

finish line.

One of Providence’s strong points is its ability to spread around

its scoring. The team possesses a group of players who can step up in

any given game to help the cause.

Leading the way is Frank Catota, who is averaging 13.9 points a

game, and Mark Azer, who has an 11.9 average. Providence also has

reliable athletes in Justin Nepomuceno (8.6 points), Andrew Nelson

(8.4) and Phillip Sison (7.7).

The Broncs (15-9) come into the game after winning a share of only

their second High Desert League title -- their first championship in

11 years.

The team is led by Robert Leming, who averages 17.4 points and 4.3

rebounds a game.

Burroughs at Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos (7:30 p.m. today): Although

the Indians (14-12) placed fifth in the Foothill League, they

qualified for the Division IIA playoffs by winning the required 11

games.

Burroughs returns to the playoffs after having a surprising run in

2003 that got it to the quarterfinals.

In the wild-card game, the Indians will be taking on a Los Osos

(11-15) team which placed sixth in the Baseline League and also

qualified by way of 11 wins.

The Indians are paced by all-league standout Joey Paysinger, who

averages 14.4 points a game, Matt Jackson (10.7 points) and Levon

Maronyan (9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds).

Chase Cathcart averages 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds a game for

the Grizzlies, and teammate Curtis Eatman adds 11.4 points.

If Coach Art Sullivan’s team does win the contest, it will have to

play a first-round game against host Santa Ana Mater Dei (21-4), the

Serra League champion and No. 2 seed.

Erik Boal contributed to this story