Crescenta Valley girls’ water polo looks for another trip to semis

The following are playoff previews for Saturday’s events involving local teams.

GIRLS’ WATER POLO

Crescenta Valley at Arlington, 4 p.m.: The top-seeded Falcons (30-2) continue their quest for the program’s first CIF Southern Section Division V championship with a road contest against Arlington (9-8). Crescenta Valley, which won the Pacific League championship for the fourth straight year before recording an 11-2 opening-round victory against Downey at Pasadena City College, will advance to the semifinals for the third season in a row with a win.

Arlington, which finished second in the Inland Valley League, started its playoff run Wednesday with a 12-5 victory against Santa Ynez.

The winner will take on fourth-seeded Redlands East Valley or Cerritos in a semifinal match at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Whittier College.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Glendale at Newbury Park, 7 p.m.: Glendale (15-10) will start its playoff journey in Ventura County for the third time in five seasons. After playing Buena in their last two postseason trips in 2009 and 2011, the Nitros will travel to face fourth-seeded Newbury Park (22-4) in a Division I-A game.

Glendale begins the playoffs fresh off winning its last three Pacific League games. The Nitros finished fourth in league.

Newbury Park went undefeated in the Marmonte League.

The winner will face 13th-seeded El Rancho or Aliso Niguel in a second-round contest Wednesday.

Flintridge Prep at Lancaster Desert Christian, 7 p.m.: Fourth-seeded Flintridge Prep (17-7) tipped off the Division V-AA playoffs Thursday with a 54-18 home win against California Military. Things figure to get a little tougher for the Rebels, who finished second in the Prep League.

Thirteenth-seeded Lancaster Desert Christian (19-1) won the Desert Mountain League championship. It started the playoffs Thursday with a 48-28 home win against Hamilton.

The winner will meet fifth-seeded Desert or 12th-seeded Buckley in a quarterfinal contest Wednesday.