Local half-dozen girls’ basketball squads headed to playoffs
La Cañada High’s girls’ basketball team has been at or atop the CIF Southern Section Division 3-A rankings all season, and that will continue going into the postseason.
Though it was a little lower than previous years, the Spartans earned the No. 4 seed in the CIF Southern Section playoffs on Sunday, only to have that changed Tuesday.
The Spartans (21-5) were bumped up to No. 3, flipping positions with South Pasadena, who forfeited a league game and its half of the Rio Hondo League title to the Spartans, now the league’s outright champion.
So, instead of hosting a home game Thursday versus Rubidoux (5-16), the Spartans instead earned a bye into the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. and will host either Lompoc Cabrillo (13-12) or San Luis Obispo (12-10).
“It would have been nice to have had a first-round game, only because we wouldn’t have played for over a week by the first time we get our first game,” Spartans Coach Tamar Hill said. “We’re bummed about not playing Rubidoux, but we still have to get ready.”
While La Cañada is off until the weekend, Crescenta Valley, Flintridge Prep and Holy Family will also host playoff openers, while Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Glendale Adventist Academy head on the road.
Crescenta Valley (20-8), having finished second in the Pacific League, earned the 15th seed and will host Los Alamitos (15-9), a Sunset League second-place team, in the first round of Division 1-AA action on Saturday night. The winner will advance into Wednesday’s second round to take on either Highland or second-seeded Vista Murrieta.
“Los Alamitos is a good team from Orange County,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jason Perez said. “We know it’s going to be a tough game.
“We feel pretty good about our team and where we are right now. We have a few days to get ready. We just have to worry about ourselves.”
Flintridge Sacred Heart, despite a 7-19 record, earned an at-large berth out of the Mission League into the Division 4-AA playoffs and will face De Anza League champion and host 29 Palms (22-4) on Thursday. In Saturday’s second round, the winner will play eighth-seeded La Salle or Workman.
In the Division 4-A bracket, Flintridge Prep (17-4), having shared the Prep League title, will host freelance squad Mission Prep on Thursday. The eighth-seeded Rebels, should they advance, would face No. 9 Banning or Bassett in Saturday’s second round.
In Division 5-AA, Holy Family (7-16) will travel to 12th-seeded Chadwick (13-9) on Thursday. The Gaels finished third in the Horizon League, while the Dolphins were fourth in the Prep League. The winner will face Desert, the fifth seed which received a bye, in Saturday’s second round.
Holy Family was originally scheduled to host the game, but Gaels Coach Ernest Siy said the contest had to be shifted to Chadwick. While Holy Family plays its home games at Pacific Park Community Center, Siy said the venue wasn’t available Thursday and neither was Providence High, which will be hosting a playoff game.
Finally, in Division 6, Glendale Adventist, seeded 13th after receiving an at-large entry out of the Liberty League, will travel to face Packinghouse Christian (7-7), the Majestic League’s third-place finisher. The winner will advance to play fourth-seeded Baptist Christian or Noli Indian on Saturday in the second round.