Championships up for grabs in high school basketball on Saturday
A look at Saturday’s championship games in the Southern Section Open Division and City Section Open Division:
SOUTHERN SECTION
Boys
Santa Ana Mater Dei (31-1) vs. Torrance Bishop Montgomery (26-2) at Honda Center, 7 p.m. (Prime Ticket): Coach Gary McKnight has won 22 Southern Section championships at Mater Dei. After upsetting Chino Hills last week, the Monarchs are favored in this one. With point guard Spencer Freedman, versatile Justice Sueing and 7-foot-1 Bol Bol, Mater Dei has been getting better each game in the playoffs. Bishop Montgomery can win it if the Knights shoot effectively from outside in a tough setting. The Knights have the experience and the talent with the trio of Ethan Thompson, David Singleton and Jordan Schakel.
Girls
Long Beach Poly (24-3) vs. Studio City Harvard-Westlake (25-3) at Honda Center, 8:45 p.m. Top-seeded Poly has been the heavy favorite since last November. The duo of 6-foot-4 Ayanna Clark and 6-foot Jasmine Jones will be tough to stop. The Wolverines have their own duo in twins Jayda and Jayla Ruffus-Milner.
CITY SECTION
Boys
Westchester (24-8) vs. Birmingham (26-3) at Cal State Dominguez Hills, 7:30 p.m. The top-seeded Birmingham Patriots have never played in an upper division final. They can make history if they execute their usual game plan of relying on the transition game, pressure defense and making outside shots. Westchester, trying to win its 14th City title under Coach Ed Azzam, has the aggressive defense to give Birmingham trouble. The Comets’ guards will need to step up to pull off the upset.
Girls
Palisades (25-8) vs. Fairfax (22-5) at Cal State Dominguez Hills, 5 p.m. Palisades has been the favorite from the beginning because of standouts Chelsey Gipson and Kayla Williams. But Judi Edwards came out of retirement to take over coaching the Lions, who upset the Dolphins, 64-59, on Feb. 6. That means this one is a tossup and will depend on rebounding.
Twitter: latsondheimer
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