The CIF Southern Section Open Division pool play round is complete in boys and girls basketball. The knockout stage begins Friday (boys) and Saturday (girls), and here’s how it looks.
In the boys’ Open Division, the quarterfinals are made up of four Mission League teams — once again proving it’s the best prep basketball league in California — including Sierra Canyon, Notre Dame, Harvard-Westlake and Crespi. The following matchups Friday night are based on the top two finishers in each of the four pools.
On one side of the bracket, Santa Margarita will play at Sierra Canyon and Corona Centennial is at Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks. On the other side, Crespi will take on Harvard-Westlake in Studio City while La Mirada will play Redondo Union on the road.
The remaining four teams will compete for a CIF State playoff berth Friday night in a win-or-go-home game. Corona del Mar is at St. John Bosco and Etiwanda will play at Damien.
FINAL POOL PLAY STANDINGS
POOL A: Sierra Canyon (2-0), Crespi (2-1), Corona del Mar (0-2)POOL B: Harvard-Westlake (2-0), Santa Margarita (1-1), Damien (0-2)POOL C: Redondo Union (2-0), Corona Centennial (1-1), Etiwanda (0-2)POOL D: Notre Dame (2-0 ), La Mirada (1-1), St. John Bosco (0-2)
In the girls’ Open Division, Sierra Canyon and Oak Park are the only teams in the 12-team field. Both advanced to the quarterfinals, which will be played Saturday. Here are the matchups.
On one side, Etiwanda hosts Rancho Christian and Sierra Canyon hosts Mater Dei. On the other side, it’s Fairmont Prep at No. 1 Ontario Christian and Oak Park at Sage Hill
The CIF State berth games include Redondo Union at JSerra and Corona Centennial at St. Joseph/Lakewood.
POOL A: Ontario Christian (2-0), Rancho Christian (1-1), JSerra (1-1)POOL B: Etiwanda (2-0), Fairmont Prep (1-1), St. Joseph (0-2)POOL C: Sierra Canyon (2-0), Oak Park (1-1), Centennial (0-2)POOL D: Sage Hill (2-0), Mater Dei (1-1), Redondo Union (0-2)
PLAYOFF RECAP, SEMIFINALISTS
A number of local teams lost Tuesday night in the quarterfinals, including Village Christian, which fell 83-53 to JSerra in Division 1. Golden Valley fell to Warren 56-53 in Division 3. Oakwood lost to Vasquez 80-71 in Division 5.
However, a few did advance to Friday’s semifinals.
Shalhevet will take on Colony in Division 4 after Ben Jacobson made a basket with no time left to down Long Beach Jordan 46-45. Pilibos is hosting San Juan Hills in the Division 5 semis and Canyon is hosting Salesian in Division 7.
In girls hoops, Valencia continues to roll under coach Jared Honig. The Vikings took down Troy in the Division 1 quarterfinals 52-48. Troy’s coach is former longtime (and legendary) Mater Dei coach Kevin Kiernan. Valencia will now host a very good Windward team Saturday.
In Division 2, Saugus is at Camarillo and Crescenta Valley is at Rosary Academy. The Division 5 semifinal is a double-local matchup between Burroughs/Burbank and Oakwood.
CITY SECTION
Cleveland is the only boys team alive in the Open Division. The Cavs will take on Fairfax in the semifinals at LA Southwest College Saturday in a double header. No. 1 Palisades will host San Pedro in the other game.
Cleveland vs. Fairfax is at 4 p.m. and Palisades vs. San Pedro is at 6 p.m.
No. 1 Granada Hills will host LA Jordan and No. 2 Chatsworth will host Venice in the Division I semifinals Friday night.
No. 3 Sylmar, led by longtime coach Bort Escoto, is in the Division II semifinal, where it will host Marquez. Sherman Oaks CES and Verdugo Hills will go toe-to-toe in the Division III semis.
In girls basketball, No. 2 Birmingham will host Hamilton in the Open Division semifinals at Pasadena College. No. 1 Westchester is hosting Venice in the other semifinal matchup.
In Division I, El Camino Real will host Eagle Rock and Kennedy will host San Pedro. North Hollywood is hosting Santee in the Division II semis, and San Fernando is at Gardena for the Division III semifinals.