Edison is the only Orange County team playing in the CIF-Southern Section boys basketball championship games.
The Chargers (24-7) will play Ayala of Chino Hills (28-3) in the Division 2AA final Saturday at Honda Center at 8:30 p.m.
Edison played in the 1A final last season. The Chargers lost to Foothill.
How do the 2015 and ’16 Chargers compare?
“Honestly,” Edison coach Rich Boyce said, “this year’s team is a lot less talented. This team just plays very, very hard.”
Senior forward Garrett White is the only returning starter from last season. Nate Matthews and Randall Walker were key contributors as sophomore reserves last season. Other than those three, the other players were on junior varsity last season and starting center Tommy Barlow, who had recently moved from North Carolina, was recovering from knee surgery.
Edison was not playing its best basketball going into the playoffs. The Chargers lost two of their final three regular-season games, Sunset League losses to Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor.
“Nate was sick for the Huntington Beach game,” Boyce said. “And Newport just wanted the game more than we did.”
With a week between the Newport Harbor game and the first playoff game, Edison got healthier and more focused. Their playoff wins are over Segerstrom, Arroy Grande, Claremont and Kaiser of Fontana.
It’s been a few years since Orange County had only one team in the CIF-SS boys basketball finals. The last time that happened was in 2008, when Mater Dei lost to Dominguez of Compton.
That’s also the last time Orange County had no CIF-SS boys basketball champion. The previous time O.C. had no CIF-SS boys basketball champion was in 1979.
Jump stops around Orange County basketball:
• The Edison-Ayala game is the final game Saturday at Honda Center. The Open Division final is the marquee matchup: national No. 1 Chino Hills, which beat Mater Dei by 48 points in the semifinals, against Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth at 6:30 p.m. That game will be televised live by Fox Sports West, thus the earlier time slot for Chino Hills-Sierra Canyon.
• Foxsports.com/west will carry live streaming of all other CIF-SS finals at Honda Center and CIF-SS finals at Azuza Pacific University. The National Federation of High School Sports Association will stream CIF-SS finals at Godinez High.
• Admission prices for CIF-SS championship games at Honda Center: $18 for adult general admission; $10 general admission for students with valid student identification and for children 13 and younger. Parking at Honda Center is $16.
• Edison will have advance tickets on sale at is finance office, probably starting Wednesday. On-sale times will be 7:30 a.m.-11 a.m. and noon-3:30 p.m.
• This is the second year of a three-year contract the CIF-SS has with Honda Center for basketball championship games.
• If the county boys basketball ranking was a top 25, here is how this voter would rank teams 11-25: 11. Ocean View (25-5); 12. Buena Park (23-8); 13. Villa Park (16-12); 14. Capistrano Valley Christian (23-8); 15. Saddleback Valley Christian (19-12); 16. Northwood (23-6); 17. Servite (15-15); 18. San Clemente (21-7); 19. Corona del Mar (20-9); 20. Tesoro (16-12); 21. El Toro (21-8); 22. Newport Harbor (21-8); 23. Laguna Beach (23-7); 24. Capistrano Valley (20-10); 25. Sonora (20-10).
• Capistrano Valley Christian and Saddleback Valley Christian on Monday were selected as at-large teams to the CIF Southern California Regionals. Capistrano Valley Christian (23-8) advanced to the CIF-SS Division 5A semifinals. Saddleback Valley Christian (19-12) reached the semifinals in Division 5AA. The regionals, the qualifying tournament for the CIF State championships, begin March 9.
• Los Alamitos senior guard Eyassu Worku, a UC Irvine signee and a leading candidate for county player of the year, was at the Mater Dei-Chino Hills Open Division semifinal Friday night. Worku was among many stunned by the lopsided score of 102-54 in Chino Hills’ favor. “I drove all the way from Los Alamitos expecting to see a close game,” Worku said.
• As for Chino Hills, Worku said, “That is the best high school basketball team I’ve ever seen.”
• Chino Hills had a 12-0 lead before Mater Dei attempted a shot. “Our guys look shell-shocked,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
