It’s been six years.
Welcome back to the boys basketball playoffs, Saddleback.
The Roadrunners qualified as an at-large team in CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA. They are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
Saddleback (13-14 overall) has a difficult first-round assignment. The Roadrunners have to make a long trip to face Lompoc, which is 16-6 and finished second in the Los Padres League. Saddleback finished fourth in the six-team Orange Coast League with a 3-7 league record.
Roadrunners first-year coach Joel Simonds figures the team could have done better in league.
“Our leading scorer, Jose Chavez, got hurt before our first league game,” said Simonds, 41, an alumnus of Saddleback although he did not play basketball there. He coached Bethel Baptist for 14 seasons. “So we had to reinvent ourselves during league to get something going.”
Saddleback finished the regular season with back-to-back league wins over Estancia and Costa Mesa.
Senior guard Javier Ramirez scored 28 points in the win over Estancia. He is averaging nine points a game, second on the team. Chavez was averaging a team-high 12 points a game before he was injured in a furniture-moving mishap at his home.
Simonds said other top contributors have been brothers Anthony and Nicholas Torres, both guards, the former a sophomore and the latter a junior, and junior forward Jorge Toro and senior guard Chris Thorn.
The Roadrunners might be playing their best now, which is the best time of the season to be doing so.
Jump stops around Orange County basketball:
• Godinez’ last three wins in Orange Coast League games: by 31 points over Calvary Chapel; by 37 over Laguna Beach; and by 34 over Estancia. That’s a hot team, those 23-4 Grizzlies.
• Orange Lutheran is 22-4. The Lancers’ four losses: two to Mater Dei, which is No. 2 in the CalHiSports.com’s California top 20; Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland, No. 1 in the state; and to La Mirada, the top-seeded team in Division 2A. Orange Lutheran and Mater Dei are the only county teams in the elite, 16-team Open Division.
• Mater Dei’s first-round opponent, Price of Los Angeles, is a freelance team, which means Price is not in a league. Price, a private co-ed school with an enrollment of 75, forged its 21-5 schedule by playing in tournaments, single-day showcases and nonleague games.
• Los Alamitos plays Long Beach Jordan for the second year in a row in a 1AA first-round game. The Griffins beat Jordan, 68-51, in last season’s playoffs.
• Orangewood Academy qualified as an at-large team in Division 6, in which the Spartans are seeded No. 1. CIF-SS assistant commissioner Rainer Wulf said to his memory Orangewood is the first at-large team to be top seeded.
• Division 1AA had only one at-large berth. That went to Calabasas, selected from the 18 teams that petitioned for at-large consideration in the division.
• Tyler Burch of Westminster is the county’s regular-season scoring champion, at 26.9 points a game. The next four: Brandon Smith, Godinez, 26.58 points a game; Jarrett Brodbeck, Esperanza, 23.12; Jake Linsky, Northwood, 22.46; and Legend Demps, El Modena, 22.03.
• The El Modena-Savanna first-round game Friday in Division 2A features two of the county’s leading scorers. Demps, and Savanna’s Michael Enis who is averaging 21.46 points a game.
• County teams that won or shared league championships: Crean Lutheran and St. Margaret’s, Academy League; Foothill, Crestview; Tustin, Empire; Sonora, Freeway; Garden Grove, Garden Grove; Ocean View and Westminster, Golden West; Yorba Linda, North Hills; Savanna, Orange; Godinez, Orange Coast; Corona del Mar, Pacific Coast; Saddleback Valley Christian, San Joaquin; Tesoro, Sea View; San Clemente, South Coast; Edison and Los Alamitos, Sunset; and Mater Dei, Trinity.
• Admission to CIF-SS playoff games is $10 for adults and $5 for students with valid student identification and for children 12 and younger.
• First-round games are Wednesday in Divisions 3AA, 3A, 4AA, 4A, 5AA, 5A and 6. First round games are Thursday in the Open Division, and on Friday in Divisions 1AA, 1A, 2AA and 2A.
• CIF-SS championship games are March 6 and 7. Many division finals, including the Open Division final, will be at Honda Center on March 7.
• All first-round winners in the Open Division will be sent to the CIF State tournament. The CIF-Southern Section can select up to four teams to represent it in the CIF State Open Division playoffs. CIF-SS Open Division teams not selected to the CIF State Open Division playoffs will be placed in their CIF State enrollment-based divisions for the CIF Southern California Regionals, the qualifying tournament for the state championships.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
