Eight girls basketball teams had their seasons extended on Sunday afternoon when the CIF released the brackets for the Southern California Regional Championships.
After winning the Open Division’s consolation final last Thursday, Troy (24-6) was awarded the No. 2 overall seed in the Division I bracket. The Warriors host No. 15 Legacy of South Gate (29-4) in Wednesday’s opening round, and could meet either third-seeded Alemany or No. 6 Brea Olinda in the regional semifinals, if they win.
To set up an all-Orange County semi, the Ladycats (24-4) would have to get past No. 11 El Camino Real of Woodland Hills (24-9) on Wednesday before a presumed rematch with Alemany on Saturday night. The Warriors edged out the Ladycats, 55-52, in the Open Division consolation bracket just eight days ago.
Mater Dei finds itself atop the Division II bracket despite going winless in the Southern Section’s Open Division. The Monarchs (24-5) will host No. 16 Middle College of Los Angeles (22-11) in what will be their first game in two weeks. Fairmont Prep (19-8) was named the division’s No. 4 seed, and will play Serra of San Diego (20-9) in the opener.
In Division III, the county’s lone CIF champion, Orange Lutheran (25-6), was seeded No. 5 overall. Being as it played the Lancers to such a tight contest in the 3AA finale, Sonora (27-4) is seeded sixth.
Rounding out the entrants is Corona del Mar (23-7) and Oxford Academy (24-4), who were each named No. 7 seeds in Divisions IV and V, respectively.
First-round games for Divisions I-V will be held on Wednesday night at 7, with second-round games being played on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Regional semis are scheduled for March 15. SoCal finals will be played at Walter Pyramid at Long Beach State on March 19 for the Open Division and Divisions I and II. Divisions III-V will hold their finals on the same day at Colony High in Ontario.
Winners of the SoCal Regionals earn the right to play in the State Championship against a Northern California opponent at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento the following week.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
