The road to championship weekend has been set, all that’s left for the girls basketball teams to do is navigate their way to the ultimate destination.
The CIF-SS released brackets for all 12 divisions Sunday afternoon, setting the stage for the next three weeks as teams battle for a CIF title, with finals set to be played March 3 and 4.
“You look across the board at all the divisions, there’s a handful of teams in every division capable of winning it all,” Orangewood Academy coach Leslie Aragon said of the brackets. “In that regard, I think CIF got it right.”
While the names of the Open Division teams were announced on Friday, the official seedings and matchups weren’t announced until Sunday.
Orangewood Academy earned the highest seed of the five local selections, drawing the No. 9 bid that pits it against No. 8 Ventura on Saturday night. Fairmont Prep is the 10th seed and will play at No. 7 Serra of Gardena. Mater Dei will travel to Harvard-Westlake of Studio City in the 11-6 matchup. Troy drew the 12th seed and heads to play Alemany of Mission Hills.
But arguably the most shocking draw of all was Brea Olinda being put at No. 16, where it will be forced to play top-seeded Long Beach Poly right out of the gate.
“I had it drawn up and I thought we’d be like 12,” Ladycats coach Jeff Sink said. “I had us no higher than 10 and my worst-case scenario was 15. But we’ve been fortunate in years past so you take what you can get. Pull a miracle and you’re the No. 1 seed.”
Rosary was the only Orange County school to land a No. 1 overall seed, atop the Division 2AA bracket. The Royals finished the regular season with a 20-5 record, having only lost a pair of games to Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran and one nonleague game with Brea.
“We were always used to being the underdog, so being No. 1 might be a lot of pressure, but we’re going to do the best we can,” Royals coach Richard Yoon said. “As we go further on, our maturity has to show. Did we really learn from those games that we lost? Experience is the biggest factor, so hopefully our seniors will come out and lead the way for us.”
Santa Margarita (15-11) and JSerra (13-13) each earned at-large berths in Division 2AA, meaning all five Trinity League teams will be represented in the postseason.
Orange Lutheran (20-6) was one of four area schools to earn a No. 2 overall seed in its division. The Lancers are the second-seeded squad in Division 1AA. Esperanza (23-3) holds that same distinction in 1A. Aliso Niguel (17-6) is one of the favorites in Division 2A. Oxford Academy (19-5) will be the team to beat in the bottom half of the 4AA bracket.
If seedings hold true, there will be a pair of high-profile matchups between county foes in the semifinals. In Division 1AA, Orange Lutheran and third-seeded Los Alamitos (20-5) are on a collision course on the bottom half of the bracket. Same goes for Division 1A, where Esperanza and No. 3 Huntington Beach (19-7) are poised to square off with a championship berth on the line.
“I’d love to play Esperanza again,” said Oilers coach Russ McClurg, referring to his team’s five-point loss to the Aztecs in December. “(Esperanza coach Jimmy Valverde) has done a great job and puts a lot of time in with those kids. Love that we played them and that the game was so competitive.”
Outside of the Open Division, first-round action begins Thursday and continues Saturday with second-round play. Quarterfinals are set for Feb. 22 and the semifinals on Feb. 25.
Championship games will be played on March 3-4 at the Honda Center, Azusa Pacific University or Godinez High.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@scng.com
