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The Register’s preview of the CIF Southern California Regional boys basketball championship game Saturday. 

DIVISION II

PASADENA (27-6) VS. ESPERANZA (28-3)

Where, when: Esperanza High, Saturday, 6 p.m.

Outlook: Esperanza’s first experience in the boys basketball state tournament started with a 66-47 win over Dorsey of Los Angeles and continued with wins over Bakersfield, 73-47, in the second round and over Crossroads of Santa Monica, 64-51, in the semifinals. Esperanza 6-8 senior guard Kezie Okpala has been excellent all season yet had his highest offensive production Tuesday against Crossroads. Okpala, who signed with Stanford, scored 46 points to break his own school record. Esperanza junior forward Brendan Harrick, mending from a shoulder injury, had his best regionals game, too, matching his season average of 12 points against Crossroads. Pasadena lost to Harvard-Westlake of Studio City in the CIF-SS Division 1A final, but beat Harvard-Westlake in the regional semifinals Tuesday. That win followed a 63-57 win over Heritage Christian of Northridge in the first round and a 64-57 win over Mission Hills of San Marcos in the second round. Pasadena 6-3 junior guard Bryce Hamilton averages 23 points and 10 rebounds a game. The Bulldogs’ Darius Brown, a 6-foot junior guard, averages 18 points and seven assists. The winner of this game plays the winner of Saturday’s CIF Northern California Regionals Division II championship game between Moreau Catholic of Hayward (24-9) and St. Francis of Mountain View (21-9) on March 25 at Sacramento.