Four Orange County girls basketball teams were selected to the CIF-Southern Section Open Division on Friday afternoon.
Brea Olinda, Mater Dei, Troy and Fairmont Prep were the local programs chosen to compete in the CIF’s elite playoff bracket.
Originally, the Open Division bracket was set to be released today. But with a number of high-profile contests taking place outside the county that could impact seedings and potential matchups in the division itself, the CIF chose to delay the official reveal of the bracket until Saturday at 11 a.m.
Brea and Mater Dei were the county’s lone Open Division teams last season. Troy was selected back in 2014. The Monarchs are the only county team to play in the Open Division each of the three years it has been in play.
A season after winning the Division 4A championship, Fairmont Prep was moved up to 1AA this year. The Huskies appear to be one of the final teams added to this year’s Open Division pool. Thirteen ranked 1AA teams were selected to fill this year’s bracket. As it turned out, Fairmont Prep was ranked No. 13 of that bunch in the latest CIF-SS polls.
Like a regular tournament, the Open Division features a championship half of the bracket and a consolation half. Regardless of how they perform in the Open Division, all 16 teams advance to the CIF State tournament that begins with the Southern California Regionals.
The Open Division girls basketball teams:
Alemany
Brea Olinda
Cajon
Chaminade
Etiwanda
Fairmont Prep
Harvard-Westlake
Mater Dei
Oaks Christian
Long Beach Poly
Santa Barbara
Serra
Sierra Canyon
Troy
Vista Murrieta
Windward