CIF gets it right with schedule for title games

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

•It makes sense, and dollars and cents, to have the Foothill-Ocean View boys basketball game in the marquee position as the 8:15 p.m. game Saturday at the Honda Center for the CIF-Southern Section championships. That much anticipated game might provide the highest ticket sales of any of the six games there Saturday, and as the participating schools get an equal share of 40 percent of the revenue, this is a good decision for all. The other 60 percent the CIF-SS keeps, and a smart decision like this and its ability to attract and retain corporate sponsors are big reasons why the section can have its championship events at excellent facilities and why CIF-SS member schools pay only $50 to the section for each sport in which it participates.

•Tickets for CIF-SS championship boys and girls basketball games might be available at participating schools today, and with long lines possible getting tickets in advance can be a smart move. Contact the participating schools for information. Tickets are $5-$9 for games at Colony High of Ontario and at Mater Dei, $7-$11 for games at the Walter Pyramid (Long Beach State), and $8-$15 for games at Honda Center.

•There will be two sessions at Honda Center for the boys basketball finals, and separate admission is required for each session. The morning session has four games, starting with a great matchup, Serra of Gardena vs. Centennial of Compton, at 9 a.m. For the evening session, there are two games: Mater Dei vs. Etiwanda at 6:30 p.m. and Ocean View-Foothill at 8:15 p.m.

•Predictions for the boys and girls championship games involving county teams: boys 1AA, Mater Dei over Etiwanda; boys 3AA, Ocean View over Foothill; boys 4AA, Price of Los Angeles over Orange Lutheran; boys 6AA, Ribet Academy of Los Angeles over Tarbut V'Torah; girls 2AA, Brea Olinda over Villa Park; girls 2A, Mater Dei over Woodbridge; and girls 3A, Santa Margarita over Muir of Pasadena.

•The basketball season does not end Saturday. On Sunday, seedings and first-round pairings are released for the CIF Southern California Regionals, which is the qualifying tournament for the CIF State Championships. The Regionals is a four-round tournament that begins with first-round games Monday in some divisions and Tuesday in others, and concludes with Regionals finals on March 20 at USC's Galen Center and Colony High. The CIF State Championships are March 26 and 27 in Bakersfield.

•County baseball and softball previews will be at ocvarsity.com on Monday, and in print in the Register sports section Tuesday.

•The National Football Foundation's Orange County Chapter held its Scholar-Athlete Banquet on Monday at Anaheim Convention Center. More than $25,000 in scholarship money was awarded. County college and high school football players who were all-conference or all-league first team while maintaining a grade-point average of 3.5 or better were honored.

•Hey, I did not know this until the NFF event Monday – the first coach who called Servite coach Troy Thomas to wish him and Servite luck in the CIF State Championship Bowl Games was Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson. The two greeted each other like long-lost friends Monday. Now, if we can only get Servite and Mater Dei parents and alumni to follow that example.

•The retirement party for former Irvine football coach Terry Henigan in the Irvine High gym started at 7 p.m. Saturday – and ended at 11:45 p.m. Speakers were asked to limit their comments to five minutes, but Henigan's impact was such that nobody could summarize their love and respect for him in only five minutes.

•Any minute now, we should find out who will be the football coaches at Aliso Niguel and Trabuco Hills. Budget cuts that could restrict which teaching jobs are available have entered the picture and the process.

•Coaches for the Orange County North-South All-Star game – Joe Hay of Garden Grove is the North coach, and John Shipp of Fountain Valley is the South coach for the July 16 game at Orange Coast College. Hay and Shipp were teammates at Westminster High, with Hay a defensive lineman and Shipp a quarterback. In an entertaining interview of the two at ocvarsity.com, Hay describes Shipp's quarterbacking skills as "squirrel-y" and it's actually a compliment of Shipp's quickness.

•We need all-league teams for the winter sports. Email them to preps@ocregister.com. They are essential to us as we select the All-County teams that will be published late this month.