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 Sonora coach Mike Murphy probably wasn't happy to learn Monday that the Raiders were one of the teams being considered for Open Division playoffs. Five other county teams were also on the initial 'watch list' for the division.
Sonora coach Mike Murphy probably wasn’t happy to learn Monday that the Raiders were one of the teams being considered for Open Division playoffs. Five other county teams were also on the initial ‘watch list’ for the division.

Sonora coach Mike Murphy a few weeks ago joked, “I hope we’re the 17th best team in the section.”

Being No. 17 would keep Sonora out of the CIF-Southern Section’s fierce Open Division.

The CIF-SS office Monday released its first “watch list” of candidates for the Open Division playoffs.

Sorry, Murph, but your Raiders are on the list. So are five other Orange County teams: Los Alamitos, Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita and Tustin.

The Open Division was created before the 2012-13 season. It is for what a selection committee determines are the 16 best teams in the section, regardless of enrollment. (The committee can choose fewer than 16 teams if it feels there are not 16 worthy teams.)

Mater Dei won the Open Division championship in 2013 and ’14.

The watch list Monday included 40 teams that are considered top candidates for the Open Division based on performance so far this season.

Much like a ranking of college football national-championship candidates were released weekly beginning in late October through the start of the bowls season, the Southern Section will release an updated Open Division watch list each Monday through the end of the regular season.

Jump stops around Orange County basketball:

• A few leagues began league play last week. Several others start league play this week. The four-team Crestview and North Hills leagues begin league play later.

• Two major differences in Orange Lutheran’s 66-55 win over Servite in a Trinity League opener on Friday were turnovers and free-throw shooting. Servite committed 18 turnovers to Lutheran’s nine. Lutheran was 18 for 24 at the free-throw line where Servite was 4 for 9.

• Foothill senior starting guard Andrew Ammann did not play in the Knights’ one-point loss to Tustin last week because he suffered a head injury in an accident at home. The injury required a hospital stay that ended Saturday. Foothill coach Rusty Van Cleave said Ammann’s recovery has accelerated enough so that it has become possible that Ammann, one of the team’s better shooters, could again play this season.

• Garden Grove, averaging 75 points a game, is 15-2 and the favorite in the Garden Grove League that begins league play this week. Argonauts senior point guard Felix Ramirez is averaging 17 points and five assists a game, guard Paul Singh is scoring 18 points a game as is another senior guard, Chris O’Farrell.

• Mater Dei plays at Santa Margarita on Wednesday. Monarchs coach Gary McKnight said senior guard La’vette Parker might play this week after missing a few games because of a jammed thumb.

• Also Wednesday, Sunny Hills is at Sonora in a Freeway League opener. Sunny Hills’ Tim Ahn, a 5-foot-8 guard, and 6-4 Dezmond Rowen are averaging 16 points a game. Josh Rodriguez and Ben Rico have been Sonora’s best two players the past two seasons.

• Savanna senior guard Michael Enis scored 75 points last week over three Rebels’ games, wins over Cypress and Upland and a loss to Godinez.

• El Dorado 6-7 junior forward Elijah Mosham continued his outstanding season last week with 25 points in a loss to Fullerton and 21 points in a win over Anaheim.

• Tickets for the Nike Extravaganza, Feb. 6 and 7 at Mater Dei, are on sale at the school’s Meruelo Athletic Center ticket window Monday through Friday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (The school is closed Jan. 19.) Cash only is accepted for all tickets: $12 for Feb. 6 general admission; $12 for Feb. 7 morning general admission; $12 for Feb. 7 general admission; and $22 for Feb. 7 reserved seating.

• Four teams in CalHiSports.com’s state top 5 are in the Nike Extravaganza: No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland; No. 2 Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth; No. 3 Mater Dei; and No. 5 Fairfax of Los Angeles. Other state top 20 teams in the Nike Extravaganza are No. 8 Centennial of Corona, No. 9 Etiwanda, No. 11 Chino Hills and No. 16 Orange Lutheran. Oak Hill Academy of Virginia, No. 3 in USA Today’s national rankings, will play both days of the Nike Extravaganza.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com