SoCal Ratings: Showdown Tuesday Night
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The theme for Tuesday’s State Southern Regional semifinals is “rematch”.
Those rematches start in the Open Division, where the respective No.’s 1- and 2-ranked teams (via BurlisonOnBasketball), Sierra Canyon and Bishop Montgomery, meet at Calabasas High.
Sierra Canyon prevailed in double-overtime, 77-74, in the Southern Section Open semifinal on Feb. 24. But the Knights won, 65-62, during a Jan. 5 Take Flight Challenge game at Cerritos College.
Best 2 of 3, baby!
In the Division I semifinals, No. 6 Rancho Christian is at No. 5 St. John Bosco and No. 11 Pasadena is at No. 7 Chino Hills.
St. John Bosco has beaten Rancho Christian twice, in the second round of the Classic at Damien on Dec. 27 and during the consolation semifinals of the Southern Section Open Division playoffs on Feb. 23 (that game was also at SJB).
Chino Hills topped Pasadena (72-56) during the March 3 Southern Section D-1 championship game at Azusa Pacific University.
Six-foot-nine junior Onyeka Okongwu (PICTURED) hit Pasadena with 38 points, 18 rebounds and six blocked shots in that one.
There is another rematch of a Southern Section playoff game in D-II, when Crossroads plays host to Cajon – which it knocked off, 84-64, on Feb. 23, in the same building.
In Division-IV, L.A. View Park plays host to King/Drew – which it topped, 67-49, during a Jan. 13 Spud McKinzy Challenge game at Fremont High.
Championship games will be played on Saturday, with the Open and D-I games in the Pyramid (at LBSU) and the others on the home courts (or “alternate sites”) of the higher seeds in the D-II, III, IV and V matchups.
FYI: Seven teams that will be playing Tuesday (Etiwanda in the Open; Pasadena, Rancho Christian and St. John Bosco in D-I; Cajon and Birmingham in D-II; and Notre Dame-Riverside in D-III) played in December’s second The Classic at Damien – the first six of those as part of the 16-team “Platinum” Division.
And six squads from the event (Long Beach Poly, Rancho Verde and Taft in D-I; Muir and San Marcos in D-II; and Duarte in in D-V) lost in the second round Saturday night.
And that’s just more proof as to why it is far and away the best post-Christmas tournament in the west.
The updated BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 10 Plus 15 Southern California team ratings:
SoCal Top 10 Plus 15
(Records as of March 10)
- Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (SS/24-4)
Tuesday: vs. Bishop Montgomery at Calabasas High/Regional Open semi
- Torrance Bishop Montgomery (Southern Section/28-1)
Tuesday: vs. Sierra Canyon at Calabasas High/Regional Open semi
- Santa Ana Mater Dei (SS/23-7)
Season concluded.
- Etiwanda (SS/29-3)
Tuesday: vs. Fairfax/Regional Open semi
- Bellflower St. John Bosco (SS/23-7)
Tuesday: vs. Rancho Christian/Regional D-I semi
- Temecula Rancho Christian (SS/29-4)
Tuesday: at St. John Bosco/Regional D-I semi
- Chino Hills (SS/23-11)
Tuesday: vs. Pasadena/Regional D-1 semi
- Westchester (L.A. City/30-6)
Season concluded.
- Fairfax (City/23-9)
Tuesday: at Etiwanda/Regional Open semi
- Encino Crespi (SS/26-5)
Season concluded.
- Pasadena (SS/25-7)
Tuesday: at Chino Hills/Regional D-1 semi
- Rancho SM Santa Margarita (SS/20-10)
Season concluded.
- La Verne Damien (SS/23-7)
Season concluded.
- Long Beach Poly (SS/23-9)
Season concluded.
- Oak Park (SS/22-7)
Season concluded.
- Mission Bay (SDS/27-6)
Season concluded.
- Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (SS/23-11)
Season concluded.
- Woodland Hills Taft (LAC/27-10)
Season concluded.
- Corona Centennial (SS/21-11)
Season concluded.
- Eastvale Roosevelt (SS/25-4)
Season concluded.
- Studio City Harvard-Westlake (SS/22-6)
Season concluded.
- Los Angeles Brentwood (SS/26-7)
Tuesday: vs. Birmingham/Regional D-II semi
- Santa Monica Crossroads (SS/22-9)
Tuesday: vs. Cajon/Regional D-II semi
- San Diego Torrey Pines (SD/28-5)
Season concluded.
- El Cajon Foothills Christian (San Diego/26-6)
Season concluded.