LOS ALAMITOS, Ca. – The CIF Southern Section third Boys’ Basketball Open Division bracket was publicly unveiled by Southern Section administrators Saturday morning.
Not in the least bit surprising was that Chino Hills (27-0 and No. 1 in most national rankings), Bishop Montgomery (24-1 with its only loss to Chino Hills), Sierra Canyon (23-3, with an at-the-buzzer loss to national power Oak Hill Academy) and Mater Dei (25-3, which suffered its last loss, by 19 points, to the same Oak Hill Academy squad two days after its buzz-beater vs. Sierra Canyon).
Full disclosure: I’m a member of the Open Division Selection Committee.
Chino Hills is scheduled to play host to Santa Margarita when the playoffs open Friday night.
Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran joined Mater Dei as Trinity League representatives in the field.
Santa Margarita, Orange Lutheran, Cantwell-Sacred Heart and Los Alamitos were voted in by balloting from among the six committee members during the selection and seeding meeting Friday morning.
They joined the other 12 squads which were selected via unanimous voice acclimation.
The other five teams among the final nine on the “ballot” to cull the last of the four teams in the field were Ayala, Diamond Ranch, La Canada, Long Beach Poly and Santa Monica.
If my vote were the only one that mattered Friday Ayala and Poly would have been included in the field in place of Cantwell-Sacred Heart and Santa Margarita, which have combined for 19 losses.
Santa Margarita, Inglewood, Los Alamitos, Eastvale Roosevelt and Crespi are making their first Open appearances.
Chino Hills, Corona Centennial, Cantwell-Sacred Heart, Mater Dei, Sierra Canyon, Redondo Union and Bishop Montgomery are 3-for-3 in Open participation.
The complete 16-team bracket:
Upper Bracket: Santa Margarita (17-9) at No. 1 Chino Hills (27-0); Inglewood (20-6) at No. 8 Alemany (21-6); Compton (18-8) at No. 5 Corona Centennial (21-6); Cantwell-Sacred Heart (16-10) at No. 4 Mater Dei (25-3).
Lower Bracket: Los Alamitos (23-4) at No. 3 Sierra Canyon (23-3); Eastvale Roosevelt (21-6) at No. 6 Redondo Union (22-4); Crespi (24-3) at No. 7 Damien (24-3); Orange Lutheran (21-6) at No. 2 Bishop Montgomery (24-1).
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