Six teams still have CIF SS Open title hopes

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  CORONA – The last of the CIF Southern Section Open Division’s Pool-Play competition is set for Friday night.

   And – and so far, at least – it would be difficult to argue with the success of the format in its first season.

   Not only do six of the eight teams remain in the battle for both spots in the Feb. 23 championship game but each of the first eight games have been every bit of “competitive”:

   *The average margin of victory was ever-so-slightly less than 8 points (7.8);

   *The most lopsided margin came in host and top-seed Rancho Christian’s 61-49 win against No. 5 Etiwanda Tuesday night;

   *Three of the eight games (No. 8 Bishop Montgomery over Rancho Christian, No. 7 Mater over No. 3 Centennial and Etiwanda over No. 4 Rancho Verde) were won by visiting teams;

  *And, in perhaps the most telling note, No. 6 St. John Bosco is the only team that has lost both games yet the margins were just four (at Centennial) and three (at No. 2 Sierra Canyon) points, respectively.

   Pool A (where Rancho Christian plays host to Rancho Verde at Temecula Chaparral and Bishop Montgomery is at Etiwanda) is the most wide-open in its “winner” possibilities, with each team having split its games:

   *Rancho Christian gets the championship bid if it wins Friday night while Etiwanda knocks off Bishop Montgomery (leaving R.C. and Etiwanda with 2-1 records, and Rancho Christian advancing by way of its win over Etiwanda);

   *Rancho Verde gets to the Feb. 23 title game at Cal Baptist in Riverside if it and Bishop Montgomery get road wins Friday (leaving both with 2-1 records but Rancho Verde moving on because of its win over the Knights Tuesday night);

   *Etiwanda and Rancho Verde wins moves Etiwanda to the Feb. 23 final (both teams 2-1 but Etiwanda with the first-round win over Rancho Verde);

   *And Bishop Montgomery will face the Pool B winner if it and Rancho Christian win Friday night (the Knights upset the Eagles in the first round last Saturday night for what would be the 2-1 records’ tie-breaker).

   Pool B is a bit more complicated and the “weighted victories” factor could come into play if Sierra Canyon, Centennial and Mater Dei end up at 2-1 Friday night following wins by Centennial and Sierra Canyon and St. John Bosco, respectively.

   In that scenario, the “head-to-head” aspect couldn’t be used as a tie-breaker (Mater Dei beat Centennial but lost to Sierra Canyon; Sierra Canyon would have beaten the Monarchs but lost to Centennial).

  So, Centennial’s road victory (against No. 2 Sierra Canyon would be of more value than Mater Dei’s win at No. 3 Centennial and Sierra Canyon’s home wins over No. 7 SJB and No. 8 MD).

   And that’s why only Sierra Canyon (with a win over Centennial for a 3-0 record) and Centennial (with the win over Sierra Canyon) remain in the hunt for the Open title game.

    It’s also why the Monarchs’ 82-71 victory over Centennial Tuesday night at Santiago was actually meaningless relative to all of the Friday Pool B scenarios.

    But the performance should give Coach Gary McKnight’s team a lot of momentum into its Friday night game with Trinity League foe St. John Bosco and into the State Southern Regional competition (the eight Southern Section Open teams will go into either the Southern Open or D-I play).

    The Monarchs (26-4) splashed six 3-pointers (four by junior guard Ryan Evans, who didn’t miss a shot with 16 points in the quarter) in the first quarter and never stopped sizzling offensively.

   Evans (who finished eight of 12 from the field, including seven 3s) led the way with 25 points and four assists.

  Sophomore center Wilhelm Breidenbach (20 points and nine rebounds) knocked in four 3s for the second game in a row.

   Junior guard Aidan Prukop scored 12 of his 16 points after intermission and sophomore forward Harrison Hornery scored all 10 of his points in the second quarter.

  Sophomore point guard Devin Askew (nine points) was the only Monarch starter not to score in double figures but picked up nine assists. He was a bit wobbly early (three turnovers in the first few minutes) but settled down and did a fine job of finding open shooters and keeping the ball moving.

   Evans (PICTURED), Askew and Prukop also did a superb job of limiting the Huskies’ D.J. Davis (5 of 19 from the field), Jaylen Clark (6 of 17) and Paris Dawson (4 of 10) ability to get clean looks at jump shots or angles to drive thru.