Burlison on Basketball

Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

Harvard-Westlake, Roosevelt atop Open pools

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Two days after turning in emphatic performances in wire-to-wire league tournament championship games, the Harvard-Westlake and Eastvale Roosevelt squads were awarded the No.’s 1 and 2 seeds in the eight-team, CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball playoff configuration, announced by the CIF SS administration early Sunday afternoon.

The Open Division (in pool play) begins on Friday night, with the non-Open Division competition first-round play starting Wednesday.

This will be the 11th season in which the Open Division has set atop the Southern Section playoff pecking order, the first four being played in a 16-team, bracket format.

It evolved into an eight-team field in 2018 – with bracket play replaced by “pool play” the following year.

And no season since has offered such a compelling argument for the Open field returning to 16 teams . . . or, at least, 12 teams in a “four first-round byes into bracket play” or “four pools of three teams” format.

Multiple squads could win at least a game – or two – in the pool action if they had been selected as part of the eight-team field.

The most obvious of those are 24-3 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and 25-3 Windward, No.’s 6 and 8, respectively, in the updated BurlisonOnBasketball Top 30 SoCal ratings (caveat: I’ve been one of the members of the Open Selection Committee since its inception prior to the start of the 2013-14 season; selections will be made by way of “computer ratings”, for all CIF SS divisions, beginning next season).

Notre Dame (led by one of the top five seniors in the west in Houston-bound Mercy Miller) and Windward (on a 15-game winning streak) landed the 1-2 seeds in Division 1, which has a field of 26 teams with five first-round byes.

For those wondering why Notre Dame – even as the No. 1 seed – wasn’t given a bye, CIF Southern Section allow for byes only to league champions. The Knights, after losing at Sierra Canyon to close Mission League regular-season action, and to Harvard-Westlake in the league tourney semifinals, were designated by the league as its No. 4 playoff representative.

JSerra and St. Pius X/St. Matthias (No.’s 7 and 9 in the Top 30) both are in Pool B in their program’s first-ever Open appearances.

Pool A is led by Harvard-Westlake, with St. John Bosco (No. 4 in the Top 30), Sierra Canyon (No. 5 and Centennial (No. 10) the 4, 5 and 8 seeds.

Roosevelt (No. 1 in the Top 30) sits atop Pool B as the 2 seed, following 3 Mater Dei (No. 5 in the Top 30), 6 St. Pius X/St. Matthias and 7 JSerra.

Friday’s Open action tips with Centennial (the Huskies have won three titles in a row) traveling to Harvard-Westlake for a rematch of the Southern Regional Open final won by the Wolverines), and Sierra Canyon heading south on the Bellflower exit of the 105 to take on host St. John Bosco.

In Pool B, Roosevelt plays host to JSerra (which handed the Mustangs their first of only two losses,  at Redondo Union High, on Nov. 28 in a double-overtime clash) while the St. Pius X/St. Matthias Warriors trek to Santa Ana to play Mater Dei.

And the Division 1 field looks every bit as “balanced” and “competitive”, near top to bottom, as the Open appears.

If the top eight seeds “hold serve”, four quarterfinals (set for Feb. 13) could pit Notre Dame vs. West Ranch (No. 12 in the Top 30); No. 13 Redondo Union vs. No. 16 Etiwanda; No. 11 Damien vs. No. 14 La Mirada; and No. 8 Windward vs. No. 17 Los Alamitos.

I’ll post my divisional title favorites, as well as my choices for the “Top players of the regular season), later this week.

 

BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30 Teams/Playoff schedules

(results after games of Feb. 3)

School/Record/Last Week

  1. Eastvale Roosevelt/27-2/1

Next Up: CIF SS Open, Friday, vs. No. 7 JSerra, 7 p.m.

  1. Mater Dei/26-2/2

Next Up: Open, Friday, vs. No. 9 St. Pius X/St. Matthias, 7.

  1. Harvard-Westlake/26-3/5

Next Up: Open, Friday, vs. No. 10 Centennial, 7.

  1. Saint John Bosco/23-5/6

Next Up: Open, Friday, vs. No. 5 Sierra Canyon, 7.

  1. Sierra Canyon/24-2/2

Next Up: Open, Friday, at No. 4 St. John Bosco, 7.

  1. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame/24-3/4

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, at Crean Lutheran, 7.

  1. JSerra/24-4/7

Next Up: Open, at No. 1 Roosevelt, 7 p.m.

  1. Windward/25-3/8

Next Up: D1, Friday, vs. Pacifica Christian or St. Francis, 7 p.m.

  1. Saint Pius/Saint Matthias/22-5/9

Next Up: Open, at No. 2 Mater Dei, 7 p.m.

  1. Corona Centennial/20-10/10

Next Up: Open, at No. 3 Harvard-Westlake, 7 p.m.

  1. Damien/24-4/11

Next Up: D1, Friday vs. No. 26 Rancho Christian or Crossroads, 7 p.m.

  1. West Ranch/20-8*on-court/12

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. Edison, 7 p.m.

  1. Redondo Union/22-4/14

Next Up: D1, Friday, vs. Brentwood or No. 24 Foothill, 7 p.m.

  1. La Mirada/21-7/15

Next Up: D1, Friday, vs. Mira Costa or No. 22 St. Bernard, 7 p.m.

  1. Heritage Christian/20-8/16

Next Up: D2AA, Friday, vs. Calabasas or Shalhevet, 7 p.m.

  1. Etiwanda/23-5/13

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. Village Christian, 7 p.m.

  1. Los Alamitos/23-5/17

Next Up: D1, Friday, vs. No. 23 Rancho Cucamonga or No. 27 Canyon, 7 p.m.

  1. Crespi/23-7/18

Next Up: D2AA, Wednesday, vs. Maranatha, 7 p.m.

  1. Santa Margarita/17-10/19

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, at Oxnard, 7 p.m.

  1. Saint Anthony/19-7/24

Next Up: D2AA, Wednesday, vs. Sonora, 7 p.m.

  1. Campbell Hall/11-16/20

Next Up: D2AA, Wednesday, vs. Simi Valley, 7 p.m.

  1. Saint Bernard/13-11/30

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. Mira Costa, 7 p.m.

  1. Rancho Cucamonga/18-8/21

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, at No. 27 Canyon, 7 p.m.

  1. Foothill/20-8/25

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. Brentwood, 7 p.m.

  1. Rancho Verde/24-4/23

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. Walnut, 7 p.m.

  1. Rancho Christian/16-9/22

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. Crossroads, 7 p.m.

  1. Anaheim Canyon/21-7/26

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs No. 23 Rancho Cucamonga, 7 p.m.

  1. Pacifica Christian/18-10/UR

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, vs. St. Francis, 7 p.m.

  1. Riverside Poly/17-11/UR

Next Up: D1, Wednesday, at Fairmont Prep, 7 p.m.

  1. Pasadena/24-3/UR

Next Up: D2A, Wednesday, vs. Palos Verdes, 7 p.m.

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