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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – I’ve followed NCAA tournaments very closely since, say, 1971 or so – yes, I’m old as, well . . . I’m old.

But without doing a whole lot of time-consuming season-by-season research, I can’t recall a first week to an NCAA Basketball Tournament that was as mind-whopping as this one was.

Let me count the ways, in reasonably pecking order:

1. The first No. 1 seed – regionally, much less nationally – fell to a No. 16 as the Virginia Cavaliers were blitzed by Maryland-Baltimore County.

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LONG BEACH – The Sierra Canyon High basketball team held its collective breath as a potential score-tying jumper by Etiwanda’s Krystian Wilson was just off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded in Long Beach State’s Pyramid.

With the miss came a 58-55 victory for the Trailblazers over the Eagles in the Southern Regional Open Division final and earned them a spot in the state championship game next Saturday night in Sacramento.

Sierra Canyon’s “NBA bloodlines” came through at critical moments for Coach Andre Chevalier’s team as Kenyon Martin Jr.,

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LONG BEACH – The St. John Bosco High basketball team dominated, more or less, the first three quarters of its Southern Regional Division I championship game with Chino Hills Saturday afternoon in the Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus.

But the fourth quarter, well, not so much.

Sparked by the both-ends-of-the-floor dominance of 6-foot-9 junior Onyeka Okongwu, the Chino Hills Huskies outscored the Braves over the final eight minutes 27-2 to prevail, 67-51, and earn a spot in the State championship game, against Las Lomas of Walnut Creek, next Friday night in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Arena.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, family dogs . . .

Here are my game-by-game selections for the NCAA Tournament, culminating with the Final Four in San Antonio:

 

SOUTH

First Round: No. 1 Virginia-UMBC; Creighton-Kansas State; Kentucky-Davidson; Arizona-Buffalo; Miami-Loyola/Chi.; Tennessee-Wright State; Nevada-Texas; Cincinnati-Georgia State.

Second Round: Virginia-Creighton; Arizona-Kentucky; Tennessee-Miami; Cincinnati-Texas.

Regional Semifinals (Atlanta): Virginia-Arizona and Cincinnati-Miami.

Final: Cincinnati-Arizona

 

WEST

First Round: No. 1 Xavier-Texas Southern; Missouri-Florida State; Gonzaga-UNC/Greensboro; Ohio State-South Dakota State; Houston-San Diego State; Michigan-Montana; Texas A&M-Providence; North Carolina-Lipscomb.

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LOS ANGELES – Lake Balboa High’s basketball team may just 15-14.

But Coach Nicholas Halic’s Patriots are just a Saturday win away from a trip to Sacramento and a spot in the State Division II championship game next week.

Led by the all-around play of 6-foot-5 Devonaire Doutrive and the low-post dominance of 6-11 junior Christian Koloko (PICTURED), the Patriots held on to edge the host and top seed Brentwood School Eagles Tuesday night, 48-43.

The Patriots will take on Shareef O’Neal-led Crossroads – the No.

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