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LA VERNE, Ca. – The second Classic at Damien was the best post-Christmas high school basketball tournament in the western U.S.

Here are some of the reasons why, courtesy the CIF Southern and L.A. City Section playoff brackets:

*Four of the programs that participated in the 16-team Platinum Bracket (champion Etiwanda, along with third-place Santa Margarita, fourth-place St. John Bosco and consolation champion Rancho Christian) were selected to the Southern Section’s eight-team Open Division bracket.

Two other Platinum squads, Birmingham and Taft, are in the eight-team L.A.

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SAN PEDRO – A first-round victory in the CIF Southern Section 4A playoffs Wednesday night earned the Mary Star of the Sea boys’ basketball team a two-hour, 93-mile bus ride to the California High Desert Friday.

The Stars outlasted Newport Beach’s Sage Hill, 70-60, behind a 30-point performance from 6-foot-4 junior Joseph Octave, to improve to 23-5.

Coach Mike Sestich’s squad will make the Friday trip to Phelan to place the host Serrano High Diamondbacks, who knocked off Jurupa Hills Wednesday night, 81-59.

The Stars burst to a 6-0 advantage against Sage Hill (which was to drop to 10-17), Octave scoring four of those points as the result of two of his eventual nine steals.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The CIF Southern Section’s eight-team Open Division playoff bracket was unveiled Saturday at the section’s office in Los Alamitos.

During the first four seasons of the Open Division, a 16-team bracket was employed.

The change to an eight-team field was made, in very large part, to increase the strength of Division I (which was strengthened even more so in that it was consolidated from I-AA and I-A brackets).

Are you curious how the 2018 Open field might have presented itself in its previous 16-team parameter?

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STUDIO CITY, Ca. – Even with its star guard on the bench all of the second half, the Crespi High boys’ basketball team took care of the last of its Mission League and regular-season business Friday night at Harvard-Westlake.

The Celtics wrapped of the league portion of its schedule at 12-0 with its 72-63 victory over the host Wolverines in front of a full house.

Coach Russell White’s team will take a 25-2 overall record mark and 14-game winning streak into the Feb. 17 first round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – League play wraps up this week in the CIF Southern and Los Angeles City sections, while concluding next week in the San Diego Section.

The Southern Section Boys’ Open Playoff pairings will be unveiled on Saturday, as will as the all of the L.A. City pairings.

The remainder of the Southern Section divisional pairings will e released at the section’s Los Alamitos on Sunday.

Barring upsets, Bishop Montgomery and Etiwanda are expected to be first two seeds in the Southern Section’s Open Division, with Fairfax and Westchester – or vice-versa – 1-2 in the L.A.

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