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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Twenty boys’ teams will compete in 10 CIF Southern Section Playoff basketball this weekend.

Ten of those teams – across seven divisions – participated in the fourth Classic at Damien last December:

*Sierra Canyon (27-4), the top seed and defending champion, which takes on Mater Dei (25-6) in the Open Division championship game at 8:30 Friday night.

The Monarchs, who came into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, are the last program to knock off Coach Andre Chevalier’s Trailblazers in a post-season game (during the 2018 Southern Section Open finale);

*Windward (23-6) is the top seed in Division 1 and takes on No.

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SAN DIEGO – A freshman was the dominant player on the floor most of the way as the San Ysidro High boys’ basketball team won the program’s first-ever San Diego Section championship Thursday night while toppling Coronado, 71-59, in the Division III title game at Montgomery High.

By the way, the aforementioned freshman wasn’t Mikey Williams, maybe the both hyped first-year player in high school hoops (if it isn’t Bronny James of Sierra Canyon).

The standout player on the floor in front of a SRO-gathering of 1,700-plus was 6-foot-4 Jurian Dixon (pictured) scored 13 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars (24-8) had too much firepower for the Islanders (21-10) to cope with.

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GARDENA – The host Gardena High Panthers trailed just once Wednesday night while en route to a 76-67 victory against Taft in an L.A. City boys’ basketball playoff game for fifth place in the Open Division.

Both teams will be part of the State Southern Regional playoff brackets – likely in Division I or II – that will be unveiled Sunday afternoon.

State regional action begins on Tuesday night for Divisions I thru V, with a likely eight-team Open getting underway the next night.

The Panthers (27-4) took a 12-point advantage after the first period with each starter scoring.

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CARLSBAD – The host Carlsbad High Lancers were minus the two players that would have given them a consider size advantage in their CIF San Diego Section Division I semifinal with Oceanside El Camino Tuesday night.

“No worries”, Lancers’ 5-foot-11 senior guard Jailen Nelson said, though, by way of a stunning performance that propelled his team to an 72-44 victory and spot in the Saturday championship game with Santa Fe Christian at UC San Diego.

Nelson (pictured), who committed to Cal State Monterey Bay last week, turned in a tidy 42-point, no fuss or muss, performance and forcing – to no avail – the Wildcats to throw multiple defenders and schemes in an attempt to slow him down.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – My tentative weekly – in this case, Tuesday thru Saturday – high school hoops viewing slate:

Tuesday: Oceanside El Camino at Carlsbad (San Diego Section Division I semifinal/7 p.m.)

Wednesday: Taft at Gardena (L.A. City Open fifth-place game/7 p.m.)

Thursday: San Diego Division III championship game at Montgomery High (7:30 p.m.)

  Friday: Sierra Canyon vs. Mater Dei at Long Beach State Walter Pyramid (SS Open final/8:30 p.m.)

  Saturday: Six boys and girls Southern Section title games at Azusa Pacific University (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

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