Frank Burlison

CALABASAS – Five No. 1 seeds in the CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball brackets earned spots in next week’s championship games with victories Friday night throughout Southern California. A sixth got its final-clinching victory Thursday:

*The Sierra Canyon Trailblazers improved to 27-4 and earned a pop at a second consecutive Open title next Friday night at Long Beach State with its 73-62 win over Etiwanda at Calabasas High. They’ll take on Mater Dei – a program they beat in the post season twice a year ago – in the Walter Pyramid;

*Windward hit the road for the second time in the week, traveling to San Juan Capistrano in the southern reaches of Orange County to topple JSerra, 67-61, for a Feb.

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CALABASAS – Rematches of Classic at Damien semifinals tonight will dictate half the championship fields in the CIF Southern Section’s Open and Division 2AA championship games next week.

*In an Open Division Pool-A contest, No. 1 and defending champion Sierra Canyon (26-4) plays host to No. 4 Etiwanda (28-2) at Calabasas High.

Sierra Canyon edged the Eagles, 57 -53, in a Dec. 28 Classic Platinum semi.

Etiwanda has won 17 in a row since, including Pool A games with St. Anthony (71-55) and St. John Bosco (60-38).

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COSTA MESA – The La Verne Bonita High Bearcats pushed their record to 28-2 with their 15^th consecutive win with their 62-53 victory over host Newport Pacifica Christian in a Wednesday night, CIF Southern Section 2A quarterfinal at Vanguard University.

The No. 4 seed Wildcats of Coach Tim Godley will play host to top seed Ribet Academy in a Friday night semifinal, with the winner advancing to the Feb. 29 divisional championship game.

The Wildcats became the 23^rd team (including Ribet Academy) Classic at Damien tournament field from the Southern or L.A.

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LAKEWOOD – As the Windward High boys’ basketball team found out Tuesday night, no lead is “safe” when playing the Mayfair Monsoons and their two-headed scoring monster, aka, Josh Christopher and Dior Johnson.

Fortunately for the Windward Wildcats, though, they were able to build just enough of an advantage – four points, thanks to a couple of free throws by Marcus Joseph with a second to go – to withstand a Christopher buzzer-beating dunk, 67-65, and move on to a Friday night CIF Southern Section Division I playoff semifinal at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – The second round of pool play in the Open Division, as well as quarterfinals in most of the other CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball playoff divisions, are on tap for Tuesday evening.

Notable games include (all tipping at 7 o’clock, unless noted):

*The four Open Division clashes include one in which both squads won Friday opening games.

No. 7 seed Mater Dei (which knocked off host and 2 seed Corona Centennial on the road Friday) takes on No. 3 Rancho Christian in a game that has been moved to Great Oak High in Temecula (the same city Rancho Christian is located).

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