Frank Burlison

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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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Twenty-five teams that played in December’s fourth The Classic at Damien are still in contention for CIF Southern Section or L.A. City Section championships.

Notable among those are the squads in the Southern Section (Sierra Canyon, Rancho Christian, Etiwanda and St John Bosco) and L.A. City (Fairfax, King-Drew, Birmingham and Washington Prep) eight-team Open playoffs.

In Tuesday Southern Section action, there will be three “all-Classic at Damien” matchups: St. John Bosco at Etiwanda (Open/Pool A game); Valencia at Damien (D-1 quarterfinal) and Heritage Christian at St.

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TEMECULA – A year ago, as the No. 1 seed, the Rancho Christian High boys’ basketball team stumbled in its first pool-play and that was enough to keep it from getting a chance to knock off Sierra Canyon in the CIF Southern Section’s Open Division championship game.

Friday night, as the No. 3 seed, things again looked more than a bit precarious for Coach Ray Barefield’s club in its home playoff-opener against No. 6 Harvard-Westlake.

But, despite trailing by nine points early in the contest and by a point with just less than three minutes to go, the Eagles were able to claw out the victory, 67-62.

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ETIWANDA – The visiting St. Anthony High Saints got an up-close look-see at the man-up, half-court defense of the Etiwanda Eagles Thursday night in a CIF Southern Section Open Division boys’ basketball playoff opener.

And, as they’d no doubt attest, it was everything it’s cracked up to be.

Coach Dave Kleckner’s Eagles, leading by four points with a little bit more than five minutes to go in the third quarter, forced four turnovers and blocked a couple of Saints’ shot during a 14-2 spurt over the next four minutes.

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