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NEWPORT BEACH – On a Wednesday night when buckets were as tough to come by as an enjoyable way to abstain from drive-thru, fast food, it was up to the St. Francis High Golden Knights’ boys’ basketball team to punch out a 45-39, first-round CIF Southern Section Division 1 victory over the host Pacifica Christian Tritons.

Coach Todd Wolfson’s team – which finished fifth in the Mission League and advanced to the playoffs via the at-large route – hit just 15 of 44 shots from the floor (.341) but eight of the field goals were from behind the 3-point arc.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Southern California high school playoff hoops go full-bore Wednesday night, with the CIF Southern and L.A. City sections tipping off in all but their Open Divisions.

Among the teams in action Wednesday night are the CIF SS’s Division 1 top seed, Notre Dame.

The Knights (24-3), No. 6 in the BurlisonOnBasketball SoCal Top 30, are scheduled to make a 59-mile, south-bound trek on the 5 to Irvine to take on host Crean Lutheran (16-12) at 7 o’clock.

For those wondering why Mercy Miller-led Notre Dame is on the road – and traveling a long one – in its opener as the No.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – Two days after turning in emphatic performances in wire-to-wire league tournament championship games, the Harvard-Westlake and Eastvale Roosevelt squads were awarded the No.’s 1 and 2 seeds in the eight-team, CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball playoff configuration, announced by the CIF SS administration early Sunday afternoon.

The Open Division (in pool play) begins on Friday night, with the non-Open Division competition first-round play starting Wednesday.

This will be the 11^th season in which the Open Division has set atop the Southern Section playoff pecking order, the first four being played in a 16-team, bracket format.

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CORONA – Brayden Burries and his Eastvale Roosevelt High teammates began their season on Nov. 15, with a game against Birmingham at Westchester High, with exceedingly high expectations – internally and externally.

A little more than two and a half-months later, Coach Steve Singleton’s Mustangs remain on track to fulfilling them.

That was succinctly illustrated Friday night in front of an SRO-only crowd at Santiago High, where Burries – with a 31-point performance – led his team past Corona Centennial, 63-50, in the first-ever Big VIII League tournament title game.

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LA VERNE – The dominating “post presence” that Nate Garcia provided Thursday night was the cornerstone of the Damien High Spartans’ 61-49 victory over visiting Etiwanda – and the outright Baseline League title championship that came with it.

Garcia (pictured), a 7-foot, 255-pound (give or take) junior, scored a layup before missing his second attempt early in the contest played in front of an approximate 2,000.

And then Garcia didn’t miss again unless he was fouled, hitting his final 12 field-goal attempts,  as well as two of three free throws in the fourth quarter, to score 28 points with 11 rebounds as the Spartans improved to 24-4, overall, and 9-1 in Baseline action to secure the program’s first outright title in nine years.

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