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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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LOS ANGELES – The most significant high school boys’ basketball rivalry in Southern California is going to get a third renewal this season.

Western League foes Fairfax and Westchester bagged L.A. City Section Open semifinal victories Saturday night at L.A. Southwest College to earn their spots in the championship game, on the same court, seven nights later.

The Lions (26-4), who knocked off Westchester twice in league play and came into the playoffs as the top seed, locked into No. 4 seed Birmingham, defensively, from Jump Street Saturday night to prevail, 58-39.

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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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