Southland Teams Get a Top-Floor View

Southland boys’ basketball teams, led by Westchester High in Division I, were seeded No. 1 in four of the five divisions Sunday when brackets for the Southern California Regional playoffs were released.

The other top-seeded teams are Santa Ana Mater Dei in Division II, Torrance Bishop Montgomery in Division III and Los Angeles Price in Division V. San Diego Horizon Christian, the San Diego Section champion in Division IV, was the only team outside the Southland to be seeded No. 1.

The strong showing among Southland teams is no surprise, considering the region’s recent success. Bishop Montgomery and Price are seeking their third consecutive state titles, while Mater Dei looks for its second straight championship after winning the Division I title last season.

“[Mater Dei] is the favorite every time it takes the court in California,” Pasadena Coach Tim Tucker said Saturday after the Monarchs beat his Bulldogs, 65-49, to win the Division II-AA title.

Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said top-seeded teams should be leery of teams such as Pasadena that are coming off losses. Last season, Corona Centennial rebounded from a loss to Mater Dei in a section final to upset second-seeded Westchester in the first round of the regional playoffs.

Westchester (28-2), the City Section champion, plays another section runner-up in the first round Wednesday when it plays host to Thousand Oaks (27-4).

The other first-round Division I matchups are equally intriguing. Two Southern Section champions meet when Division I-A champion Los Angeles Loyola (27-3) plays at Division I-AA winner Long Beach Poly (28-3), the No. 3 seed. Rialto Eisenhower (27-3), which lost to Poly, looks to get back on track when it plays at fourth-seeded Fresno Clovis West (27-3). And second-seeded Fairfax (29-4), the City Section runner-up, plays at Carlsbad (27-4), the San Diego Division I champion.

In the girls’ brackets, Lynwood and Harbor City Narbonne were seeded No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Division I.

The other top-seeded girls’ teams from the Southland are Ventura in Division II and Lakewood Artesia in Division III.

Regional first-round games in the boys’ and girls’ brackets are Wednesday, semifinals are Saturday and championships are March 16 at Long Beach Arena and Long Beach City College. The state championships are March 22-23 at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

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Tucker, the Pasadena coach, voiced displeasure about playing a Mater Dei team with players culled from all over the Southland. “That’s just basketball in Southern California,” Tucker said. “I guess we better lower the rent in Pasadena so we can get some more of those type players.” ...

Total attendance at the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday for the Southern Section boys’ championships was 15,797, significantly less than the 21,131 who attended in 2001....

Catholic schools, which comprise a tiny fraction of the section, went four for four in boys’ championship games as Los Angeles Verbum Dei, La Puente Bishop Amat, Loyola and Mater Dei all won.