2018-19 Week 13: San Diego Section Powers Face Expected Early Exits

Seedings for the Southern California Regional playoffs that begin Tuesday reflected the San Diego Section’s  strength in the lower divisions.

But the big boys got no respect, as usual.

San Diego teams are favored seeds in only two of nine Open, D-I or D-II contests. They are the choice in five of seven games in D-III through D-V.

Montgomery is the number one seed in Division III and San Diego Southwest is second in D-V.

FALCONS’ FEET PUT TO FIRE

Torrey Pines is the eighth and lowest seed in the Open Division and Foothills Christian, Mission Bay, and St. Augustine, which generally alternated as the top teams in The San Diego Union‘s weekly, regular-season poll, were ranked fifth, 13th, and 16th. respectively, in Division I. Vista is a 14th.

Torrey Pines defeated Foothills, 51-47, for the San Diego Section Open Division title and will make the 140-mile jaunt to Chatsworth to take on the No. 1 seed Sierra Canyon Trailblazers, also considered the No. 1 team in the country in some quarters.

Getting to Chatsworth should be a two-and-a-half-hour ride for Torrey, if it is lucky and eludes the often brutal Los Angeles-area traffic that could make the trip 3 or 4 hours, or more..

Falcons coach John Olive, one of the best, is up for the assignment.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country, but my team likes challenges,” Oliver told John Maffei of the Union.  “We’re going to go up there and give it our best shot.”

UPSETS HAVE HAPPENED

Torrey Pines has conquered a daunting playoff challenge before.  The Falcons were behind, 43-40, at the end of three quarters on the road at favored Long Beach Poly but pulled out a 54-49 victory in 2015 as a number 6 seed.

There’s other precedent.  Seventh-seeded Cathedral knocked off No. 2 Sierra Canyon, 83-80, on the road in 2016, and No. 6 St. Augustine scrapped out an 88-81 win over the No. 3 Trailblazers in 2017.

		BOYS
DIVISION	TEAM	RECORD	OPPONENT	RECORD
OPEN	8 Torrey Pines	25-6	@1 Chatsworth Sierra Canyon	28-3
I	16 St Augustine	22-7	@1 Etiwanda	25-5
	5 Foothills Christian	23-6	12 Woodland Hills El Camino Real	18-10
	13 Mission Bay	18-12	@4 Rancho Santa Margarita	23-10
	14 Vista	21-9	@3 Bellflower St. John Bosco	21-9
II	8 Poway	22-7	9 Santa Clarita Christian	10-22
	12 Cathedral	23-9	@5 La Canada	27-6
	14 Francis Parker	20-10	@3 Ontario Colony	27-5
	11 San Marcos	17-10	@6 Palos Verdes Rolling Hills Prep	25-6
III	1 Montgomery	27-4	16 L.A. University	19-10
	8 La Jolla Country Day	18-13	9 Carlsbad	25-6
	10 Rancho Buena Vista	27-5	@7 Capistrano Valley Christian	26-7
IV	8 Valhalla	28-4	9 Visalia Central Valley Christian	19-8
	6 San Diego	22-8	11 San Luis Obispo	21-11
V	13 San Pasqual	13-18	@4 Oxnard Santa Clara	27-6
	2 San Diego Southwest	25-7	15 Santa Monica New Roads     15-16

There are no girls’ teams in the Open Division, but D-I Cathedral and D-5 Madison are top seeds, and San Diego Section clubs are favored in 10 of the 14 opening-round games.

San Marcos, despite a 15-17 record, is a second seed in D-III and favored over Ventura St. Bonaventure, which is 26-3.

The seeming anomaly in won-loss records is because San Marcos played a consistently tougher schedule than the Seraphs.  That also is reflected in other contests up and down the schedule of 30 first-round games involving area squads.

As in football, who you play is just as important as who you beat.

		GIRLS
DIVISION	TEAM	RECORD	OPPONENT	RECORD
I	1 Cathedral	25-6	16 Woodland Hills El Camino Real	17-11
	5 La Jolla Country Day	19-11	12 L.A. Westchester	17-9
	9 Christian	21-9	@8 Riverside King	29-2
II	3 The Bishop’s	18-11	14 L.A. Eagle Rock	16-8
	11 La Costa Canyon	20-10	@6 Palos Verdes Rolling Hills Prep	23-4
	10 Bonita Vista	18-10	@7 Eastvale Eleanor Roosevelt	27-5
III	5 Serra	14-10	Cathedral City	24-3
	3 Poway	23-8	Lakewood Mayfair	21-5
	7 Carlsbad	20-12	10 Santa Monica Crossroads	17-12
	2 San Marcos	15-17	15 Ventura St. Bonaventure	26-3
IV	5 Grossmont	22-7	12 Temecula Linfield Christian	24-3
	14 San Dieguito	22-7	@3 L.A. Carson	14-8
	6 Mission Vista	21-2	11 Irvine Crean Lutheran	25-6
V	1 Madison	27-3	16 Santa Ana Saddleback	18-12

JUMP SHOTS

San Diego High (22-8) won its second consecutive boys division championship, 75-56 over 28-4 Valhalla in the D-III finale at Mira Mesa…the Cavers won the D-IV title in 2017-18 before losing to Santa Clarita Christian, 67-48, in the Southern California D-V regional semifinals …the Cavers are 46-16 in last two seasons under Basil Fontenot after going 7-20 and 13-15 in prior two years…the Cavers have won 12 in row…San Pasqual (13-18) under Erik Meek, who led Eagles to a 1990-91 title, won their 4^th in row after losing previous 6, 49-41 over 15-17 Clairemont…Mission Vista coach Jerry Garrett quarterbacked Oceanside to a 9-4 season in 1980, including a 36-34 upset in Santa Ana over Santa Ana Mater Dei….