St. Augustine is top-ranked in the final UT-San Diego regular-season poll and is the defending state champion in Division III as playoff teams enter the homestretch of the season.
Coach Mike Haupt’s team,  29-4 a year ago, take a 26-2 record into this season’s playoffs and are ranked 18th in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.
St. Augustine finished 10th overall in the state in 2012-13.  The Saints  defeated San Francisco Sacred Heart 59-52 in overtime for the championship after Trey Kell buried three consecutive free throws to forge a tie in the final three seconds of regulation.
The two teams with victories over the Saints are Chino Hills (24-4), ranked seventh, and Lakewood Mayfair (23-5), ranked 17th.
Chino Hills holds a 66-55 win over the Saints and Mayfair beat them, 62-61, in late December in the  Torrey Pines tournament.
Should St. Augustine win the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs there is no guarantee it would revert to D-III in the Southern California alignment. Â The Saints may be placed in the Open Division and be grouped with a maximum of four Southern Section Open clubs.
El Camino is 15th in D-1, Mater Dei Catholic eighth in D-II, St. Augustine third in D-III, Sweetwater sixth and Kearny ninth. Â Francis Parker is “on the bubble” in D-II. Â La Costa, No. 10 a week ago, dropped out of the D-II Top 10.
Cal-Hi Sports does not follow the San Diego model in identifying teams’ Â divisions.
| 1 | St. Augustine | 26-2 | Â 130 | 1 |
|
2 |
Mater Dei |
24-2 |
115 |
2 |
|
3 |
Sweetwater |
25-0 |
98 |
3 |
|
4 |
El Camino |
26-3 |
97 |
4 |
|
5 |
La Costa Canyon |
24-5 |
77 |
4 |
|
6 |
Torrey Pines |
25-4 |
70 |
6 |
|
7 |
Eastlake |
23-5 |
35 |
8 |
|
8 |
Francis Parker |
23-4 |
25 |
10 |
|
9 |
Foothills Christian |
16-8 |
24 |
7 |
|
10 |
Kearny |
21-2 |
22 |
9 |
**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
Others receiving votes: San Marcos, 12; Â Mission Bay, 5; Steele Canyon, 3; Calvin Christian, 1.
Thirteen sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego correspondent); Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego correspondent); Bill Dickens, Andrew Smith (eastcountysports.com); Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions); John Kentera, Jack Cronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section office);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).
