La Jolla Country Day’s Boys Division III team will try to become the ninth San Diego Section squad to win a state championship Friday afternoon against San Francisco University High in Sacramento.
The Torreys, who were 5-5 in the Coast League but have won eight in a row on the section and regional level, are 22-13. They’ll face the North Coast Section champion Red Devils, who have won 10 of their last 11 and are 27-9.
Torreys are ranked 73rd in the state by Max Preps, University 89th.
The 8 seed La Jollans roared past 6 seed La Crescenta Crescenta Valley, 71-43, in the Southern California final. University topped Monterey, 44-41.
The two other San Diego Section teams that reached the Southern championship were knocked off by higher seeds.
The 2 seed San Diego Southwest boys fell to No. 1 Bakersfield Foothills, 69-55, in D-V and the 5 seed La Jolla Country Day girls were eliminated by No. 2 Fullerton Rosary, 62-53 in D-I.
The last San Diego Section boys to win a state championship was in 2013, when St. Augustine defeated San Francisco Sacred Heart, 59-52, in overtime, and Horizon topped Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame, 47-44.
The most recent San Diego champion was in 2015, when the La Jolla Country Day girls defeated Palo Alto Eastside Prep, 40-36.
Past San Diego Section Boys champions and runners-up in state tournament competition, which resumed in 1981; the CIF did not hold championships on the state level from 1928-80:
| DIVISION | TEAM | OPPONENT | SCORE | YEAR |
| II | Lincoln | Mountain View St. Francis | 74-59 | 2010 |
| III | University | Redding Enterprise | 51-48 | 1998 |
| St. Augustine | San Francisco Sacred Heart | 59-52, OT | 2013 | |
| IV | Lincoln | San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake | 63-50 | 1993 |
| Horizon | San Jose Valley Christian | 78-45 | 2002 | |
| Horizon | Hercules | 77-62 | 2003 | |
| Horizon | San Francisco Sacred Heart | 60-52 | 2006 | |
| V | Horizon | Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame | 47-44 | 2013 |
| RUNNER-UP | CHAMPION | |||
| II | La Costa Canyon | San Jose Mitty | 78-57 | 2002 |
| Oceanside | Modesto | 50-47 | 1984 | |
| III | St. Augustine | Santa Cruz | 67-56 | 2005 |
| Lincoln | Daly City Jefferson | 77-71 | 1988 | |
| IV | Lincoln | Salinas Palma | 55-54 | 1992 |
| Helix | Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent | 59-46 | 2017 | |
| V | Christian | Colusa | 62-48 | 1990 |
| Horizon | Modesto Christian | 56-47 | 1997 |
