Eight more underdogs overcame seeding challenges last week as the San Diego Section playoffs tightened in the quarterfinals.

A second week of 26 games saw two No. 1-ranked squads go down, with additional upsets by 12, 11, 10, and six, and five seeds.

Most significant was No. 9 Hoover’s 52-49 win over top ranked Sweetwater in Division V that put the 6-6 Cardinals in the semifinals for the first time since 2023 and in what has  been rarefied air for the school, completing its 96^th season since opening in East San Diego in 1930.

Hoover had reached playoff semifinals in 1962, ’63, and 2000 and the championship game in D-III in 2014 but its history is marked by long, barren stretches.

Typical was the Cardinals’ 5-45 slog that followed their 31-9 loss to Christian in the D-III championship in 2014 and a 0-4 Covid-shortened start in 2020 under Will Gray, followed by 3-6 and 4-7 finishes. Gray’s team has improved to 19-16 since 2023.

The Cardinals’ semifinals opponent this week is 7-4 Canyon Hills, a 27-20 winner over Hoover in a Week 10 Central League contest.

UPSET?

No. 4 Cathedral eliminated No. 1 Mission Hills, 42-35, in the Open Division in what is hard to classify as an upset.  The Dons, weathering injuries to quarterback Brady Palmer and running back Honor Fa’alave-Johnson and a couple regular-season losses to Concord De La Salle and Point Loma, were given at least an even chance of beating the Grizzlies and advancing.

Fa’alave-Johnson scored five touchdowns for the Dons, including a clinching, 43-yard hike with 50 seconds left in the game.

Other significant wins were by No. 12 Scripps Ranch, 17-14 over No. 4 El Camino in Division II; No. 11 San Diego, 33-19 over No. 3 and undefeated, 10-0 Mission Bay in D-II, and No. 10 La Jolla Country Day, 22-7 over No. 2 El Capitan in D-IV.

STATE RATINGS

Cal-Hi Sports 

13, Carlsbad (9-2); 14, Cathedral (9-2); 17, Lincoln (9-2); 19, Mission Hills (9-2); 20, La Costa Canyon (9-2); 38, Granite Hills (8-3); 46, Mount Miguel (8-3); 47, San Marcos (7-4); On The Bubble, Point Loma (11-1). STATE: 1, Rancho Santa Margarita. (8-3).

Cal Preps

59.4, Cathedral; 57.6, Carlsbad; 55.7, Mission Hills; 53.7, La Costa Canyon; 51.2, Lincoln; 50.1, Granite Hills;  44.5, San Marcos; 41.0, Oceanside; 40.1, Mount Miguel; 38.0, Point Loma. STATE:  83.1, Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Max Preps

10, Cathedral (9-2); 11, Lincoln (9-2); 13, Mission Hills (9-2); 14, Carlsbad (9-2); 18, Granite Hills (8-3); 25, San Marcos (7-4); 29, Mount Miguel (8-3); 34, Point Loma (11-1); 41, Oceanside (7-5); 54, Rancho Bernardo (9-3). STATE: 1, Corona Centennial (10-1).

Rankings and favoritism didn’t matter to eight underdogs in the 26 San Diego Section first-round playoff games.

Two each of 11, 10, and 9 seeds prevailed over sixes, sevens, and eights in the divisional brackets.  The most significant reversal saw 12 seed Scripps Ranch put it to No. 5 La Jolla, 42-0.  Clairemont, another No. 5, also won, over 4 seed Calipatria.

Compared to seedings in basketball tournaments, the Falcons entered the game with a 35 per cent chance of winning. Since the NCAA event expanded in 1985, No. 12 seeds are 55-101 against fives.

Reports have circulated in the community known for its groves of eucalyptus trees (a City of San Diego worker once told me 3 million) that Scripps Ranch coach Marlon Gardinera may step down at the end of the season.  Gardinera, whose team visits fourth-seed El Camino in the second round, is 60-36 (.625) as the Falcons head coach since 2017, including a state II-A championship and 13-1 season in 2021.

LOOKING BACK

Thousands of games had been played since the last time there was an 11-10 result.  Santana defeated Bonita Vista in a Division V first-round contest by that score, matched only once, in 1982, when San Dieguito defeated Vista.

Santana won when 40 seconds remained after the Sultans scored a touchdown to close to 10-9 and lined up for a tying point after kick, but holder Koko Thornton took the snap and passed to Xavier Bennett for the winning two-point conversion.

TRUE GRID

St. Augustine’s Pai Polamalu, the son of retired Pittsburgh Steelers all-pro Troy Polamalu, rushed for 263 yards in 28 carries, scored five touchdowns, caught three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, and completed a pass for 32 yards, accounting for 362 of the Saints’ 479 yards as the D-II No. 8 seed defeated No. 9 Mater Dei, 45-20…if that wasn’t enough, Pai also intercepted a couple passes….

STATE RATINGS

Max Preps: 

9, Mission Hills; 10, La Costa Canyon; 11, Carlsbad; 13, Cathedral; 20, Lincoln; 21, Granite Hills; 24, San Marcos; 27, Point Loma; 33, Mount Miguel; 35, Oceanside; 42, Rancho Bernardo.

Cal-Hi Sports:

12, Mission Hills; 13, La Costa Canyon; 15, Cathedral; 19, Carlsbad; 20, Lincoln; 38, Granite Hills; 45, Point Loma; On Bubble, Mount Miguel, San Marcos.

Cal Preps:

59.2, Mission Hills; 57.3, La Costa Canyon; 53.4, Carlsbad; 50.2, Lincoln; 50.2, Point Loma; 49.2, Cathedral; 45.3, Granite Hills; 42.4, San Marcos; 36.9, Mount Miguel; 36.5, Oceanside; 34.9, Rancho Bernardo. STATE:  87.4, Bellflower St. John Bosco.

The finals results displayed the overall skill quality and parity of the leagues in the San Diego Section’s third season, plus  the effect of 2025 defensive rule changes. Not a single top seed found the finals!

All finalists were 2-to-7 seeds, plus 12 seed Canyon Crest. The ability to rush the quarterback unheeded was particularly effective.

Full brackets summary with scores in bold are listed below.

DIVISION I—Torrey Pines 20, Westview 13.
The Falcons (19-10), runners-up in 2024 and 2023,  bested Classical and Mission Hills to face the Wolverines who had upset top seed and undefeated (20-0) Bonita Vista, 18-9.

Westview (17-3), the 2024 D-II champion, had throttled Grossmont 23-0, in a revenge win for an early season loss. However, Torrey Pines used its own defense with key, late takeaways to secure the championship.

D-II—Calexico Vincent Memorial 40, Imperial 34.
The 74 combined points is a section playoff record. The Scots (23-5) topped Granite Hills then upset top seed Poway to advance to the final, while the Tigers beat Clairemont in overtime, 26-20.  Scots sophomore Azul Trujillo, who leads the nation with more than 9,400 passing yards and more than 100 touchdown passes, tossed six TD’s, four to Jessica Manriquez.

D-III—Mira Mesa 25, Brawley 0.
The Marauders (13-11), who lost in a D-I semifinal to eventual champion Classical in 2024, lost their first seven games of 2025, but finished with seven consecutive wins, including over Point Loma and higher seeds Mater Dei and Helix.
The Imperial Valley-based Wildcats got by Ramona and Our Lady of Peace, but ran into a stingy Mira Mesa defense.

D-IV – Patrick Henry 25, Mt. Carmel 20.
The Patriots (12-9) survived the road hazards of Morse, University City and El Capitan, the No. 1 pot hole, to claim their first championship. They fell in the D-II first round in 2024, but held off a late charge by the Sundevils for the D-IV  win.

D-V – Olympian 25, Canyon Crest 12.
The Eagles (8-12), the only 2025 repeat champions, beating San Ysidro in 2024 (D-I Classical repeated in 2023 and 2024), bested Valhalla and San Diego. The 12th-seeded Ravens, got past the 5, 4 and 1 seeds, and led 6-0 in  the final, but then Olympian’s Aubrey Tibayan threw for three TD’s, and held the Canyon Crest to one score, to win going away.

Complete 2025 season schedule and scores are here.

DIVISION I

DIVISION II

DIVISION III

DIVISION IV

DIVISION V

Henrik Jonson, Webmaster

Originally posted Dec. 10, 2019.

DECEMBER, 1994

—Six-foot, 11-inch Jelani McCoy started the season with 41 points and set a San Diego Section record with 16 blocked shots in an 85-82 win in the Hilltop/Pizza Hut tournament. El Camino’s Dee Boyer blocked 15 shots in a 1989 game.

—Dimitri Hodgkinson scored 37 points and El Cajon Valley reached triple digits in the Norsemen-Warhawk tournament…and lost! The Braves were edged by Mar Vista, 104-101.  Valhalla and Madison were tournament hosts. Sophomore Jorge Salazar had 43 for the Mariners.

—Lincoln’s defending state Division IV champion kept sending El Camino to the free-throw line and the Warriors responded by converting 30×35 attempts and knocked down the Hive, 99-94. Lincoln was 12×22 from the line.

—Lincoln defeated Morse, 110-88, and surpassed the school record of 107 against Granite Hills in 1982-83.

TOURNAMENTS FLOOD SCHEDULE

A dizzying number of events included the 48^th Kiwanis, 35^th Lt. Jim Mitchell Memorial, and 22^nd Francis Parker. Others were played locally, state-wide, in Nevada, and Hawaii.  Many were dubbed with the misnomer “classics”.

—Poway (7-2) won the 16-team Kiwanis, 76-52, over Mount Miguel (8-2), capitalizing on a 40-23 advantage in rebounds.

—Jelani McCoy set a section record with 19 blocked shots in a 69-66 victory over Rialto Eisenhower in the first round of the Jim Mitchell.

It’s getting hectic,” said McCoy.  “I’m not chasing the record, but when I get close, people remind me.”

NO REST FOR SCRIPPS

—The fifth Above the Rim classic was just that, powerhouse teams soaring on a national level.  Teams from throughout the U.S. were at Torrey Pines.

Second-year Scripps Ranch four hours earlier had beaten Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, 75-72, and then gave national power Santa Ana Mater Dei a run well into the third quarter.

Almost 3,000 persons in the 2,500-seat Falcons gym watched with stunned enthusiasm as the Falcons moved to a 41-34 lead with 4:59 remaining.

Monarchs coach Gary McKnight called timeout and switched his team from man-to-man to zone defense.  ‘Dei went on a 19-2 run and won, 75-63. Ashante Johnson had 28 points against both Gorman and Mater Dei and Scott Charity had 27 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

–Mater Dei (16-1) defeated Brooklyn Lincoln (9-2) and its all-America guard Stephon Marbury, 92-77, for the championship.  Marbury scored 39 points.  Schea Cotton had 33 for the Monarchs.

JANUARY, 1995

Home is where the victories are.

Scripps Ranch came into its Western League opener at St. Augustine with a 12-1 record, but the Saints had not lost on their floor since 1991-92.

The result was Western League basketball at its most competitive as the Saints (10-4) pulled out a double-overtime, 77-73 victory.

Jelani McCoy’s two free throws with 10 seconds left sealed the victory.  McCoy had 28 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots, while Scripps’ Ashante Johnson scored 20 points and pulled 10 rebounds.

—Jorge Salazar’s 21 points were augmented with 11 assists as Mar Vista got Harbor League play under way with a 115-78 win over Christian.  The Mariners earlier had whipped CETY’s of Tijuana, 117-39.

—Stormy weather and leaky roofs postponed three games:  Chula Vista at Eastlake, Kearny at Point Loma, and Ramona at Escondido. Coronado’s game at Crawford was suspended at halftime with the Islanders leading, 30-18.

—McCoy was held to a season-low 6 points by the policing of 6-6 Nate Walton, a transfer from Torrey Pines, and University topped St. Augustine, 64-49.

—Walton the No. 2 son of former Helix great Bill Walton, scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and declared, “There was nothing like this at Torrey Pines.  People on campus talked about (the game) all week.  This is the biggest thing I’ve ever been involved in.”

McCOY REAL McCOY

—Two weeks later, McCoy, playing before a raucous home crowd, had 28 points, 26 rebounds, and blocked 11 shots in a 58-46 revenge win.  Walton was held to eight points.

“I wasn’t a force the first time,” said McCoy, “and there was some question who was the No. 1 center (McCoy or Walton) after that game.”

—Ashante Johnson drained a three-point attempt with 4 seconds left in regulation and tipped in the winning basket with 4.7 seconds remaining in overtime to get Scripps Ranch past La Jolla, 63-61.

Scoring leaders, unofficial, some games not reported:

Van Hoeve, Covenant, 17×359, 21.1. Miller, El Cajon Valley, 21×429, 20.4.

—El Camino took out its frustrations on Escondido, 109-54, after an upset, 64-59 loss to Torrey Pines. Four Wildcats scored at least 15 points.

—Scott Charity adhered to the maxim that it is better to be late than never, scoring 23 of his 25 points in the second half as Scripps Ranch beat Mission Bay, 76-61.

—Kearny’s Mike McNair and Point Loma’s Eric Bell matched four, three-point baskets, but McNair outscored his opponent, 34-18, and Kearny won, 63-55.

—Eastlake (7-0) stayed unbeaten in the Metropolitan League when Rusty Skinner dropped  in an 18-foot jumper to get the Titans past Chula Vista, 54-52.

KOMETS’ MARK FALLS

Mike McNair scored 47 points to break Wilburn Strong’s school record of 42 points, set in 1968-69, and led the Komets to an 84-74, Eastern League win over Serra.

—Harres Karim scored with eight seconds remaining and then blocked a shot as Mira Mesa nudged San Diego, 48-47.

FEBRUARY, 1995

Matt Jager scored 40 points, but Poway’s Steve Francis was dominant in the Titans’ 79-74, double overtime win over No. 8-ranked Vista.  Francis had 33 points and six three pointers and made a three with one second left to force a first overtime.

With one second remaining in the first overtime, Francis was fouled attempting a half-court shot.  He made three successive free throws to force a second extra session, in which Poway outscored Vista, 8-3.

—University City sophomore Paris Corner threw up a 70-foot prayer that drained the bottom of the net as the Centurions (10-15) upset Scripps Ranch (19-5), 59-58.

“When you start the second half with a technical foul, you let the other team back in the game,” said Lincoln coach Charlie Paulk of the T the Hornets’ received for a slam dunk basket during warmups before the third quarter.

The Hornets led, 36-24, at the start of the third quarter but Jelani McCoy led the Saints on a 23-14 run with five, thunderous slams  that brought the visitors back into the game.

Lincoln held on for a 69-66 win despite McCoy’s 34 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 blocked shots.

—Rancho Buena Vista clinched its first Palomar League championship in the school’s eight-season history with a 72-70 win over runner-up Rancho Bernardo.  Tim Giles’ basket with three seconds left pulled out the win for the Longhorns.

CENTURY CLUB

The postseason begins this week and the Open Division is so stacked that season-long  No. 1 Lincoln is out and placed in Division I.

Mission Hills, Open Division-seeded No. 1 and the leader in John Maffei’s last regular-season poll,  meets visiting No. 4 Cathedral and  No. 2 La Costa Canyon is host to No. 3 Carlsbad.  Lincoln, defending state Division 1-AA champion, has a bye.

“Maffei Madness” will resume with a final poll after the San Diego Section playoffs.

HAPPY TRAILS, COACH

Chris Hauser was placed on administrative leave after four games and eventually retired as head coach at Mission Hills, leaving a career record of 210-89-2, and a winning percentage of .699.  DJ Zapata serves as interim coach and has a 5-1 record heading into  the playoff against Cathedral.

Hauser has the 11th most wins of any coach in San Diego County history.  His teams at Vista and Mission Hills won or tied for 12 league championships and reached the San Diego Section championship game seven times, winning two.

MAFFEI MADNESS

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union-Tribune Week 11 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous rankings in (italics).
NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps, Cal Preps, and Cal-Hi Sports are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Santa Fe Christian (10-0, 13 points), Holtville (9-1, 4), Mission Bay (10-0, 4), Rancho Bernardo (8-2, 4)

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators from the San Diego Section, plus Max Preps:

• John Maffei (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Donald Ray Norcross, Kevin Farmer, Rick Hoff, Steve Brand (Union-Tribune correspondents)
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section)
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edwards, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro (KUSI-TV)
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com)
• Braden Suprenant (93.7 FM “The Fan”)
• Mike Dolan (Coaching Legends)
• Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference)
• Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee)
• Raymond Brown (sdsports.net)
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association)
• Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).

Sixteen games tonight and 28 more Friday will settle the San Diego Section regular season and determine league champions not yet clinched.  Playoff pairings are expected Sunday afternoon.

Coming down to the wire Cathedral, Lincoln, Mission Hills, Carlsbad, and La Costa Canyon are alive for  berths in what will be a stacked, four-team Open Division bracket.  One of those clubs will drop down and automatically become the favorite in Division I.

MAFFEI MADNESS

John Maffei’s The San Diego Union-Tribune Week 10 poll:
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *First-place votes. Previous rankings in (italics).
NR–Not ranked. MaxPreps, Cal Preps, and Cal-Hi Sports are state rankings.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Imperial (9-0, 14 points), Santa Fe Christian (9-0, 8), Rancho Bernardo (7-2, 3) Mission Bay (9-0, 2), Holtville (8-1, 1).

VOTING PANEL

Twenty-nine sportswriters, sportscasters, and administrators from the San Diego Section, plus Max Preps:

• John Maffei (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Donald Ray Norcross, Kevin Farmer, Rick Hoff, Steve Brand (Union-Tribune correspondents)
• Joe Heinz, Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section)
• Brandon Stone, Allison Edwards, John Carroll, Chase Izidoro (KUSI-TV)
• Rick Smith (partletonsports.com)
• Braden Suprenant (93.7 FM “The Fan”)
• Mike Dolan (Coaching Legends)
• Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference)
• Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson, Bruce Ward (CIF Advisory Committee)
• Raymond Brown (sdsports.net)
• Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association)
• Bodie DeSilva, John Kentera, Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, Eric Williams, Thomas Gutierrez, Tom Ronco, Adam Paul (freelance contributors).