St. Augustine and La Costa Canyon, which played arguably the game of the regular season in January, go for the gold tonight.

The Saints edged the Mavericks, 79-74, as part of a Martin Luther King Day doubleheader at Francis Parker and things haven’t changed.  Expect the score to be a little lower but the intensity a little higher.

To the winner goes the San Diego Section Open Division championship.

The question that remains unanswered is where these two clubs will be placed in next week’s Southern California regionals, depending, of course, on the loser getting a bid.

Does St. Augustine stay in the Open Division or go back to D-III?  Does La Costa Canyon revert to D-1?

Two of the area’s best coaches, the Saints’ Mike Haupt and La Costa’s Dave Cassaw, will match wits again.

Tip is at 7 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus.  Another big game will begin at the same time about 10 miles east, when San Diego State opposes New Mexico for the Mountain West Conference title.

PREDICTION

St. Augustine 64, La Costa Canyon 58.

Kearny High found the key to ending Sweetwater’s great run Saturday afternoon.

Coach Carl Bronson, ably assisted by UT-San Diego sportswriter Mark Zeigler, exposed the shorter Red Devils’ lack of a low post defense.

The strategy allowed the Komets to repeatedly attack from the low block under the basket for layups and point-blank shots.

Kearny took the lead at 33-32 at the start of the third quarter and never looked back, pulling away for a 73-58 victory in the San Diego Section III finals before about 2,500 persons at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

David Moa led Kearny with 19 points and 18 rebounds in a contest that had a pin ball machine pace.

Errant passes and turnovers were routine as the Komets matched Sweetwater’s rapid, pressing style, which had worn down the Red Devils’ first 28 opponents.

Spencer Mattox  scored 19 points for Sweetwater but the hustling, high-energy senior seemed fatigued in the second half.

For the game, Mattox missed on five three-point attempts.

Kearny, now 25-2, await its seeding and opponent in the Southern California playoffs next week.

How uncommon is this?

When Kearny (23-2) meets Sweetwater (28-0) Friday afternoon the teams will be coached by alumni of their respective schools.

At stake will be the San Diego Section Division IV championship.

Historian Greg (Stats) Durrant came up with this and other nuggets as the veteran prep sports maven prepared to take in five boys’ and girls’ division finals Friday and five more Saturday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus.

Sweetwater is coached by Jesse Aguirre, class of 1985,  Kearny by Carl Bronson, class of 1983.

Both schools returned to prominence this year.

KOMETS BACK

Kearny is making its first appearance in the finals since a 73-55 loss to Ramona in 1991.

The Komets’ heyday was in  the 1970s, when they won three championships, topped by the 32-0, 1973-74 club that featured a fiery, longhaired Alan Trammel, destined to become a legendary shortstop for the Detroit Tigers.

Kearny defeated Sweetwater, 57-50, in 1979 in the Red Devils’ next-to-last appearance in the finals.

Sweetwater edged Mt. Carmel, 78-71, for the division championship in 1990 and made six other appearances, going 0-6 between 1991 and 2013.

SAINTS MOVE VENUE

As home team for its semifinal Open Division contest against Torrey Pines, the St. Augustine Saints were faced with a problem.

Dougherty Gymnasium, built in 1952, was too small for playoff competition, according to CIF rule.

The gym was constructed with about 600 seats, more than enough for a student body about half that size in 60-odd years ago.

Saints athletic director Mike Stephenson negotiated for the  University City facility.

The Centurions’ gym seats around 1,500 and more than 200 were turned away Wednesday night before the  Saints (28-2) pulled out a 49-45 victory over  Torrey Pines (26-5).

Larger venues probably were available, but U. City is in the same league as St. Augustine and the Saints were familiar with the layout.

Where the game was played may not have helped the winners but certainly didn’t hurt.

MORSE’S CINDERELLA SLIPPER

San Marcos (21-8) faces surprising, No. 12 seed Morse, a D-I finalist for the first time since 1988.

The Tigers (17-12), coached by 1984 graduate Bob Sumler, are making their first appearance in the finals since a 67-62 loss to Santana 26 years ago.

Morse defeated Monte Vista, 59-51, for the 1987 title.

Other matchups include Mater Dei (27-2) against Francis Parker (25-4) in D-II and Orange Glen (25-5) and Tri-City Christian (21-8) in D-IV.

PREDICTIONS

San Marcos 70, Morse 60.

Mater Dei 65, Francis Parker 59.

Sweetwater 76, Kearny 66.

Orange Glen 56, Tri-City Christian 50.

Game of the week will be Saturday night, when St. Augustine (28-2) meets La Costa Canyon (26-5) for the Open championship.

La Costa’s semifinal battle at El Camino (27-4) included a bizarre twist when the lights went out for 23 minutes.

The Mavericks came from seven behind in the final two minutes to force an overtime.

Semi-darkness set in with 31.5 seconds left in the extra session and El Camino leading 61-60.

La Costa’s Tommy McCarthy hit two free throws after play resumed and the Mavericks rode out three missed three attempts by the Wildcats.

St. Augustine defeated the Mavericks, 79-74, six weeks ago.

There are 20.8 seconds remaining in the game.  Your team trails, 57-54, after battling back from down 14.

A blocking foul is whistled on one of your players.

The frustration finally got to Foothills Christian coach Brad Leaf.

Leaf channeled his inner Jim Boeheim and was slapped with a technical.

The Knights mentor’s outburst at the officials differed from that of the Syracuse coach, who was famously double T’d and ejected late in a loss to Duke last week.

Leaf, unlike Boeheim, was not wearing a coat when Leaf came onto the court.

Sweetwater then converted  three free throws and ran out a 61-54, Division III semifinals victory over the Knights, who, adding to Leaf’s game-long unhappiness, blew several opportunities to oust the undefeated, 28-0 Red Devils.

A vocal crowd of about 2,000 nearly filled the hosts’ gym and they saw coach Jesse Aguirre’s swifties race to leads of 7-0 and 23-9.

T.J. Leaf, the coach’ 6-foot, 8-inch sophomore son,  had a good line, 22 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, and four assists.

But Leaf missed 6 of his first 7 free throws and could not get several point-blank shots to go down as the very short Red Devils, a pack of swarming bees, harassed their taller opponents.

Leaf fouled out with 3:03 left in the game with the Knights lagging, 55-47.  Foothills manned up and closed to 57-54 but could get no closer.

Sweetwater’s Spencer Mattox scored 29 points and rebounded, dished, and stole in a pell-mell performance.  Mattox also mockingly preened for the Foothills crowd after he  drained an NBA-distance prayer  at the third quarter buzzer, increasing the Sweeties’ lead to 48-38.

Foothills surprisingly, and to Leaf’s dismay, was assigned a fourth seed in D-III, guaranteeing that it would have to meet the No. 1 Red Devils before the championship  game, which now matches Kearny and Sweetwater Friday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Leaf’s week thus began and ended on  sour notes.

There will be basketball almost every night this week in the San Diego Section.

Girls begin quarterfinals play in Divisions II, III, and IV tonight and  Tuesday night.  Boys tip Tuesday night in II, III, and IV.

Open semifinals are Tuesday and Wednesday and finals  Saturday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus.

D-V teams will play championship games Thursday evening at Sage Hill High in Carlsbad.

A look at this week’s Boys’ games:

OPEN

Two terrific semifinals matches and a potentially great final, if St. Augustine and El Camino pass their tests.

El Camino won its 20^th in  a row and is 27-3 after a  105-68 romp over Lincoln (13-14), which trailed only 28-24 after one quarter.

The second-seed Warriors take on tough La Costa Canyon (25-5) Wednesday at El Camino. St. Augustine (27-2) will meet Torrey Pines (26-4) at University City High.

Ray Johnson ‘s Wildcats, coming strong after the January eligibility  of Army-Navy transfer Devin Watson, have averaged 80.2 points a game during their streak.

The Oceanside club has not lost since dropping a 77-71 decision to Sweetwater Dec. 21 and hold two February decisions over La Costa Canyon, 74-70 and 78-70.

Beating the same team three times in a row in the same season is El Camino’s test.  Cathedral could not pull off the trifecta a year ago against St. Augustine.

Prediction:  El Camino 64, La Costa Canyon 61.

No. 1 seed St. Augustine topped Torrey Pines, 60-55, in the West Hills Tournament in December.

The Saints led Vista, 20-4, after one quarter and 44-18 at the half in a 70-29, quarterfinals victory.

Saints coach Mike Haupt called off the horses early in the third quarter, but not before Trey Kell bombed the Panthers (7-21) into submission with 27 points.

Torrey Pines trailed Hoover (18-11) by six points after three quarters and caught the Cardinals at 53, forcing an overtime, before prevailing, 68-59.

Look for Torrey Pines to rely on tough defense, slow it down on offense and try to prevent a St. Augustine jail break.

Prediction:  St. Augustine 57, Torrey Pines 52.

DIVISION I

Escondido (21-8) and 16-12 Morse, 9 and 12 seeds, respectively, have been flies in this division’s ointment.  The Cougars ushered out top seed Eastlake in the quarterfinals, 49-46.

Morse advanced with wins over 5 Cathedral and 4 Poway.

The championship may be decided Tuesday night when 2 seed Mission Bay (15-8) takes on 3 San Marcos (20-8).

Prediction:  Morse 54, Escondido 50.
San Marcos 60, Mission Bay 52.

DIVISION II

1 Mater Dei (26-2) and 2 Francis Parker (24-4) are on a collision course to meet in the final.

Parker faces a test against Steele Canyon (22-6), but Mater Dei appears to be a lock against Mt. Carmel (10-20).

Prediction:  Mater Dei 77, Mt. Carmel 59.
Francis Parker 61, Steele Canyon 55.

DIVISION III

Top seed Sweetwater has raced past 27 consecutive opponents  with speed and a pressure defense.

The Red Devils are at a size disavantage against Foothills Christian (20-8), which features 6-foot, 8-inch T.J. Leaf, who scored 35 points in an 85-64 quarterfinals win over Ramona.

If Foothill can get past Sweetwater’s backcourt press the Knights’ could pull off the victory.

Calvin Christian (23-4), the 3 seed, and  2 Kearny (22-2) meet in the other semifinal Tuesday night.

Prediction:  Sweetwater 66, Foothills Christian 62.
Calvin Christian 53, Kearny 48.

DIVISION IV

No. 5 El Centro Central (19-9) visits top seed Orange Glen (24-5) and No. 6 El Cajon Valley (19-10) is at 2 Tri-City Christian (20-8).

Prediction:  Orange Glen 65, El Centro Central 50.
El Cajon Valley 58, Tri-City Christian 49.              

DIVISION V

No. 3 Health Sciences (17-6) of East San Diego (City Heights) meets top seed Escondido Adventist (20-6) in the championship.

Both teams have won 12 games in a row.

The Health Sciences Surgeons recovered from a three-game sojourn into higher classifications, losing to Olympian, Sweetwater, and Monte Vista in blowouts.

Health Sciences has improved from an 0-2 first season in 2009-10 and three successive wipeout seasons that followed–4-10, 3-9, and 3-14.

Escondido Adventist’s Hawks went out of its division twice and was beaten by Tri-City Christian and Orange Glen.

Prediction:  Health Sciences 50, Escondido Adventist 43. 

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.  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.  Francis Parker is “on the bubble” in D-II.  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’  divisions.

**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

Others receiving votes: San Marcos, 12;  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).