The CIF power ratings are holding up fairly well as the final round of San Diego Section play takes place Friday and Saturday at Southwestern College.

The two highest power rated clubs will meet in the Open Division and in D-1 and D-3.

Winning teams will progress to a variety of divisions in a Southern California round of 4, with the ultimate winners meeting teams from Northern California in the state championship.

OPEN

No. 1 Cathedral (12-0) versus No. 2 Helix (10-2) Saturday at 7 p.m.

Cathedral overcame a 21-7, Helix halftime lead to defeat the Highlanders, 35-28, in Week 4.

Helix eliminated the Dons in the semifinals in 2014 and 2015.

Cathedral is making its eighth championship appearance since  2006 and Helix its 11^th since 1999.

Are the Dons as good as the Tyler Gaffney-led squad that was 14-0 and the state D-III champion in 2008?

As we see it:  Cathedral 34, Helix 21.

DIVISION  I

No. 2 St. Augustine (10-2)  versus No. 1 and 10-2 Madison Friday at 7 p.m.

Madison’s team speed was too much for the Saints in a 56-42  Warhawks victory in Week 6.

The Saints were No. 1 in The San Diego Union-Tribune poll for a few weeks after they defeated a touted Los Angeles Loyola team, 17-14, in Week 3, but Loyola flattened out to 3-8 and the Saints were decisively beaten by Madison and Cathedral.

Madison lost its opener at Vista Murrieta, 20-9.  That team was a Los Angeles Times top 20 squad for weeks and represented a rare, regular-season intersectional opponent for the eastern Clairemont squad.

Vista Murrieta was only the eighth Warhawks regular-season opponent from outside San Diego County since Madison opened in 1962.

This might be coach Rick Jackson’s best team since the 14-1, D-IV state champion of 2012.

As we see it:  Madison 41, St. Augustine 30.

DIVISION II

No. 2 Mater Dei (11-1) meets neighborhood public school rival No. 4 Olympian (8-4) Saturday 3 p.m.

Though only one mile and probably 3 minutes apart in Chula Vista, Mater Dei and Olympian have met only three times since Olympian opened in 2006.

One of those games resulted in a 28-7 Crusaders victory this season.

Coach John Joyner has got it going at Mater Dei.  The Catholic school is 53-22 since Joyner weathered a pair of 1-9 seasons after he took over the program in 2009.

Included in the victories was a 2015 state V-AA championship, 56-21 over Reedley Immanuel.

Mater Dei’s only loss this year was 51-42 at Cal-Hi Sports’-ranked Los Angeles Hawkins.  The Crusaders led that game in the fourth quarter.

Olympian is coached by Paul Van Nostrand, son of a former Evening Tribune reporter of the same name.

The younger Van Nostrand is 25-21 since taking over for the legendary Gil Warren in 2013.  Van Nostrand was 64-32-1 at Castle Park from 1999-06.

As we see it, Mater Dei 35, Olympian 14.

DIVISION III

No. 2 The Bishop’s (12-0) versus No. 1 Christian (12-0) Saturday at 11 a.m.

Both teams have continually upgraded  their programs.  Eastern League entry Christian appears to have played a heftier schedule than the rising, La Jolla-based Coastal League program.

Joel Allen is 73-22-1 in eight seasons with The Bishop’s Knights and claimed a state D-5 title with a 40-14 victory over Stockton Brookside in 2010.

Other than a year’s hiatus in 2003, Matt Oliver has guided the Christian Patriots since 1998 and his 148 victories rank 15^th all-time in San Diego County.

The Patriots are making their sixth championship appearance since  2001.  The Knights are making their third straight appearance in the finals and their seventh since  2007.

As we see it, Christian 31, The Bishop’s 28.

DIVISION IV

No. 5 La Jolla Country Day (10-3) versus No. 3 Santana (8-4) Friday at 3 p.m.

Dave Gross retired after an 11-2 season and 20-14 loss to Valley Center in the 2011 D-IV finals but did not leave a full cupboard at Santana.

Tim Estes took over in 2012 struggled through 1-8 and 1-9 seasons.  The Sultans improved to 4-6 in 2014, to 7-5 in 2015, and now are 8-4.

The Country Day Torreys are 10-3 this season and 25-13 under Tyler Hales, who replaced career 101-game winner Jeff Hutzler in 2013.

The teams have one comparative opponent.

The Bishop’s defeated Santana, 41-19, in the season opener and topped Country Day, their No. 1 rival in the Coastal League, 37-21, in Week 8.

As we see it, La Jolla Country Day 42, Santana 35.

STATE RANKINGS

Cathedral is sixth in Cal-Hi Sports’ top 25, behind Santa Ana Mater Dei, Bellflower St. John Bosco, Corona Centennial, Harbor City Narbonne, and Concord De La Salle.

Helix is 14^th and Madison and Rancho Bernardo are on the bubble.

HOOPS DU JOUR

Cal-Hi Sports’ first top 25 lists Cathedral as No. 6, followed  by Foothills Christian, 16^th, and St. Augustine, 21^st.

Mission Hills is No. 6, followed by La Jolla Country Day, 8^th, and The Bishop’s, 15^th in the Girls’ ratings.

The first athlete inducted into the Sweetwater High Hall of Fame, Roger Lively was a standout in the major sports and a steady, vital presence in a remarkable run by the Red Devils in the 1956-57 basketball season.

The 6-foot, 3-inch Lively, who passed at age 77 earlier this month, played center for coach Wells Gorman’s team, which had a 1-7 record when Metropolitan League play began in January.

The Red Devils caught fire, after dropping a 45-44 decision to Coronado in the leagueopening game.

They tied for the league championship with Helix, each with a 7-1 record, Sweetwater claiming its share after a rejecting a Grossmont strategy that took the air out of the ball in the final regular-season game.

The Foothillers did not take a shot from the field until 4 minutes had elapsed and Sweetwater did not score in the game’s first 10 minutes.

Sweetwater, trailing, 3-0, after one quarter and 6-5 at the half, finally put the game away, 23-19, and won a coin flip to enter the playoffs as the Metro’s No. 1 entry.

The Red Devils’ reward was a game at San Diego High against the 16-9 Cavemen, whose frontline of Artist Gilbert, Edward Lee Johnson, and Dick (Bunky) Wiseman made San Diego a decided favorite against this Johnny-come-lately squad from National City.

VICTORY IN FIRST ROUND

Junior Bobby Jordan scored 22 points, Bob Beardsley had 14, and Lively added 12 and Sweetwater stunned the Cavers, 57-47.

Next up in the second round was another favored squad, Newport Beach Newport Harbor, with three starters back from a 1955-56 postseason entry.

Sweetwater edged the Sailors, 49-45, as Lively led his team with 14 points and converted 10 of 12 free throws.

Sweetwater then moved into the quarterfinals of the 25-team event and took on No. 1 seed Los Angeles Mt. Carmel, which boasted a 28-1 record, and 6-foot, 7-inch Alvin Claiborne, one of the top players in Southern California.

Lively and the Red Devils battled their taller rivals to a standstill, trailing only 34-33 entering the fourth quarter as the crowd at Point Loma high sensed another upset.

Lively, operating strongly against the taller Claiborne, was 7 for 7 from the free throw line and scored 11 points to Claiborne’s 12.

Sweetwater lagged only 44-41 with three minutes remaining before foul trouble and Mt. Carmel free throws pushed the Crusaders to a 49-41 triumph.

Sweetwater finished the season with a 10-10 record.  Mt. Carmel, beaten in the finals by El Monte, was 30-2.

There were no state championships, but it was a solid season in San Diego Section  basketball.

Foothills Christian, behind McDonald’s all-star T.J. Leaf, was third in the state in Cal-Hi Sports‘ final boys Top 40 rankings.

Cathedral ranked 14th and St. Augustine 23rd.

The 2015-16 finish showed marked improvement  over the 2014-15 Cal-Hi rankings, in which St. Augustine was 23rd, Torrey Pines 24th, and Foothills Christian 36th.

Foothills gained  currency when it defeated Santa Ana Mater Dei, 50-44, in the Southern California quarterfinals before bowing to Chino Hills, 82-62.

Chino Hills (35-0) won the state championship and is national champion, according to all major polls.

Foothills lost its first game to the San Bernardino County squad in December, 106-86, but came closer than any California school when it dropped an 85-83 decision to the Huskies in January.

A basket by Leaf had put the Knights ahead, 83-82, with 13.3 seconds remaining.

3 IN TOP 20

Mission Hills was seventh in the girls, followed by La Jolla Country Day at No. 10 and Bishop at No. 19.

La Jolla Country Day was 15th and Mission Hills 30th in the final 2014-15 rankings.

The last state champions were in St. Augustine boys and Horizon girls in 2013-14.

RECORD LITTLETON’S DESTINY?

A highlight of next season is expected to be The Bishop’s Destiny Littleton’s pursuit of the state career scoring record.

Littleton averaged 35.7 and scored 1,178 points this season, giving her a three-season total of 2,934.  San Diego’s Charde Houston set the California record with 3,837 from 2000 to 2004.

HOOPLA

Cathedral rose as high as 10th in the Cal-Hi poll after an 82-80, overtime win against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, but fell following a 72-56, semifinals loss to Torrance Bishop Montgomery…St. Augustine was 17th before dropping a 68-55,  semifinals game at Encino Crespi…Charde Houston played four seasons at Connecticut and is in her ninth WNBA season as a member of the New York Mercury…despite the CIF’s desired “competitive equity,” the Southern Section dominated the  regionals…the San Diego, Los Angeles, and Central  came up short, as all 12 boys and girls division winners were from the Southern Section….

How Cal-Hi Sports viewed San Diego Section squads:

BOYS

GIRLS

*Honorable Mention.

Bill Walton was 33-0 in his senior season at Helix.  T.J. Leaf was 25-5 at Foothills Christian.

Walton’s Helix team dominated the San Diego Section, but the Highlanders’ 70-56 victory over Chula Vista in the AA finals in 1970 marked the end of season. Southern California playoffs were reserved only for Southern Section squads.

Leaf’s Foothills Christian team, benefiting from the modern CIF, competed beyond the San Diego Section playoffs, most recently reaching the Southern California regional semifinals.

Walton was a 6-foot, 11-inch center who played with his back to the basket, and scored and played defense with equal abandon.

Leaf is a 6-10 power forward with a wider range of offense but did not command defense as did Walton.

If pro basketball is the correct measuring stick, basketball has evolved and improved to a point in the San Diego area that we now can claim many NBA or international players.

Before Walton you could count the number of NBA players from San Diego on one hand plus two or three fingers.

Leaf is moving on to UCLA, where Walton won two national collegiate championships and NBA titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics.

Leaf is a longshot to match Walton’s  post-high school achievements but that will not diminish the mark he made at Foothills Christian.  T.J. finished his career second to his brother, Troy, as the San Diego’s Section’s career scoring leader.

Leaf was at the wheel as the small El Cajon school traveled with the big shots, playing a national schedule against teams in California and the U.S.

Thirteen of the Knights’ 30 games were against opponents outside the San Diego Section, including three against Chino Hills, the No. 1 team in the country, and another against nationally ranked Waterloo Sacred Heart of Connecticut.

Walton seldom ventured beyond the County, but his performance in December, 1969, at the prestigious Covina Tournament got him on the national stage.

Helix defeated Rancho Cucamonga Alta Loma, 90-35, Montebello, 72-48, El Monte Arroyo, 92-57, Long Beach Millikan, 71-49, and Pasadena, 110-68.

Millikan went on to win the major Southern Section championship.

Against the playoff-bound Pasadena Bullpups, Walton scored 50 points, had 34 rebounds, and made Sports Illustrated and its Faces in the Crowd feature.

The Highlanders averaged 88.2 points a game, went past 100 five times and topped 90 on 10 other occasions.  Walton scored 964 points and averaged 29.2, but he is remembered as much for his unselfish play and dominating defense.

Foothills Christian won by an average score of 71-52, had games of 97 and 96 points and bettered 80 in eight other contests.

Leaf scored 852 points and averaged 28.4 points, shot 68 per cent on field goal attempts and made 29 three-point baskets with an average of 39 per cent from behind the arc.

It was five and out for the San Diego Section in the Southern California regional semifinals last night.

Most of the road-weary locals were in their ball games at halftime but faded thereafter, memories of terrific seasons and bus rides of up to 150 miles ahead as they made their way home.

Foothills Christian (25-5) trailed, 37-30, after 16 minutes against Chino Hills but, despite 36 points from T.J. Leaf, was a well-beaten, 82-62, before a standing room only crowd of 2,800 persons at Colony High in Ontario.

Cathedral (21-7)  lagged only 46-42 in the third quarter before Torrance Bishop Montgomery began raining three-point baskets and pulled away to a 72-56 victory at El Camino College in Torrance.

El Camino (29-7) was in a 31-31 deadlock at halftime at Calabasas Viewpoint but couldn’t keep up  and was eliminated, 73-57.

St. Augustine (24-8) was outscored, 15-4, at  Encino Crespi Carmelite in  the first quarter but manfully battled back to trail only 41-39 after three.   That was the Saints’ final gesture.  They  collapsed in the fourth quarter and exited with a 68-55 loss.

The Mission Hills girls (29-4), lagging, 40-26, at the half and 55-41 at the three-quarter juncture, closed out with a 79-59 loss to West Hills Chaminade.

With apologies to the late Don Meredith of ABC’s Monday Night Football, turn out the lights, the party’s over.

The few, the proud….

Five teams from the San Diego Section still are around  as the Southern California regional playoffs reach the semifinals round tomorrow.

—Foothills Christian (25-4) will try to stop the No. 1 team in the country when it challenges Chino Hills (31-0) at Colony High in Ontario, a “neutral” site 11 miles and 20 minutes from the Huskies’ campus.

Chino Hills defeated the Knights, 106-86, in December and 85-83 in January on other neutral layouts.

The Huskies ran the Knights off the floor in the first game, taking a 22-5 lead in the first three minutes and roaring to a 40-13, first-quarter advantage.

That Foothills outscored its opponent, 73-66, over the last three quarters was virtually unnoticed because the Knights never got closer than 18 points, at 87-69, early in the fourth quarter.

THIRD TIME CHARM?

Foothills has a shot, if only because of the ancient shibboleth that declares it is very difficult for one team to beat another three times in a row in the same season.

Knights coach Brad Leaf adjusted after the first game and the Knights actually led late in the game. Can Leaf, his superstar, 6-foot, 10-inch son, T.J., and the El Cajon team pull off the upset?

Guess:  Chino Hills 88, Foothills Christian 78.

—Seven seed Cathedral’s 83-80, Open Division, overtime victory at No. 2 Chatsworth Sierra Canyon was the stunner of the regional tournament and elevated the  Dons (21-6)  into another tough road battle against No. 3 Torrance Bishop Montgomery (27-2) at nearby El Camino College.

The Knights 72-58, overtime conqueror of Los Angeles Westchester, in the quarterfinals, lost to Chino Hills, 71-67, on Jan. 30, and to Sierra Canyon, 78-69, in the Southern Section playoffs.

Inspired Cathedral must keep 6-11 Brandon McCoy out of foul trouble.  He sat for 12 minutes in the first half at Sierra Canyon but still finished with 23 points.

Guess: Bishop Montgomery 64, Cathedral 61.

—No. 12 St. Augustine (24-7) is the lowest surviving seed in Division I and visits No. 1 Encino Crespi Carmelite (30-4).

The teams have played against one common opponent.

Crespi beat Bellflower St. John Bosco, 59-25, on Dec. 21, and St. Augustine topped ‘Bosco, 62-52, on Jan. 5.

St. Augustine last gained the regional finals in 2013 when Trey Kell, Brynton Lamar and company came from 11 points behind in the fourth quarter to top West Hills Chaminade, 61-57.

MONROE DOCTRINE

An important contributor to the Saints’ victory in that game at Colony High was freshman Eric Monroe, inserted into the lineup by coach Mike Haupt in the fourth quarter.

Monroe’s ball-handling coolness under pressure was significant and has been a benchmark of his play for four years.  Monroe is the Saints’ handyman, the one to whom they turn to get the ball up court and position the offense.

The 6-foot, 3-inch senior was particularly effective last week when Eastvale Roosevelt took a 22-13 lead and had the Saints on their heels before St. Augustine rallied to a 54-52 victory before an overflow crowd at Daugherty Gymnasium.

Monroe and his senior counterpart, Martin Tombe, who hit a pair of three-point shots in the fourth quarter, again will carry the Saints’ hopes against the favored San Fernando Valley squad.

Guess:  Crespi 66, St. Augustine 60.

—El Camino is thriving in D-IV, having routed Rancho Mirage, 90-66, and upsetting No. 1 seed Pomona Diamond Ranch, 63-58, after surviving a 30-point fourth quarter by the host Panthers.

The eight-seed Wildcats (29-6) now travel to Calabasas to take on the five-seed, 28-6 Viewpoint Panthers, who have victories over Kern County Taft Union, 77-37, and 76-69 over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

El Camino, coached by former Army-Navy boss Tom Tarantino,  has rallied after losing to Kearny, 66-43, in the San Diego Section D-I finals.

The Wildcats have their best chance of getting past the semifinals since the Millenium-era teams coached by Ray Johnson annually were the San Diego Section’s best.

Guess:  El Camino 59, Viewpoint 55.

—The four-seed Mission Hills (29-3) girls draw the No. 1 seed and host West Hills Chaminade (28-4).

The Grizzlies advanced with a 49-45 victory over Los Angeles Windward.  Chaminade defeated Los Angeles Palisades, 79-67.

Guess: Chaminade 62, Mission Hills 50.

MORE QUARTERFINALS RESULTS

BOYS

D-IV

11 Grossmont 50, @3 Gardena Serra 65.

D-V

9 Bonita Vista 56, @1 Santa Maria St. Joseph 97.