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.

Greater challenges lie ahead, but San Diego Section teams in the Southern California regional playoffs were successful in three of four Open Division quarterfinals games last night.

—The Foothills Christian Knights stunned Santa Ana Mater Dei, dealing the Monarchs their first loss at home in 10 years, 50-46, and moving on to Tuesday’s semifinals and a third shot at Chino Hills, the nation’s No. 1 team.

The 31-0 Huskies defeated Foothills, 106-86, and 85-83, earlier in the season and  their Open quarterfinals, 103-71 victory over Reedley Immanuel tied Chino Hills with the 1995-96 San Francisco Balboa Buccaneers for a state-record, eighteen 100-point games.

Fifth-seeded Foothills (25-4) reversed a 61-53 loss to No. 4 Mater Dei (27-5) five weeks ago, benefitting from the Monarchs 5-for-25 shooting on three-point attempts and closing down low to outrebound their hosts, 34-18.

T.J. Leaf led the winners with 21 points, blocked three shots, and brought down 16 rebounds.

The Knights trailed only at 2-0 and tenaciously kept the Monarchs at a distance in the second half  in the hosts’ big arena game environment of scoring table dasher boards, jumbotron, and almost 2,500 raucous fans.

The Foothills-Chino game will be at Colony High in Ontario Tuesday night at 7.

—Seventh-seeded Cathedral defeated No. 2 Chatsworth Sierra Canyon in overtime, 83-80, in arguably the major boys upset of the postseason.

According to Max Preps, Cathedral was ranked 31^st in the state and 156^th nationally.  Sierra Canyon was fourth in California and ninth in the country.  Cathedral stood 17^{th in} the state, according to Cal-Hi Sports, while Sierra was fourth.

Complicating the Dons’ bid was the absence 6-11 Brandon McCoy, who was on the bench in foul trouble for all but four minutes of the first half.  McCoy, who scored 23 points, led a Dons comeback that had the visitors in front, 73-65, late in the fourth quarter.

Sierra Canyon tied the score at 73 to force the overtime but Cathedral raced to an 83-73 advantage in the extra session and held on.

Cathedral (21-6) now faces the 3 seed, Torrance Bishop Montgomery (27-2), which overcame Los Angeles Westchester, 72-58, in overtime and outscored Sierra Canyon, 78-69, two weeks ago in the Southern Section playoffs.

—The fourth-seed Mission Hills girls (29-3) defeated No. 5 Los Angeles Price, 49-45, and get No. 1-ranked West Hills Chaminade in the San Fernando Valley suburb on Tuesday.

Mission Hills is ranked sixth and Chaminade fourth in the Cal-Hi Sports ratings, but Chaminade is second in California and fourth in the country as seen by Max Preps, which ranks the Grizzlies 23^rd in California and 99^th in the country.

The only Open Division losers from the San Diego Section were the  La Jolla Country Day girls, beaten, 46-39, by host Long Beach Poly.

Despite being seeded in the nether regions of the Southern California regional playoffs, No. 15 Kearny and No. 12 St. Augustine scored significant road victories last night, while most other San Diego Section squads, including all 13 girls’ teams in action, were stowing their gear today.

Kearny (31-3) overcame a 53-47, fourth-quarter deficit to upset No. 2-ranked and host Huntington Beach Edison, 65-58, in Division III.

Martin Tombe’s three-point basket with 21 seconds remaining lifted St. Augustine (23-7) past No. 5 Corona Centennial, 60-59, after the Saints trailed, 42-29, in the third quarter and were down, 59-57, in the final minute.

Following Tombe’s field goal, the Huskies called timeouts at :21, :17, and :11, and never got in position for an offensive thrust.

Coach Mike Haupt’s Saints defenders frustrated the hosts to the point that the game ended with the ball being tipped  into the back court.

Centennial made 22 trips to the free-throw line and converted 10.  Tombe made 3 of St. Augustine’s 5 attempts.

THE MARTIN AND ERIC SHOW

Tombe’s  27 points were complemented by Eric (Vaughn) Monroe’s 15. The four-year varsity veterans were members of the 2012-13, Trey Kell-led Saints, who won the state D-III title.

St. Augustine gets a home game Saturday evening, possibly at a venue other than its 600-seat  Daugherty Gymnasium, against lower seed (13) Eastvale Eleanor Roosevelt (23-8), a 56-55, double-0vertime winner over No. 4 Los Angeles Fairfax.

Kearny has another daunting challenge. The Komets will travel almost 150 miles north through routinely brutal Los Angeles traffic to take on the 7 seed, 25-7 Calabasas Coyotes, who ushered out No. 10 Fresno Roosevelt, 55-52.

St. Augustine and Eleanor Roosevelt faced one common opponent. The Mustangs  were 1-2 against Corona Centennial, winning, 56-55, and losing, 73-61, and 83-55.  The latter was in a Southern Section playoff consolation game.

Meanwhile, there was total devastation in the San Diego Section Girls’ brackets, low-lighted by No. 1-ranked The Bishop’s 57-52 loss to visiting Westlake Village Oaks Christian.

OTHER RESULTS

BOYS

D-I

No. 9 Torrey Pines 50, @Inglewood 66.

D-II

No. 11 Mission Bay 58,  @No. 6 Rancho Santa Margarita 73.  No. 12, Army-Navy 62, @Orange Lutheran 63. No. 13 Poway 58, @No. 4 Los Alamitos 67.

D-III

No. 11 La Jolla Country Day 48, @No. 6 LaVerne Bonita 52.

D-IV

No. 8 El Camino 90, No. 9 Rancho Mirage 66. No. 13 San Marcos 61, @No. 4 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 69.

D-V

No. 9, Bonita Vista 59, @No. 8 Capistrano Valley Christian 46.  No. 11 Mission Vista 52, @No. 6 Saddleback Valley Christian 53.  No. 14 O’Farrell 46, @No. 3 Temecula Rancho Christian 84.

GIRLS

D-I

No. 10 Santa Barbara 69, No. 7 Torrey Pines 60.

D-II

No. 9 La Cresenta Crescenta Valley 57, No. 8 Mount Miguel 55. No. 10 Manhattan Beach Mira Costa 61, No. 7  Westview 54,    No. 13 Serra 34, @No. 4  Anaheim Fairmont Prep 56.

D-III 

No. 10 Lake Elsinore Lakeside 47, No. 7 Eastlake 38.  No. 14 Horizon 61, @No. 3 Norco 64.  .

D-IV

No. 9 L.A. Notre Dame Academy 66, No. 8 Poway 51. No. 10 La Costa Canyon 45, @7 Newport Beach Corona del Mar 54.  No. 12, Imperial 34, @L.B. St. Anthony 68.

D-V

No. 9 Mira Mesa 35, @No. 8 Sun Valley Village Christian 64. No. 10 Escondido Adventist 34, @No. 7 Cypress Oxford Academy 39.  No. 12, Grossmont 43, @L.A. Price 53.