County Teams Will Get a Good Look at One Another

Something old, something new.

Hey, we know it’s a cliche, but placing teams in regional brackets for easier travel has added a new dimension to the CIF Southern Section basketball playoffs.

Now, just about every first-round game pits one Orange County team against another. The region I bracket in Division I-A, for example, looks like a replay of the South Coast League season, with top-seeded Mater Dei (25-2), Dana Hills (15-12), San Clemente (17-8) and Mission Viejo (16-10) taking part. But some things never change. Mater Dei will be seeking its sixth consecutive section title.

The county has produced several other highly seeded teams. Sonora (23-3) is seeded No. 3 in Division II-A, the top team in its Region III bracket, which counts all eight teams from Orange County. But in a departure from total regionalism, Brea Olinda (23-3) is seeded fourth atop a Division II-A bracket that includes seven teams from the Inland Empire.

Southern Section officials say that as many as 75% of the teams were bracketed based on their localities.

Brethren Christian opens the playoffs Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. by hosting Burbank Providence (13-9) in a Division IV-A wild card game.

All other first-round games will be Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

Here’s a division-by-division look at the playoffs:

DIVISION I-A

Defending champion: Mater Dei.

Top teams: Mater Dei (25-2); Riverside North (20-4); Glendora (24-2); Newhall Hart (20-5).

Dark horse: Mission Viejo (16-10). It probably won’t happen because it hasn’t in two seasons, but if the Diablos ever put it all together, they could run most of the teams in this division off the floor.

Top players: Kevin Augustine (Mater Dei); Daniel Barrows (Cerritos); David Castleton (Mater Dei); Chris Clark (Glendora); Casey Jacobsen (Glendora); Commander King (Mission Viejo); Tom Lippold (Mater Dei); Eric Palmer (University); Mike Vukovich (Mater Dei).

Notes: Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight took one look at the playoff brackets and just winced. “It’s the South Coast League all over again,” he said. Indeed, if the top-ranked Monarchs are going to win their sixth consecutive Southern Section title, they will have to go through some teams they have played twice before. Four South Coast League teams are in Mater Dei’s bracket--the top-seeded team’s bracket. The Monarchs won the league title with a 10-0 mark. “The fun of the playoffs in the past was always playing some team you have never seen before,” McKnight said. “Now, with this regional thing, you play the same teams you’ve seen all year.” . . . Regardless, the Monarchs could be a lock for that sixth title. Said Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan: “Mater Dei is as good as any I-A team I have seen in a long time because of the way they have come together. They should win because no one can guard Augustine.” . . . El Toro Coach Todd Dixon, whose team has struggled over the last few weeks, was livid that the Chargers have to open against Mater Dei on Friday night at the Bren Center. But Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley pointed out that University, which plays at Mission Viejo, was seeded seventh in the bracket ahead of El Toro because the Trojans came in as the third-place team from the Pacific Coast League, despite an earlier loss to the Chargers. El Toro was the wild-card representative from the Sea View League. “There is some precedent there,” Crowley said. . . . Glendora, a perennial playoff threat, opened the season with 17 consecutive victories but was upset by Upland twice in league play, 65-63 in overtime and 57-52 in regulation. Jacobsen, a sophomore guard, averaged 26 points and five rebounds, and sophomore forward Clark averaged 12 points for Glendora. . . . The Mission Viejo-University game pits two of the better guards in the area. Mission Viejo’s King averaged 16.4 points and 6.1 assists. University’s Eric Palmer ranks first in the county in scoring (24.4) and is also one of the top assist leaders (9.4).