Ocean View Gets What’s Expected

Ocean View, the county’s top-ranked boys’ basketball team, opens the Southern Section playoffs Friday, but the Golden West League champion will have to wait until late Wednesday evening to find out who its opponent will be.

As expected, the Seahawks were seeded No. 1 in the Division III-AA bracket, after the Southern Section bumped them up a notch late last week based on new enrollment figures supplied by the school. They’ll play the winner of Wednesday’s wild-card game between Rosemead Don Bosco Tech (13-13) and Monrovia (17-6).

But that means the expected showdown between West Hills Chaminade (23-1), top-seeded in Division III-A, and Ocean View won’t happen, although the Seahawks (21-4) could face the county’s most-improved team, Magnolia (22-4) in the semifinals. Fourth-seeded Magnolia (22-4) ended Brea Olinda’s three-year reign atop the Orange League with two victories over the Wildcats this season.

Brea Olinda (22-4) will open the II-AA playoffs Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Cerritos Gahr (16-10) and Hemet (12-12).

Santa Margarita, which held the top ranking in Orange County all season until it lost to Servite, 46-43, Feb. 7, is seeded second behind Compton in Division II-AA and will host Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (18-8) Friday. Also in that division, Empire League co-champion, Katella (22-4) plays Villa Park (18-7) Friday. Troy (22-4), which shared the Freeway League title with Sonora, will host Pacific Coast League champion Laguna Hills (21-5)..

Loara (21-5) got very little respect from the seeding committee, despite sharing the Empire League title with Katella. The Saxons, who last won a league title in 1966, must host Tustin (19-7), which finished third in the Golden West League, in a Division II-AA wild card game Wednesday. The winner faces Inglewood (19-5) Friday.

Mater Dei, which has won six consecutive Southern Section titles, is unseeded in Division I-A. The Monarchs (18-7), who shared the South Coast League title with Capistrano Valley, will host La Verne Damien (9-18) Friday.