Irvine Wins Toss, Will Pick Site for Girls’ Basketball Semifinal

On Sunday, Irvine’s luck continued.

The Vaqueros won a coin flip to determine the home team, and will choose the alternate site for their first girls’ basketball semifinal in school history. The third-seeded Vaqueros will play host to Murrieta Valley in pursuit of an appearance in the Southern Section Division I-AA final at a site that will be finalized today. Murrieta Valley, which upset second-seeded Riverside North in the second round, has already lost to Irvine twice this season, by 21 and 23 points.

San Clemente, the top-seeded team in the division, didn’t need a coin flip to find out where it will play its semifinal. The Tritons play fourth-seeded Moreno Valley at Perris High in a matchup that many figured would be the championship game. They were the top two ranked teams at the end of the season, but Southern Section guidelines prevented the teams from being seeded 1-2 because Moreno Valley was the designated second-place team from the Ivy League behind North, and couldn’t be seeded ahead of North.

Brea Olinda is no stranger to Southern Section semifinals, and will play host to Santa Margarita at El Dorado High by virtue of a coin flip. The other semifinal matchups won’t be finalized until tonight. Third-seeded Norco plays at Rim of the World in a game that was postponed Saturday because of snow. The winner of that game plays North Torrance.

Brethren Christian, top-ranked in Division V-AA, will be on the road against La Canada Flintridge Prep at a site to be determined.

The Southern Section will announce later this week the date of championship games played at the Pyramid in Long Beach.