Taft gets the top seeding in City basketball playoffs

There were no surprises at the City Section boys’ basketball playoffs seeding meeting on Saturday. Woodland Hills Taft was awarded the top seeding in Division I after capturing the West Valley League title and finishing the regular season on a 13-game winning streak.

The Toreadors (23-2) will host No. 16 Hollywood (11-5), the Central League champion, in the first round Thursday night. If seedings hold, Taft would face No. 8 Cleveland in the quarterfinals — a team Taft beat by 37 and 39 points in league play.

Western League winner Westchester (23-6), the defending City and state champion, was seeded second, having lost 71-60 to Taft in early December. Marine League champion Washington (20-6) was seeded third and, after some debate, Coliseum League champion Crenshaw (18-8) was seeded fourth over Western League runner-up Palisades (16-12), which lost twice to Westchester by a total of eight points. Sixth-seeded Dorsey (12-7), No. 7 Fairfax (15-10) and Cleveland also host first-round games.

A potential quarterfinal showdown looms between Crenshaw and Palisades, with the survivor likely to meet Taft in the semifinals on Feb. 25 at the Galen Center. If Fairfax gets by Birmingham, the Lions probably will face league rival Westchester in the quarterfinals — a matchup that in previous years would have been in the City finals or Southern California Regional playoffs.

Despite being seeded No. 1 in Division II, Los Angeles University (22-8) has to travel to Los Feliz to take on No. 16 Los Angeles Marshall (12-9), the Northern League champion, on Thursday.

“The rule is that league champions are guaranteed a home game in the first round,” said Wildcats Coach Steve Ackerman, whose team finished third in the Western League, which the committee determined was the toughest league in the City. “Playing in a strong league like we do has a lot of advantages, but this is a case where it works against us.”

Chatsworth (21-9) is the top-seeded team in Division III and View Park (13-16), the fifth-place team from the Coliseum League, is seeded first in the Small Schools Division.

On the girls’ side, the Marine League produced three of the top four seeded teams in Division I, including No. 1 Harbor City Narbonne (26-3) and No. 2 Carson (15-10). Western League champion Fairfax (23-8) was seeded third, followed by Washington (16-7), the third-place team from the Marine League. West Valley League champion Chatsworth (16-10) was seeded fifth, followed by Valley Mission League winner Kennedy (23-4), Coliseum League runner-up Dorsey (15-6) and Crenshaw (17-9), which finished third in the Coliseum League.

Palisades (20-9) was seeded first in Division II and hosts No. 16 Maywood (1-13) in the first round Friday. East Valley League champion Monroe (19-8) is seeded first in Division III and Coliseum League winner View Park (25-5) is No. 1 in the Small Schools Division.

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