bracket IIIA

Here's the Division III-A pairings and the brackets. We got this from the CIF, so we know it's official. * indicates the Home team; # indicates the seed within the regional bracket. The league is indicated by the name in parenthesis (except the "At-Large" teams, which aren't identified by league, because they aren't representing their league since in most cases, they didn't qualify outright but had to get a coin flip or some other invitation to the dance.

We'll try to keep filling this in as results become available during the playoffs. There are some notes from the CIF Committee responsible for these brackets, which should be carefully read before relying upon them as final (see below), especially before you drive across town to go see one of these games. Just as we've been telling you all year, if you rely on these before calling the school or checking other sources (such as a newspaper the day of the event) you do so at your own risk. Note also that there are NO wild card games in this Division.

This is another of our favorite Divisions, and interestingly, it could set up to be an all-Mission league final if Chaminade or Harvard-Westlake advance to the final from the left hand bracket, and St. Francis makes it all the way through, unlikely as that might be. Chaminade could receive one of its biggest tests this year in Centennial Compton, a very quick, very tall and very fast team from the Compton area that surprised Montclair, another quick, tall and good shooting team from the Valley which is sometimes compared to Chaminade (although it's in Division V-AA). Blair is no pushover, but they'll probably fall in the first round. Ganesha could be just as dangerous for Chaminade, and the first round with Centennial and Ganesha could be really exciting. If I didn't already have somewhere to be I might actually consider going. . . Santa Paula should be able to handle Nordhoff, even with 7'-0" center Kris Kristofferson. We don't know enough about Cabrillo (we're working on it) to know whether H-W will have a tough time or not. And we won't even venture a guess at Region II or Region III in this Division.

Overall in the Division III-A bracket, the No. 1 Seed is Chaminade; No. 2 Bishop Montgomery; No. 3. San Dimas; and No. 4 Santa Paula. Each of these top four seeds has been placed into a "region" with other teams according to their overall seeding, with the top four overall seeds being the No. 1 team in their respective regions.

First Round Feb. 20	Second Round Feb. 24	Quarter Finals Feb. 27 Alternate Sites	Semi Finals March 3 Alternate Sites	Finals March 7 The Pond	Semi Finals March 3 Alternate Sites	Quarter Finals Feb. 27 Alternate Sites	Second Round Feb. 24	First Round Feb. 20
Region I								Region II
*Chaminade (Mission) #1								*Bishop Montgomery (Del Rey) #1
vs. Blair (At Large) # 4								vs St. Francis (At Large) #4

*Centennial Compton (Ocean) #2								*Northview (Valle Vista) #2
vs. Ganesha (Valle Vista) #3								vs. Morningside (Ocean) #3


Region IV								Region III
*Santa Paula (Frontier) #1								*San Dimas (Valle Vista) #1
vs. Nordhoff (At Large) #4								vs. San Jacinto (Skyline) #4

*Cabrillo (Los Padres) #2								*Bassett (Montview) #2
vs. Harvard-Westlake (Mission) #3								vs. Estancia (Pacific Coast) #3

And here's the standard print at the bottom of each bracket directly from the CIF:

We've left off the rest of the announcement because it's really only intended for the teams to call in their scores and for the media, but you get the idea. This draw sheet can be changed anytime the CIF wants to prior to the start of the games, but chances are, other than a change in time for a game, you won't see these change very much at all. Again, please, please, please, check your local paper, and/or call a school before you make a trip for a game, because it might be rescheduled, and we can't be responsible if you make a long drive. If you do without first checking, don't come crying to us about it. We told you so.