city playoffs 215

We didn't think these would be announced until Tuesday given the holiday weekend, but we were wrong. The City Section Office and Barbara Fiege's staff worked hard yesterday, and came up with the pairings, and published them this morning. We're also told that we will be able to get the entire Southern Section playoffs this evening. But that's a different story.

For now, here are the pairings for City Section Playoffs. The number in parentheses is the "seeding" number. An asterisk (*--for those who don't know) indicates the home team.

3-A DIVISION BOYS
(1) San Fernando* vs. (16) Venice
(8) Mid-City* vs. (9) San Pedro
(5) Marshall* vs. (12) Bell
(4) Birmingham* vs. (13) Jordan
(3) Hamilton* vs (14) Reseda
(6) Garfield* vs. (11) University
(7) Sylmar* vs. (10) Franklin
(2) Narbonne* vs. (15) Poly

4-A DIVISION BOYS
(1) Westchester* vs. (16) Locke
(8) Taft* vs. (9) Palisades
(5) Los Angeles vs. (12) N. Hollywood*
(4) Crenshaw* vs. (13) Grant
(3) Washington* vs. (14) Chatsworth
(6) Manual Arts* vs. (11) Cleveland
(7) Carson* vs. (10) Fairfax
(2) Fremont* vs. (15) Gardena

All the games get underway next Friday night. We don't know the times, but assume that many will get started at 4:00 pm and others (usually the ones in the Valley) will take place at 7:30 pm. We'll know more later.

Looking at the 4-A games, Westchester, the third-ranked team in the state, ranked by various polls in the top 20 in the country, is the top-seeded team for the boys' playoffs, which begin Friday.

The LA Times has said two things about when they'll end: First they said the playoffs "conclude March 8 at the Sports Arena," and then in another article they said "The 4-A finals are March 6 at the Sports Arena and the 3-A finals are March 7 at Cal State Los Angeles." Huh? Well, if they end March 6, they'll surely be over by the 8th. We'll have the true dates as things progress. Just keep your calendar clear.

Last year, the Comets lost to Crenshaw in the final, but in the summer picked up three top transfers in David Bluthenthal Brandon Granville and Chris Osborne. Westchester finished undefeated in the Coastal Conference, considered the City's toughest. Westchester will play Locke in the first round. Fremont, the only other 4-A team to go undefeated in conference play, was seeded second and plays Gardena.

Crenshaw, which has won five consecutive 4-A titles, finished tied with Washington for first place in the Southern Pacific Conference but lost a coin flip to determine the higher-seeded team. As a result, Washington was placed third and Crenshaw fourth, setting up a potential Westchester-Crenshaw semifinal. Censhaw will therefore have a much tougher time winning the boys' 4-A Division title and it may not be possible if they can't get through Westchester.

Washington, the higher seeded team, will host Chatsworth and while Crenshaw gets to play Grant and Gilbert Arenas in the first round. We sure hope that Adir Levy is able to play, because from what we saw on Friday night, Grant can sure use his perimeter shooting.

Six of the top seven teams come from either the Southern Pacific or Coastal conferences.

North Hollywood tied Grant for the East Valley League title but the Huskies were seeded higher because of a better league record. The committee showed little respect for the Valley Pac-8 Conference--the Huskies are seeded 12th in the 16-team field. North Hollywood will play Los Angeles at home because first-place teams are guaranteed a first-round home game, and it should be really exciting: Deon Green and Leroy Watson v. DeJon Lee, Keron Wilkerson and Chinnua Wright--the only place that NH will be at a disadvantage is in the post, as LA is taller and stronger at that position. But on the other hand, Eric Roller can be pretty tough, especially for a 10th grader. Grant gets to travel to Crenshaw, and they'll be overmatched at virtually every position except at wherever Gilbert Arenas is playing. The Toreadors, West Valley League champions, will host Palisades in a first-round game Friday night. With a victory, Taft probably will face top-seeded Westchester in the quarterfinals.

So let's look at the 3-A pairings: San Fernando and the Tyrone Purnell, Mike Page & Co. show will face Glenn McGowan & Co. Should be an interesting game. North Valley League rival Birmingham, seeded fourth, could meet San Fernando in the semifinals. Narbonne is ranked second, and will face Poly at Narbonne. Mid-City, a team which did very well (from the Magnet Conference) is facing a strong San Pedro team. And my oh my, look how things have changed. Reseda last year was 0-20. Didn't win a game. This year, Dave Enowitz has taken his team, re-made it, and they're in the playoffs. Good job.