today 213 games

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Today's Games: City Section,
Southern Section--(February 13, 1998)

Today and tonight are, in most instances, the last games of the regular season before playoffs begin. There are a ton of games pending, which will take place today and this evening, and a few more scheduled for tomorrow, but after that it's single elimination time in the playoffs. So what's up today?

First a bunch of City Section games. Here they are, listed below for your reference. Those we'd recommend seeing would be Fairfax v. LA (which Jason is attending tday at 4:00, and then if you're on the City side of the hill, probably either Venice v. Westchester (just because we'd go to see how Glenn McGowan is doing, and because we love those Westchester guys). Other than that, on the City side of the hill, you're on your own, because all the other games conflict with one another. Personally, we'll be going to Fairfax v. LA for a couple of minutes ourselves, and then heading over the hill to watch the Grant v. North Hollywood game, which is for the league title. If Grant wins, they'll win it by two games. If NoHo wins, they'll be tied in League play. Gil Arenas and a chance to see Adir's new face, courtesy of Canoga Park, and also Keron Wilkerson and the rest of the NoHo boys.

And besides the City Section games, there are a ton of Southern Section games, and we won't even begin to list them all. As usual, the Mission League winds up tonight (if you're in the Valley area) and Harvard-Westlake will be playing at Crespi. And if you're a fan of small schools, you might wander over to Buckley to get a look at the team from Avalon, which will be here tonight and will play back-to-back tomorrow as well to complete the two game series and wind up Liberty League play. Anywhere you look though, there will be games tonight, and since this will likely be the last chance to catch your favorite team (especially if your favorite team didn't make it to playoff status) then go out and enjoy a game tonight. Cheapest entertainment in town. Nothin' better.

Cleveland @ Kennedy 5:30/7:00
Chatsworth @ Taff 5:30/7:00
El Camino Real @ Birmingham 5:30/7:00
Granada Hills @ San Fernando 5:00/6:30
Hamilton @ Manual Arts 2:30/4:00
Palisades @ University 5:30:7:00
Fairfax @ Los Angeles 2:30/4:00
Venice @ Westchester 5:30/7:00
Marshall @ Wilson 5:30/7:00
Eagle Rock @ Hollywood 2:30/4:00
Verdugo Hills @ Franklin 2:30/4:00
Belmont @ Lincoln 2:30/4:00
Canoga Park @ Monroe 5:30/7:00
North Hollywood @ Grant 5:30/7:00
Van Nuys @ Sylmar 5:30/7:00
Reseda @ Polytechnic 5:30/7:00
Jefferson @ Fremont 2:30/4:00
Bell @ Garfield 2:30/4:00
South Gate @ Jordan 2:30/4:00
Huntington Park @ Locke 2:30/4:00
Narbonne @ Carson 5:30/7:00
San Pedro @ Banning 5:30/7:00
Gardena @ Washington 2:30/4:00
Crenshaw @ Dorsey 2:30/4:00

And as the LA Times reminded us today, in the City Section, any league champion is guaranteed of hosting a first-round game in either the 4-A or 3-A division. If two teams tie for first in league, both teams automatically qualify for the playoffs, but only the No. 1-seeded team, which would be determined by a three-part tiebreaking procedure, would be guaranteed a home game in the first round.

Teams that finish second or lower can qualify for the playoffs with at-large berths determined at a seeding meeting Saturday. To qualify for the Southern Section playoffs, a team must finish among the top three in its league if it's part of a five-, six- or seven-team league and in the top four if it's a member of an eight-team league.

Teams that fail to meet those criteria can petition for an at-large berth in the playoffs if they win at least 10 regular-season games. Here is a synopsis of the qualifying for the playoffs entering today's games.

In addition to the schedules above, here are the City Section 4-A Division possibilities for playoffs.

West Valley League

Taft (14-5, 7-2) has clinched the title. Cleveland (15-9, 5-4) will wrap up second with a victory over Kennedy (7-15, 0-9) or a Chatsworth (14-9, 5-4) loss to Taft.

East Valley League

Grant (17-7, 8-1) has a one-game lead over North Hollywood (17-8, 7-2), but North Hollywood could tie for first--and get the league's No. 1 seeding entering the playoffs--with a win over Grant tonight. Although the teams would have 1-1 records against each other in that scenario, North Hollywood would have a better league record, as opposed to each teams' 8-2 mark in the Valley Pac-8 Conference.

3-A Division

Mid-Valley League

Sylmar (14-9, 7-2) has clinched the league title. Reseda (9-14, 4-5) can wrap up second with a victory over Poly (9-14, 3-6).

North Valley League

San Fernando (22-2, 9-0) has clinched the league title. Birmingham (14-9, 4-5) can wrap up second with a victory over El Camino Real (8-13, 3-6).

In Southern Section (Valley Region) here's the LA Times take on the playoff and league finishing possibilities before tonight's games:

Channel League

Dos Pueblos (22-4, 12-2) won the league title by two games over Oxnard (16-8, 10-4) and San Marcos (20-5, 10-4) with Santa Barbara (16-10, 9-5) fourth in the eight-team league. Since Oxnard and San Marcos split their two games against each other, a coin flip will determine who advances to the playoffs as the league's No. 2- and 3-seeded teams.

Foothill League

Hart (17-9, 8-2) beat Valencia (20-6, 7-3) on Thursday night to determine first and second place. Burroughs (15-9, 5-4 before Thursday) wrapped up third earlier in the week.

Frontier League

Santa Paula (19-5, 8-1) can clinch the title with a victory over Calabasas (10-14, 3-6). Moorpark (20-6, 7-2) would then finish second, no matter how it fared against Nordhoff (11-11, 4-5). Nordhoff can clinch third with a victory against Moorpark or with a Calabasas loss to Santa Paula and a Santa Clara (9-12, 3-6) loss to Malibu (7-14, 2-7). If Santa Paula and Moorpark tie for first, a coin flip will determine the league's No. 1 team for the playoffs.

Golden League

First-place Antelope Valley (17-8, 7-2) can clinch the title with a victory over Lancaster (6-16, 2-7). Quartz Hill (14-11, 6-3) and Palmdale (15-9, 6-3) have the other two playoff spots wrapped up, no matter what happens tonight.

Marmonte League

Newbury Park (22-4, 13-0) and Simi Valley (21-5, 10-3) have clinched first and second in the eight-team league. If Channel Islands (17-6, 8-5) loses to Camarillo (8-14, 2-11) and Agoura (13-10, 7-6) beats Westlake (12-11, 5-8), there would be a two-way tie for third. But Channel Islands would be the league's No. 3-seeded team because the Raiders beat Agoura twice in league play.

Mission League

Chaminade (22-1, 11-0) has clinched first and Loyola (18-7, 9-2) has wrapped up second. Harvard-Westlake (18-7, 6-5) can clinch third with a victory over Crespi (12-12, 5-6). A Crespi win combined with a St. Francis (12-12, 5-6) upset of Chaminade would create a three-way tie for third. Because Harvard-Westlake, Crespi and St. Francis would each have 1-1 records against each other in that scenario, the league's No. 3 team would be decided by a series of coin flips.

Pacific League

Muir (20-5, 9-0) has clinched the league title. Crescenta Valley (16-10, 6-4) defeated Hoover (16-9, 6-4) for the second time this season Thursday night. Pasadena (15-11, 6-3) can clinch second with a victory over Muir tonight. A loss by Pasadena would create a three-way tie for second. Pasadena beat Crescenta Valley twice. A series of coin flips would determine the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds.

Tri-Valley League

Bishop Diego (17-5, 6-1) can clinch the title with a victory against St. Bonaventure (9-12, 0-7) and Oak Park (13-9, 5-2) can wrap up second place by beating Fillmore (12-10, 2-5). A loss by Oak Park would drop the Eagles into a second-place tie with Carpinteria (12-8, 5-3) with the No. 2-seeding being determined by a coin flip.