State Playoffs Offer a New Opportunity

Santa Margarita and Villa Park can stop dwelling on their double-digit losses in the Southern Section boys’ basketball finals Saturday, and Woodland Hills Taft can forget about losing the City title to Westchester -- at least for a while.

The Southern California Regional playoffs begin today with two games in Division I. Quarterfinal games in all five divisions will be played Tuesday, followed by semifinals on Thursday and finals on Saturday.

Santa Margarita lost to Lakewood Artesia, 74-44, in the Division III-AA championship game at the Arrowhead Pond but could get a rematch as early as Thursday in the Division III regional semifinals. The Eagles defeated Artesia in last season’s Division III-AA final, only to lose to the Pioneers five days later in a regional semifinal.

Fourth-seeded Santa Margarita (26-4) plays Tuesday at San Diego Crawford, which is led by 6-foot-6 junior Tyrone Shelley, who scored 76 points in a game earlier this season to break a San Diego Section record. Artesia (29-1) plays host to Tulare Union on Tuesday.

Villa Park (27-4), which lost to Santa Ana Mater Dei, 80-67, in the Division II-AA final, is seeded second behind the Monarchs (30-2) in the Division II regionals, setting up a potential rematch in a regional championship Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Ontario Colony (30-3), which beat Torrance, 80-71, for the Division II-A title but lost to Villa Park during the regular season, is seeded third.

Taft (22-5), which lost to fourth-seeded Westchester, 68-58, in the City Section final Saturday at the Sports Arena, will play host to Southern Section Division I-A runner-up Thousand Oaks (27-5) today, while Ventura (26-5), the Division I-A champion, will play host to Central Section runner-up Fresno Edison.

Westchester (24-6), the defending Division I champion, is its division’s top-seeded team ahead of Fresno Clovis West, which is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division I by Cal-Hi Sports.

-- Dan Arritt

Fullerton Troy, the top-ranked girls’ team in the state and the defending Division II state champion, received a bye for the opening round when Visalia Redwood was stripped of its Central Section title and removed from the regional playoffs. One of Visalia’s players participated in a city recreational tournament the day after the regular season ended -- a violation of CIF rules.

“I’d rather keep playing,” Troy Coach Kevin Kiernan said. “It would be good if we had injuries or needed rest, but Lauren Sims [injured knee] isn’t coming back, so a couple days won’t help that.”

Troy (30-1) will play host to the winner of Tuesday’s Spring Valley Mount Miguel (24-7) at Brea Olinda (20-11) game in a quarterfinal Thursday. Villa Park (29-2) is seeded second.

Lynwood (22-4), which beat Long Beach Poly, 52-44, to win the Division I-AA championship Friday at Long Beach State, is seeded No. 1 in Division I.

La Puente Bishop Amat (31-1), which won the Division III-A title Saturday and is the defending Division III state champion, is seeded No. 1 in its division, as is Los Angeles Windward (26-3) in Division IV.

-- Martin Henderson