SOUTHERN SECTION BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Girls’ Preview : As Usual, County Teams Positioned for Title

The first round of the Southern Section playoffs start tonight for girls’ basketball and, surprise, Orange County teams will be well represented and have a good chance at winning the 3-A championship.

That is in absolute adherence to the status quo. Orange County teams have won three of the last four 3-A championships--Corona del Mar High School in 1983, Foothill in 1985 and Brea-Olinda in 1986. In that time, seven of the eight teams in the 3-A final were from Orange County. In that same time, county teams have won no other titles in the other four divisions.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, there are the numbers. Orange County puts a bunch of teams in the 3-A playoffs, 11 this season. Last season, when the Century League was still a member of the 3-A in girls’ basketball--the league now competes in 4-A--that number was 14.

Then there is the quality of playoff teams. The past two seasons, Brea and Foothill have entered the 3-A playoffs as the first- and second-seeded teams. Foothill has since ascended to the ranks of 4-A with the rest of the Century League.

This season, Orange County has three of the top four seeded teams. Brea (20-4) is No. 2, Katella (23-2) is No. 3 and Mission Viejo (23-2) is No. 4. Louisville High (20-3) of Woodland Hills is the division’s top seed.

As usual, Brea, defending 3-A champion, has a very good chance at the title. But this season has been one of unexpected disappointment for the Wildcats, who play Schurr (14-9) in the first round at Brea.

Brea lost the distinction of being Orange County’s top team to Edison early in the regular season, and ended with an unexpected and disappointing co-championship in the Orange League with Valencia.

Katella went undefeated through the Empire League, probably the toughest league in the county, and will play at home against Redlands (18-4).

Mission Viejo, South Coast League champion, has a great first-round draw, playing at home against South Torrance (11-11). If the Diablos win, they will play the winner of the Tustin-Los Alamitos game, which might be the best first-round game involving Orange County teams.

Tustin (20-6), Sea View League champion, has made the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season and will be the home team. Los Alamitos (16-6) is the No. 2 team from the Empire League.

In other 3-A games:

Kennedy (11-9) at Palos Verdes (19-5); Palm Springs (13-7) at Valencia (19-4); Capistrano Valley (16-8) at Hacienda Heights Wilson (18-6); Estancia (15-8) at Alemany (20-5); Torrance (14-6) at El Toro (19-7); and Magnolia (19-6) at San Gabriel (17-6).

In 4-A:

Canyon (13-9) at Lynwood (26-2); Gahr (21-5) at Foothill (21-3); Mira Costa (6-13) at Edison (25-1); Huntington Beach (12-11) at Pasadena (20-6); Thousand Oaks (13-11) at Mater Dei (20-6); Marina (15-10) at Chaffey (16-6); and Santa Ana Valley (13-6) at Hawthorne (17-8).

In 2-A:

Costa Mesa (18-8) at La Habra (18-7); St. Bernard (15-7) at La Quinta (17-5); La Mirada (14-10) at Woodbridge (19-7); Garden Grove (15-6) at Fullerton (14-6); and Orange (12-10) at Walnut (19-5).

In 1-A:

Rosary (17-5) at Whittier Christian (14-5).

In Small Schools:

Flintridge Prep (12-7) at Liberty Christian.