Six San Diego Section teams, out of the original 13, still are practicing and still preparing as the Southern California regional playoffs reach a critical semifinals round.
At least one of the remaining six will be eliminated in games Tuesday, March 12, and one will qualify for the finals Saturday, March 16, at Colony High in Ontario. That’s because St. Augustine and Cathedral Catholic will meet for a fifth time this season, on the neutral Rancho Bernardo court.
Some 2,000 mostly Saints fans watched Saturday night as coach Mike Haupt’s club scalded Lawndale Leuzinger with a 16-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to put an end to the shorter Olympians, who battled for three quarters despite an overall 45-23 deficiency in rebounds.
Cathedral advanced with a 57-45 victory at Tustin.
Hoover overcame San Marcos in the fourth quarter for the second time in a week to win 59-56.
St. Augustine is No. 1 seed in Division I and Cathedral is 5. Hoover is the 3 seed in D-II and visits old rival Redondo Beach Redondo Union, the 2 seed.
CARDINALS SUCCESSFUL 57 YEARS AGO
The last time Hoover was at Redondo was in 1956 in the Southern Section quarterfinals. The Cardinals defeated the Seahawks 56-54 on Bill Landry’s jump shot as time expired.
Other semifinals games:
Mission Hills, No. 4, goes to Santa Monica (27-6), the top seed in D-1. The Grizzlies survived No. 5 Inglewood, 49-47.
Army-Navy (29-4), a 78-71 winner over Encino Crespi, gets another home game at Oceanside High. The 2 seed Warriors face Torrance Bishop Montgomery (31-1), a Southern Section powerhouse whose No. 6 seeding left many observers dumbfounded.
Top seed Horizon (18-11) moved on in D-V to take on 4 seed Sun Valley Village Christian (28-4) after defeating Valencia Trinity Classical, 52-33.
PREDICTING
We tabbed 6 out of 9 in the quarterfinals. The experiment in picking the scores was a disaster but I might try it again.
