2022-23 Week 12C: Champions and Open Division Teams Await Regional Pairings

St. Augustine wrapped the San Diego Section season—the Southern California regionals are next–with an 85-53 win over Montgomery before about 3,000 persons at Cathedral Saturday night, finishing off the Aztecs with a 28-11 fourth quarter.

The Saints were the No. 1-seed team in the Open Division and played like it, winning by a combined total of 73 points in their three games.  There were earlier wins of 88-62 over Mater Dei and 82-67 over San Ysidro.

The power ratings, which determined the playoff seeds, saw the favorite emerge in 62 of 80 games, a winning percentage of 78 per cent.  There were six upsets in 38 first-round games, four in 24 quarterfinals, five in 12 semifinals, and three in six championship contests.

The ratings lost some of their power as the playoffs extended.  Only two of six No. 1 seeds earned championships.  And hats off to the Classical Caimans, an eight seed who ran the table in Division V.

St. Augustine (27-4), on a run of 15 victories in 16 games, has lost to just one California team, 84-72, to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame a couple weeks ago in Santa Ana.  The other losses were 79-70 to Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, 84-76 to Kell of Marietta, Georgia, and 71-65, to St. John’s of Washington, D.C.

Hotter than the hot Saints are coach Jeff Harper-Harris’ Lincoln Hornets, who claimed D-II with a 59-54 victory over Otay Ranch,  a team that beat the Hive, 70-54, in the second game of the season.

The Hornets have won 20 in a row, their only other loss, 54-49 to Fountain Fort Carson, a 19-6 team in Colorado.

Championship game results with upsets/surprises highlighted: