San Diego Section teams came home with one championship in the state basketball tournament, old reliable La Jolla Country Day’s girls winning in Division V, 40-36 over Palo Alto Eastside Prep.
The title was coach Terry Bamford’s fourth. The Torreys finished with an 18-11 record, not their best, but Bamford sees the big picture, schedules tough, and points to March. Eastside was the Central Coast Section champion and No. 1 seed in the North.
The Torreys and The Bishop’s, both beaten in league and section play by state-uninvited Horizon, owned the division, racing through the Southern California playoffs before ‘Day knocked off the Knights, 75-56, in the finals.
A disappointing boys season concluded with Torrey Pines and Army-Navy coming up short in the D-1 and D-5 semifinals, respectively.
Coach John Olive’s Torrey Pines Falcons battled through the rounds as a No. 6 seed before losing at 2 seed Chino Hills, 64-57.
Army-Navy, coached by John Maffucci, in his 59th year at the academy, was a No. 6 seed and battled 2 seed Los Angeles Price before coming up short, 67-62.
The area top teams would have been better served had the CIF San Diego Section placed St. Augustine and Foothills Christian in their proper divisions.
Instead 7 seed St. Augustine was forced to go to the Open Division instead of D-III for the second year in a row and bowed to second-ranked Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 75-61, and Foothills, the 6 seed, came up short at 3 seed Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda, 56-55.
With largely underclass squads, the Saints and Knights could be the top teams in the San Diego Section next season. But they again likely will face a stacked deck by being pushed into the Open Division playoffs.
It’s a system that needs more than a tweak.
BOYS
OPEN
ROUND 1
7 St. Augustine 61, @2 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 75.
6 Foothills Christian 55, @3 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda 56.
DIVISION I
ROUND 1
6 Torrey Pines 62, 11 N. Tustin Foothill 49.
10 San Marcos 60, @7 Riverside J.W. North 57.
QUARTERFINALS
Torrey Pines 54, @3 Long Beach Poly 49.
San Marcos 63, @2 Chino Hills 82.
SEMIFINALS
Torrey Pines 57, @Chino Hills 64.
II
ROUND 1
1 La Costa Canyon 74, 16 Las Flores Tesoro 53.
12 Mira Mesa 67, @5 Redlands East Valley 75.
15 Kearny 65, @2 Anaheim Canyon 98.
QUARTERFINALS
1 La Costa Canyon 69, 8 Santa Barbara 44.
SEMIFINALS
1 La Costa Canyon 46, 4 Lawndale 60.
III
ROUND 1
12 Valhalla 76, @ 5 La Habra Sonora 101.
7 El Cajon Valley 33, 10 Newport Beach Corona del Mar 46.
IV
ROUND 1
14 Granite Hills 49, @3 Encino Crespi 78.
6 Mission Bay 58, 11 Cerritos Valley Christian 66.
V
ROUND 1
6 Army-Navy 91, 11 Hesperia Christian 52.
10 Lutheran 52, @7 Temecula Rancho Christian 70.
QUARTERFINALS
6 Army-Navy 60, @3 L.A. Windward 52.
SEMIFINALS
Army-Navy 62, @2 L.A. Price 67.
GIRLS
OPEN
ROUND 1
6 Mission Hills 41, @3 Long Beach Poly 58.
I
ROUND 1
12 Torrey Pines 51, @5 San Bernardino 81.
15 Eastlake 50, @2 Vista Murietta 70.
II
ROUND 1
12 La Costa Canyon 57, @5 Norco 65.
III
ROUND 1
14 Westview 31, @3 Mira Costa 59.
12, Kearny 34, @5 Newport Beach Corona del Mar 70.
11 Rancho Bernardo 42, @6 Rancho Santa Margarita 48.
IV
ROUND 1
9 El Capitan 26, @8 San Juan Capistrano JSerra 67.
12 San Ysidro 31, @5 Anaheim Fairmont Prep 78.
V
ROUND 1
1 La Jolla Country Day, bye.
2 The Bishop’s 79, 15 L.A. Price 30.
11 Escondido Adventist 18, @6 San Bernardino Aquinas 61.
QUARTERFINALS
2 The Bishop’s 73, 7 Santa Barbara Bishop Diego 49.
1 La Jolla Country Day 69, 9 Caruthers 20.
SEMIFINALS
1 La Jolla Country Day 64, 4 L.A. Ribet 36.
The Bishop’s 55, 3 Garden Grove Orangewood 48, OT.
CHAMPIONSHIP
La Jolla Country Day 75, The Bishop’s 56.
STATE
La Jolla Country Day 40, 1 Palo Alto Eastside Prep 36, @Haas Arena, California-Berkeley.
