Win Tuesday evening and play a state championship game in Sacramento on Friday.

That is the goal this week for the three remaining girls and boys basketball teams from the San Diego Section.

Victory Christian, formerly Lutheran, located in Chula Vista, was coached until mid-season this year by Sa’de Wiley-Greenwood, a legendary high school player at Lynwood, where she led her team to a 33-0 in 2002 and was Cal-Hi Sports‘ state player of the year.

FALCONS COULD SET HISTORY

Scripps Ranch will attempt to win a second Southern California championship in the same school year, never accomplished by a San Diego Section squad.

The Falcons defeated Santa Clara Wilcox, 31-28, for the state Division II-A championship in 2021 after winning the Southern California title, 45-38 over Santa Clarita Valencia.

Pairings:

GIRLS

BOYS

The Scripps Ranch boys and Victory Christian girls won respective division semifinal games in the Southern California regionals playoffs.

BOYS

GIRLS

The road gets longer and theoretically with more bumps for Mt. Carmel and coach Greg Lanthier’s three-point-shooting snipers.

Lanthier, who won a San Diego Section championship as coach at Vista in 1992-93, takes his Divison III 10th-seeded SunDevils (25-9)  up the Coast Highway 160 miles to play 4 seed Calabasas Viewpoint (20-6).

Mt. Carmel is ranked 18th in the San Diego Section by Max Preps . Viewpoint defeated San Diego’s No. 15, San Dieguito, 64-59, in the first round.

Meanwhile, Scripps Ranch, No. 2 in D-IV and 23-11 on the season, will play host to the Central Section’s Bakersfield Golden Valley (23-8).

The Bishop’s, the only remaining Division II team in the state with a seed as high as No. 13,  moves into the Southern California playoffs semifinals Saturday night.

The Knights (17-7), under first-year coach Paris Johnson, who played at San Diego High and San Diego State and replaced mentor Marlon Wells, now face their stiffest test at No. 1 Corona Santiago (23-9).

Wells, who won more than 500 games at San Diego and The Bishop’s, resigned before the 2021-22 season.  One reason and possibly the most important was that Wells lives in Temecula.

The coach, also active and successful in Club basketball, commuted about 60 miles each way  to the La Jolla campus.

Perhaps Wells was prescient and  knew how high gas prices would become in Southern California.

The ladies delivered.  Five of seven San Diego teams won their quarterfinals matches.

Joining the others in the semifinals is The Bishop’s, a 13th seed and the only state Division II club still in play.  The Knights ushered out Los Angeles Brenwood, 74-69.