Taft and Westchester are the teams to beat in the City Section playoffs, but Washington could be the dark horse. Photo by Nick Koza
Taft boys, Narbonne girls, and Long Beach Poly boys and girls teams look like they will be playing for championships
By Jason Lewis
Sports Editor
jasonl@lasentinel.net
The high school basketball regular season is over and now some teams can see a title within their reach.
In the City Section, it’s pretty much been Taft’s year from the get go on the boys side, and the same can be said for Narbonne’s girls team. Both teams have led the City for the entire year, and both teams have No. 1 seeds in the playoffs.
Taft’s main competition will be from perennial power Westchester, who may be the only City school with a legitimate chance at knocking Taft off. But Taft has already defeated Westchester by 11 points at Westchester.
Westchester holds the No. 2 seed, and they open tonight hosting No. 15 Gardena at 7 p.m. Even though Taft has clearly been the best team in the City, Westchester most likely will be right there with an opportunity to defend their City title.
If there is a dark horse in the City, that would be Washington, who is the No. 3 seed. They host Locke tonight and they could be looking at a semifinal match up with Westchester.
No. 4 Crenshaw opens tonight hosting No. 13 Jordan, No. 5 Palisades hosts No. 12 South Gate, No. 6 Dorsey hosts No. 11 Sylmar, and No. 7 Fairfax hosts No. 10 Birmingham.
On the girl’s side, Narbonne looks like they will defend their City championship from last year. The only City school that has played them close is No. 4 Washington, who may match up with them in the semifinals round.
Narbonne won both games, but Washington only lost by eight points in the first match up and seven the second time around.
Narbonne has defeated every other City school by double digits, and most of the wins were by more than 20 points. No. 2 Carson stayed within 15 points of Narbonne in their two matchups, and the two teams could meet in the title game.
No. 3 Fairfax should be able to get to a semifinals match up with Carson and they could have a shot at the title.
Narbonne opens up the playoffs on Friday night when they host No. 16 Los Angeles at 7 p.m. No. 8 Crenshaw hosts No. 9 King Drew, No. 5 Chatsworth hosts No. 12 Gardena, No. 4 Washington hosts No. 13 University, No. 3 Fairfax hosts No. 14 Cleveland, No. 7 Dorsey travels to No. 10 Wilson, and No. 2 Carson hosts No. 15 Westchester.
In the Southern Section the Long Beach Poly boys have the No. 1 seed in Division 1AA.
First round games were played last night and second round games will be played tomorrow night.
Outside of a close loss at the Nike Extravaganza, the Poly boys have destroyed just about every team put in their way. Standing in their way of a title will be No. 2 Mater Dei and No. 3 Corona Centennial.
In Division 3AA, Price holds the No. 1 seed.
One team who will not be playing in the post season is Gardena Serra. They had to forfeit 13 games because a player who had transferred from a school in Maryland was ruled ineligible.
On the girl’s side, the Poly girls have been just as dominant as the boys. They are the No. 2 seed, with No. 1 Brea Olinda.
Poly has only lost two games this season, both to Brea Olinda. The first loss was by seven points and the second by eight. Brea Olinda finished the season undefeated.
A third game between the two teams would be in the championship game.
Check out the Sentinel’s website for updated scores and schedules.
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