Both the Sweetwater Red Devils and Southwest Raiders, who met last Friday to decide this year’s South Bay League title, captured Wednesday’s first-round San Diego Section playoff openers to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Sweetwater (23-6) tipped off post-season play on a rainy evening with a 61-32 first-round victory against 16th-seeded Santana (11-18) in a Division III match-up while Southwest (21-7) topped 16th-seeded Calipatria (11-16) by a 58-40 score in a Division IV contest.
The Red Devils had trouble shaking the Sultans in the first half, leading by just five points after an explosive 17-9 start. Santana made the first bucket to start the second half to narrow the score to 29-26. But the hosts ran away from there to win by 29 points.
“We played around with our trap and didn’t do well with it in the first half,” SuHi head coach Jesse Aguirre explained after the game. “In the second half, we wanted to pound the ball half-court on both sides of the floor.”
With the Devils missing two point guards due to late season injuries, sophomore Craig McMillan took over the position and dominated the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
C.J. Jackson (17 points, 21 rebounds, three blocks) and Jeilen Jackson (12 points, 17 rebounds, four steals) complemented McMillan with equally powerful performances.
Sweetwater led by 20 points by the end of the third quarter and by 30 points with 1:45 left in the game.
Ethan Wolchko led Santana with 10 points.
Next up
Sweetwater will host South Bay League rival San Ysidro, seeded ninth, in Saturday’s quarterfinal round after the Cougars (20-9) posted a 75-57 first-round win at eighth-seeded Tri-City Christian (19-10) on Wednesday.
Freshman sensation D.J. Dudley paced San Ysidro with 24 points and eight rebounds while junior Kailen Rains slammed home 23 points.
Southwest will host eighth-seeded El Capitan (15-13) in Saturday’s quarterfinals after the Vaqueros eliminated ninth-seeded Victory Christian Academy, 74-51, in Wednesday’s opener at Hilltop High School.
San Diego Academy, which received a first-round bye, will host eighth-seeded San Pasqual (10-18) in Saturday’s quarterfinals after the Golden Eagles topped Horizon Prep (16-10) by an 84-37 score.
In other playoff openers:
- Mesa League champion Montgomery, seeded second in the Division I field, topped 15th-seeded Patrick Henry, 66-43, as Kyle Paranada poured in 24 points and Rahin Williams dropped in 16 points. The Aztecs (26-3) host 10th-seeded Helix (17-11) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
- Mesa League runner-up Mater Dei Catholic, seeded sixth among Division I teams, held off 11th-seeded La Jolla, 56-54, behind 21 points from Melo Sanchez. The Crusaders (17-11) play at third-seeded Francis Parker (18-9) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
- Olympian, the fifth-place finisher in the Mesa League standings, eliminated 12th-seeded Point Loma, 72-52, in a Division II clash. The fifth-seeded Eagles (19-9) play at fourth-seeded Bishop’s (19-10) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
- Bonita Vista, seeded 15th in the Division II field, recorded a major 66-52 upset win at second-seeded Westview (21-8). The Barons, the fourth-place finisher in the Mesa League standings, take an 11-17 record into Saturday’s quarterfinal game at seventh-seeded Escondido (19-10).
All quarterfinal games tip off at 7 p.m.
Quarterfinal winners advance to semifinal parings next Tuesday for Division I, Division III, Division IV and Division V teams and Wednesday for Open Division and Division II teams.
- The Division I championship game is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. at UC San Diego (girls teams play at 6 p.m.).
- The Division II championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m. at UC San Diego (girls teams play at 11 a.m.).
- The Division III championship game is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Mira Mesa High School (girls teams at 5:30 p.m.).
- The Division IV championship game is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Serra High School (girls teams play at 5:30 p.m.).
- The Division V championship game is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Montgomery High School (girls teams play at 5:30 p.m.).
- The Open Division championship double-header is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23, at UC San Diego — 5:30 p.m. (girls) and 7:30 p.m. (boys).
Teams ending their seasons in Wednesday’s opening round include 11th-seeded Otay Ranch in Division II (64-53 loss at sixth-seeded Mt. Miguel), 13th-seeded Hilltop in Division IV (75-68 loss at fourth-seeded O’Farrell Charter) and 12th-seeded Mar Vista in Division V (56-50 loss to fifth-seeded Cambridge).
Barons, Crusaders set for Open Division girls basketball playoffs
Bonita Vista’s reward for defeating visiting Mater Dei Catholic, 81-51, to tie the Crusaders for this year’s Mesa League championship? A trip to the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.
Bonita Vista (18-9) received the No. 8 seed and will play at top-seeded Cathedral Catholic (22-6) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Mater Dei Catholic (20-7) received the No. 6 seed and will play at third-seeded Mission Hills (18-10) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Both games tip off at 7 p.m.
Other Open Division entrants include second-seeded La Jolla Country Day (18-9), fourth-seeded Christian (19-8), fifth-seeded Mount Miguel (22-5) and seventh-seeded Bishop’s (17-10).
The Bonita Vista-Cathedral Catholic winner will play the Christian-Mount Miguel winner in next Wednesday’s semifinals while the Mater Dei Catholic-Mission Hills winner will play the LJCD-Bishop’s winner.
Bonita Vista and Mater Dei Catholic both finished 9-1 to share this year’s Mesa League championship banner.
Anneth Grijalba led the Barons with 25 points in last Friday’s league co-championship clinching game while teammate Laryssa Kure poured in 22 points. Julia Kosalan dropped in 17 points while Isabel Rector had 11 points as four BVHS players hit for double figures in the blowout victory.
Bonita Vista led just 15-14 at the end of the opening quarter before catching fire in the middle two quarters by out-scoring the Crusaders 45-21. The Barons denied the visitors any comeback bid by out-scoring them 21-16 in the final quarter.
Chloe Webb led Mater Dei Catholic with 20 points while teammate Kayanna Spriggs had 11 points.
Bonita Vista piled up the points by sinking 14 three-point shots, including four each by Kosalan and Kure. Grijalba and Rector each sank three treys.
The Crusaders out-rebounded the Barons 50-23 in absorbing the loss. Grijalba led all players in the game with 16 rebounds while Webb and Spriggs each collected 14 boards.
Olympian followed the league co-leaders with a 5-5 league record while Montgomery and Otay Ranch both finished with 3-7 league records. Eastlake finished 1-9 in league play.
ADD PLAYOFFS: South Bay League co-champions Hilltop and Chula Vista both won opening-round playoff games on Tuesday to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals. Fifth-seeded Chula Vista defeated 12th-seeded Maranatha Christian, 60-27, while seventh-seeded Hilltop eliminated 10th-seeded Santana 53-33.
Chula Vista (21-8) will play at fourth-seeded Holtville (22-5) while Hilltop (21-8) will play at second-seeded San Dieguito Academy (20-6).
Hilltop defeated host Chula Vista, 33-16, last Friday to draw even in the South Bay League standings, with each team finishing with 11-1 league records.
The Spartans, who topped the Lancers, 54-36, in the team’s first-round match-up Jan. 16 at Hilltop, scored just seven points in the first half in absorbing the setback. Frida Caballero led Chula Vista with eight points in last Friday’s game — well under her season average of 15.0 points per game.
Castle Park and Mar Vista finished next up in the league standings with 7-5 records, followed by Sweetwater at 3-9, San Ysidro at 2-10 and Southwest at 1-11.
Twelfth-seeded Castle Park (10-16) remained alive in Division IV post-season play with a 47-40 first-round upset win at fifth-seeded Pacific Ridge (16-11) on Tuesday.
The Trojans will play at fourth-seeded Escondido Charter (18-9) in Friday’s quarterfinals. Tip off is 7 p.m.
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
Sweetwater 61, Santana 32
