This post was originally published on this site
Tustin Coach Ringo Bossenmeyer leads the Tillers into the CIF playoffs Wednesday night. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
It’s the night that Orange County high school basketball fans have been looking forward to: the start of the CIF playoffs for all divisions on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
Some great match-ups are on the schedule for round one. Toughest decision for OC fans is picking one game to attend out of a many options,.
Pre-game notes:
TUSTIN ON A ROLL
Tustin’s basketball team, which rolled through the Empire League season undefeated, is No. 2 seeded in the 3AA division.
The Tillers have a solid starting five, good bench depth and a steady, veteran coach Ringo Bossenmeyer leading the way.
“We’re looking forward to the third season,” Bossenmeyer said. “Ethan Contreras and Yuri Klines and have been tremendous leaders throughout this entire league run. We hit our rough spot in the pre-season and the leadership that Ethan and Yuri have shown has guided us in this league season.”
Tustin hosts Liberty (18-8) Wednesday night.
CVC LOOKS TOUGH
Capo Valley Christian, which has a 24-4 record and was a league champion, is seeded third in the 3AA division. Michael Ahern and Matthew Ahern lead the Eagles, who face a tough Kennedy team (24-4) in the opener at home.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS BATTLE
Under the old CIF playoffs system, league champions typically drew second or third place games in openers. That’s not the case under the new computer-based system with league champions matched up against each other.
Among the examples are match-ups between South Coast League champion San Clemente and Crestview League champion Crean Lutheran in Division 1. Both teams are playing well going into the playoffs.
San Clemente is led by Christian Fernandez and Porter Hansen, two talented seniors. Both Fernandez and Hansen reached the 1,000-point career mark this year. Crean Lutheran standouts include Jacob Majok, Hunter Caplan, Jordan Ceballos and Amari Reynolds. The stands figure to be packed at Crean Lutheran.
Sunset League champion Los Alamitos (20-8) hosts Southwestern League champion Vista Del Lago (21-6). in Division 1. Los Alamitos has four players who reached the 1,000-point career mark: Trent Minter, Liam Gray, Samori Guyness and Wes Trevino, so the Griffins look like a team to watch in the playoffs.
Also Wednesday, Pacific Coast League champion Irvine, riding a 19-game winning streak, hosts Camino Real League champion Bishop Amat in the 2A division. Irvine is 26-2 while Bishop Amat is 23-5.
DEFENSE KEY FOR WOODBRIDGE
Woodbridge High School junior guard Jaiden Sabino was thrilled when the Warriors clinched a CIF playoff berth last week. Woodbridge opens the CIF 3A playoffs hosting Redlands Valley East.
“Hopefully we can make a big run, I think our team has the potential to, we just have to play a certain way, defense is going to be the key if we want to go far in that tournament,” Sabino said.
SADDLEBACK SEEDED FOURTH
Saddleback High School’s boys basketball team, coached by Christopher Emaguna, is back in the playoffs for the first time in more than 10 years, according to Athletic Director Rob Thompson.
The Roadrunners (13-15) are seeded No. 4 in Division 5A and host Legacy Prep Wednesday night. Saddleback finished second in the Orange League.
“We’re excited to have our boys back in the playoffs,” Thompson said. “It’s a testament to the work both our team and coaches have been putting in each day. When you put your nose to the grindstone, get better and don’t make excuses, good things will eventually happen.”
COOPER STEARNS IMPACT
Irvine had a number of talented players in its run to the Pacific Coast League title but Cooper Stearns is the one who led the way for the Vaqueros this season, reaching the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound career mark. Irvine won its first league title since 1991 and Stearns was the main reason, not only with his outstanding play but leadership.
Stearns and his teammates are hoping for a long run in the playoffs. First opponent is another league champion, Bishop Amat in the 2A division at Irvine. In the biggest game of his career last week, Stearns had 28 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory over Northwood in the PCL championship game.
“It has never been about individual accomplishments for him, but he deserves credit for helping the team goal of earning the second league title to Irvine boys basketball in school history,” said Irvine Coach Harry Meussner on X.
To his credit last week, Stearns praised the effort of all of his teammates and said “my team won the league championship, we won it together.”
Stearns will be competing in golf next year at Stanford University.
ORANGE PLAYERS EXCITED
Orange High School’s boys basketball team is in the CIF playoffs for the first time since the COVID-shortened season in 2021.
“We are really excited for this opportunity, and we feel we are playing our best basketball at the right time,” said Panther Coach Jake Rhodes. “We’re a young group, so this experience will be extremely valuable to us. This is the fourth time Orange made the playoffs in the last 20 years.”
Leading scorers for Orange are junior Vic Ceja, who is averaging 8.9 points; senior Mark Hernandez, who is averaging 8.1 points; and junior Sebastian Nunez, who is averaging 7.7.
Orange (4-24) hosts Duarte (13-15) Wednesday night in Division 5A.
DIVISION 2AA LOADED
The Division 2AA bracket is full of talented OC teams, including Newport Harbor, Pacifica Christian, San Juan Hills, Capistrano Valley, Tesoro and Fairmont Prep.
DIVISION 3AA TOUGH TOO
Besides Tustin and Capo Valley Christian, other top teams in Division 3AA include Sunny Hills, Kennedy, Beckman, El Toro, Sage Hill and Northwood.
OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH
In other divisions, Santa Margarita is seeded fourth in the open division, Mater Dei is seeded third in Division 1, Pacifica is second and Valencia third in Division 4AA, Garden Grove is top seeded in Division 4A, Grove League champion Anaheim is fourth in 5AA and Western is seeded first in 5A.
CYPRESS LEFT OUT
One of the best teams we saw this season was Cypress, which wound up 4-4 in the Crestview League, the second toughest league in Orange County. The Centurions, led by Coach Derek Mitchell, were well coached and featured two fantastic players Ryan Gov and King Birdsong. Cypress finished 18-11 against a very tough schedule but was not included in the Division 1 bracket. Two of the league losses were in overtime.
Steve Fryer of OC Varsity explained that three other teams had higher computer ratings and were selected for at-large berths in the division, noting the other spots went to automatic league qualifiers.
It’s a tough job to formulate the brackets but hopefully in the future, a team as talented as Cypress can be included in one of the divisions.
Check back Wednesday night for stories, photos and scores from the CIF playoffs.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com