Basketball: St. John Bosco, Bishop Amat, Serra reach Regional finals

ThreernCatholic high school basketball teams will play for CIF Southern CaliforniarnRegional Basketball titles March 17.

St.rnJohn Bosco (Boys’ Division I), Bishop Amat (Boys’ Division III) and Serrarn(Girls’ Division I) all won their March 13 semifinal games convincingly,rnalthough Bishop Montgomery was edged by Sierra Canyon in the Boys’ OpenrnDivision semifinal.

Thernchampionship schedule for March 17:

¬∑      Girls’ D-1:rnSerra (23-8) vs. Ribet Academy (28-5), noon at the Pyramid, Long Beach.

¬∑      Boys’ D-I: St.rnJohn Bosco (25-7) vs. Chino Hills (24-11), 2 p.m. at the Pyramid.

¬∑      Boys’ D-III:rnBishop Amat (29-6) vs. Notre Dame/Riverside (32-3), 6 p.m. at Notre Dame.

Winnersrnof the March 17 finals will play for state championships March 23 or 24 inrnSacramento against winners of the Northern California Regionals.

SemifinalrnResults

Girls’rnD-I: Second-seeded Serra of Gardena exploded in the third quarter and beatrnSierra Canyon 72-62 for the right to play Ribet Academy of Los Angeles, whichrndefeated Granada Hills Charter 75-43 to gain the final.

Boys’rnD-I: Top-seeded St. John Bosco beat Rancho Christian 71-54, pulling away in thernfourth quarter. Its finals opponent, sixth-seeded Chino Hills, won the CIF-SSrnDivision 1 title, and reached the regional final by edging Pasadena 77-74.

Boys’rnD-III: Tenth-seeded Bishop Amat beat Murrieta Mesa 60-51 in La Puente. ThernLancers’ battle for the regional title with eighth-seeded Notre Dame ofrnRiverside (32-3) will be a rematch of their CIF-SS D-3A title game on March 2,rnwon by the Titans 51-46 despite a fourth quarter rally by Bishop Amat. ThernTitans downed Knight 59-43 in the regional semis.

Boys’rnOpen: Third-seeded Bishop Montgomery lost 72-70 to second-seeded Sierra Canyon,rnas the Trailblazers came from 17 points behind to win in overtime. It was thernthird meeting of the year between the two teams; the Knights won on Jan. 5, butrnSierra Canyon scored a double-overtime win in the CIF-SS Open Division semis onrnFeb. 24.