Girls’ basketball: Five Catholic teams advance to semis

Five Catholic school teams gained semifinal berths in the CIF-Southern Section girls’ basketball semifinals Feb. 15 after quarterfinal wins on Feb. 13.

Chaminade, Santa Margarita, St. Bonaventure, Mary Star (on an upset roll) and Bishop Conaty-Loretto all advanced to the semifinals, while Bishop Montgomery is on the verge of playing in the Open Division’s championship round after beating Troy 67-53.

The eighth-seeded Knights are 2-0 in the A Bracket of the round-robin Open Division tournament, and will play No. 1 Sierra Canyon (also 2-0) on Feb. 16 to determine the A Bracket finalist.

The B Bracket is still up for grabs, after Mater Dei (1-1) beat Etiwanda (1-1) 65-60, and Windward (2-0) beat Rosary (0-2) 65-62. Mater Dei plays Rosary, and with a win could advance to the final depending on the Etiwanda-Windward outcome.

In the other divisions:

• D-1: No. 5 Chaminade beat Valley View 73-59 and in the semifinals hosts No. 10 Mark Keppel which upset No. 1 Serra/Gardena 44-40.
• D-2A: No. 11 Santa Margarita hosts Palos Verdes 52-45, but No. 2 St. Mary’s Academy was edged by No. 7 Oxford Academy 53-51. Santa Margarita hosts Oxford in the semis.
• D-3A: No. 1 St. Bonaventure beat No. 9 Laguna Hills 50-39 in the quarterfinals, and will play its semifinal at No. 4 Mayfair.
• D-4A: No. 15 St. Genevieve lost to No. 11 Anaheim 46-42.
• D-5AA: No. 16 Mary Star beat No. 5 Mesa Grande 47-37 and in the semis hosts No. 1 Linfield Christian.
• D-5A: No. 6 Bishop Conaty-Loretto downed Cobalt 48-39 and hosts Saddleback in the semis.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News). 

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