Bishop Montgomery was the only Catholic school to win its first round game Feb. 9 in the Open Division portion of the CIF-Southern Section girls’ basketball playoffs,
Several other Catholic schools, however, posted second round upset victories in their respective divisions Feb. 9 to advance to the quarterfinals on Feb. 13. The surprises were recorded by Santa Margarita (Division 2A), St. Genevieve (4A) and Mary Star of the Sea (5AA), all of whom defeated higher-ranked opponents.
Less surprisingly, top seeds Serra/Gardena (D-1) and St. Bonaventure (3A) and No. 2 seed St. Marys’ (2A) easily reached the quarterfinals, as eight Catholic school teams were victorious in Divisions 1 to 5A.
In the round-robin Open Division portion of the tournament, Bishop Montgomery defeated Redondo Union 68-61 in Pool A play, while Pool B Windward beat Mater Dei 53-49, and Etiwanda downed Rosary Academy 51-39. The “pool” format continues Feb. 13 with Bishop Montgomery against Troy, Mater Dei against Etiwanda, and Rosary against Windward.
In the other divisions, second round results included:
- Division 1: Serra/Gardena, No. 1 in the final regular season CIF-SS poll, clobbered Aliso Niguel 70-46; No. 5 Chaminade beat J.Serra 67-49; and No. 2 M.L. King beat No. 15 Alemany 70-37. In the quarterfinals, Serra is at No. 10 Mark Keppel and Chaminade is at Valley View, with the winners meeting in the semifinals.
- D-2A: No. 2 St. Mary’s Academy whipped Tustin 75-55, and No. 11 Santa Margarita shocked No. 6 Marlborough 47-40. In the quarterfinals, St. Mary’s is at No. 7 Oxford Academy, and Santa Margarita hosts Palos Verdes.
- D-3A: No. 1 St. Bonaventure stopped Gabrielino 74-56, and hosts No. 9 Laguna Hills in the quarterfinals.
- D-4AA: No. 9 Ramona beat No. 8 Providence/Burbank 37-30.
- D-4A: No. 15 St. Genevieve stunned No. 3 Moreno Valley 41-38, and next plays at No. 11 Anaheim.
- D-5AA: No. 16 Mary Star surprised No. 4 Rancho Christian 61-58, earning a QF match at No. 5 Mesa Grande.
- D-5A: No. 6 Bishop Conaty-Loretto walloped No. 13 Valley Christian/Santa Monica 66-19; No. 3 Cobalt edged No. 9 Villanova Prep 55-53; No. 4 Western Christian beat La Reina 72-60. Bishop Conaty-Loretto is at Cobalt in the quarterfinals.
Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).
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