South County girls basketball teams received their due share of respect at last Saturday’s San Diego Section playoff pairings meeting, and then some.
The top three seeded teams in this year’s San Diego Section Division I girls basketball playoffs all hail from the Mesa League in a definite show of strength for the South County-based Metro Conference.
Bonita Vista, the 2018 Mesa League champion, received the No. 1 seed while Eastlake received the No. 2 seed in the division. Mater Dei Catholic received the No. 3 seed.
The Lady Barons finished regular season play 24-6 overall after winning this year’s league championship with an 11-1 record.
Eastlake and Mater Dei Catholic tied for second place in league play with 9-3 records.
All three teams won their playoff openers on Wednesday. At some point during the playoffs, they could meet again.
Bonita Vista and Eastlake (20-6) split their regular season matchups, meaning there is a carrot dangling in front of both teams to advance to the championship round and play the rubber match.
Mater Dei Catholic (17-12) could face Eastlake in a third game this season should both teams advance to the semifinals. The Lady Crusaders won two league victories against the Lady Titans so far.
Round No. 3 will be interesting for all parties concerned.
BVHS coach Tristan Lamb called receiving the No. 1 seeding position a “great accomplishment” for his team.
“Our girls worked hard during the offseason and worked hard throughout the season to earn this spot,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to the upcoming playoffs with the top three Division I teams coming from the South Bay,” Eastlake coach David Koopman said.
“We finished the league season strong but are going to have to step up the intensity and have less mental lapses to advance in the playoffs.”
Top contributions remain Haylee Owen and Auren Isaccson. Owens averaged 19.0 points per game during the regular season while Isaacson averaged 13.8 points per game.
“They were our star players but other players had to step up for us to be successful this year and they did,” Koopman noted.
Kalah Bateman (8.9 ppg) and Avia Bateman (8.8 ppg) finished regular season play as the Lady Titans’ third and fourth leading scorers, respectively.
In first-round Division I games on Wednesday (Feb. 21):
Top-seeded Bonita Vista dominated 16th-seeded Calexico (15-12) in posting am 87-20 victory.
Second-seeded Eastlake topped 15th-seeded Mt. Carmel (8-15) by a score of 63-36.
Third-seeded Mater Dei Catholic easily defeated host 14th-seedeWest Hills (12-14) by a final 59-24 score.
Quarterfinals are Saturday, Feb. 24.
Bonita Vista had four players score in double figures in the opening-round playoff win. Shyla LaTone led the group with 24 points, followed by Madison Pacini with 14 points, Julia Cosalan with 13 points and Keyanna McCoy with 10 points.
The Lady Barons led 26-5 after the first quarter and 50-12 at halftime.
Owen led Eastlake with 28 points in Wednesday’s playoff win over the Lady Sundveils. Isaacson contributed 16 points while Bateman had 12 points.
Fountain of Youth
There is something that can be said for youth. Mater Dei Catholic High coach David Monroe, whose Lady Crusaders are fielding a team in 2017-18 without any senior players on the roster, can certainly relate to that.
Not everything has gone to plan but the team, which finished in a tie for second place in this year’s Mesa League standings, seems to be peaking at the right time of the season. The Lady Crusaders bounded out to a 14-0 start in Wednesday’s first-round playoff game against visiting West Hills. The early lead led to a dominating 59-24 victory.
Third-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (17-12) will host 11th-seeded Mira Mesa (18-11) in a quarterfinal-round game on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Hailey Dominguez paced Mater Dei Catholic with 14 points in Wednesday’s playoff win while Marissa Sanchez scored 12 points. Chloe Webb and Talejah Baxter each added 10 points in the victory.
Webb leads the Lady Crusaders this season with a 19.7 scoring average while Sanchez ranks second on the team with a 13.3 scoring average. Webb is also averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.
Division II notepad
While Montgomery’s boys team is seeded No. 1 in Division II, the Lady Aztecs are seeded third in the girls division.
The Lady Aztecs (16-10) opened the playoffs on Wednesday by besting 14th-seeded San Diego (8-15) by a score of 53-19.
Kaleeese Petties led Montgomery in the regular season with a 13.4 scoring average while Kaylynn Cooper pulled down an average of 11.4 rebounds per game.
Olympian, which finished fourth in the Mesa League girls standings, earned the No. 2 seed in the division. The Lady Eagles (15-12) got a head start on the field by defeating 15th-seeded Grossmont, 68-39, on Tuesday.
Cynthia Green led Olympian with 20 points.
Olympian then topped 10th-seeded Our Lady of Peace, 55-38, on Thursday to become the first South County team to advance to the semifinal round.
The Lady Eagles will host either University City or Montgomery in the Feb. 27 semifinal matchup. Game time is 7 p.m.
South Bay League runner-up Mar Vista (19-6) received the No. 3 seed in the Division IV playoff field while Otay Ranch (14-14) received the No. 4 seed in the girls Division III field.
Both teams won their playoff openers.
Girls basketball scoreboard
Tuesday, Feb. 20
Division II
(2) Olympian 68, (15) Grossmont 39
Wednesday, Feb. 21
Division I
(1) Bonita Vista 87, (16) Calexico 20
(3) Mater Dei Catholic 59, (14) West Hills 24
(2) Eastlake 63, (15) Mt. Carmel 36
Division II
(3) Montgomery 53, (14) San Diego 19
Division III
(1) Escondido Adventist Academy 52, (16) Hilltop 40
(4) Otay Ranch 49, (13) La Jolla 30
(6) El Capitan 46, (11) Chula Vista 37
Division IV
(3) Mar Vista 53, (14) Mission Bay 33
(11) Valhalla 44, (6) Calvary Christian Academy 36
(7) Castle Park 38, (10) High Tech High San Diego 30
Division V
(5) Mountain Empire 32, (12) Bayfront Charter 30
Thursday, Feb. 22
Division II
(2) Olympian 55, (10) Our Lady of Peace 38
Girls basketball schedule
Saturday, Feb. 24
Division I
(9) Rancho Bernardo (21-7) at (1) Bonita Vista (24-6), 7 p.m.
(11) Mira Mesa (18-11) at (3) Mater Dei Catholic (17-12), 7 p.m.
(7) Poway (17-10) at (2) Eastlake (20-6), 7 p.m.
Division II
(11) University City (18-11) at (3) Montgomery (16-10), 7 p.m.
Division III
(12) Steele Canyon (16-8) at (4) Otay Ranch (15-14), 7 p.m.
Division IV
(11) Valhalla (5-16) at (3) Mar Vista (20-6), 7 p.m.
(7) Castle Park (14-11) at (2) St. Joseph Academy (19-4), 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 27
Division II
Montgomery-University City winner at (2) Olympian (15-12), 7 p.m.
For complete playoff brackets, visit the website at www.cifsds.org.
