San Diego Section basketball teams paused their regular season schedules in deference to Monday’s Martin Luther King holiday. Selected games did take place but with special meaning.
Games were scheduled from the morning hours to the evening hours during the federal holiday.
The event comes one month before the San Diego Section playoffs tip off.
Where do East County teams stand in terms of finding success in the postseason?
Starting off, the top eight teams in the Division I rankings advance to the Open Division playoffs, leaving the remaining 16 teams in the 24-team division to play for the Division I championship.
As of Monday, the eight Open Division quarterfinalists included No. 1 Santa Fe Christian (18-2), No. 2 Victory Christian Academy (16-4), No. 3 La Costa Canyon (16-5), No. 4 Mission Bay (13-7), No. 5 San Marcos (13-5), No. 6. Francis Parker (10-9), No. 7 Mira Mesa (15-5) and No. 8 Olympian (16-4).
The top four teams following in the rankings include No. 9 Cathedral Catholic (13-7), No. 10 Madison (14-5), No. 11. Torrey Pines (9-10) and No. 12 St. Augustine (9-10). Other squads looking to move up to fill the elite playoff bracket include No. 13 Bonita Vista (13-6), No. 14. Carlsbad (8-12), No. 15 Montgomery (14-5), No. 16. Christian (12-8), No. 17 Mission Hills (13-7), 18 La Jolla Country Day (9-10), 19. Rancho Buena Vista (11-10), No. 20 San Diego (10-12), No. 21 Sage Creek (8-12), No. 22 Del Norte (9-10), No. 23 University City (6-14) and No. 24 El Camino (7-12).
Christian would occupy the No. 8 seed in the revised 16-team Division I playoff bracket.
Montgomery defeated Carlsbad, 53-45, to win last year’s Open Division title while St. Augustine topped Victory Christian Academy, 59-42, for the Division I banner.
The Division II, Division III and Division IV playoff fields also include 16 teams each while the Division V and Division V-AA divisions feature 12 teams.
Liberty Charter (10-4) is ranked at the top of the Division V-AA grouping while West Hills (14-6) is ranked third among Division IV teams, followed by No. 5 Valhalla (14-5) and No. 8 Santana (11-8).
Helix (11-10) is ranked seventh among Division II teams, followed by No. 9 Steele Canyon (12-8). Grossmont (8-8) is ranked fourth in the Division IV tier while El Cajon Valley (9-7) is ranked seventh.
Other teams currently above the playoff cut in their respective divisions include No. 14 Monte Vista (12-9) and No. 15 Mt. Miguel (11-10) in Division II and No. 14 El Capitan (5-14) in Division IV.
Olympian defeated Mira Mesa, 54-46, in last year’s Division II final while Maranatha Christian edged Southwest San Diego, 47-44, for the Division III title. Tri-City Christian defeated Del Lago Academy, 53-49, to win the Division IV title while Pacific Ridge defeated Chula Vista, 46-38, in the Division V final.
The Cambridge School defeated Southern California Yeshiva, 50-36, to capture the Division V-AA championship.
League champions automatically qualify for the section playoffs. Grossmont Hills League play tipped off Jan. 13-14.
Steele Canyon is the early leader with a 2-0 record following victories over Granite Hills (81-64 on Jan. 13) and Monte Vista (74-57 on Jan. 16).
Helix is 1-0 following a 61-45 win at Mt. Miguel on Jan. 14 while the Matadors are 1-1 after slipping past host Granite Hills, 59-56, on Jan. 16.
Steele Canyon broke an early 11-all standoff with the host Eagles to lead 25-13 and later expand that to 56-35.
The Cougars trailed Monte Vista 15-13 at the end of the opening quarter before moving ahead 20-15 on a three-point shot by senior Tyler Starr. However, a bucket by sophomore Garrett Tully narrowed the score to 24-21 and sophomore Jaren Wright put the Monarchs ahead, 26-24, with a three-point field goal and deuce.
Junior Chris Alexander gave Steele Canyon a 28-26 lead with a three-point bomb. The Cougars led 30-28 at halftime.
Buckets by juniors Alex Andrews and Chayse Miles expanded the Steele lead to 34-28 and additional scores by Miles, Andrews and senior Jacob Allen extended the Cougars lead to 40-30. Alexander hit a three-point to up the lead to 43-30. The Cougars led 50-35 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, runs of six and eight points increased the margin to 71-50.
West Hills and Santana have grabbed the early lead in the Grossmont Valley League standings with 2-0 records. West Hills defeated El Capitan (75-39 on Jan. 13) and Grossmont (46-38 on Jan. 16) while Santana nudged El Cajon Valley (53-37 on Jan. 13) and El Capitan (61-60 in overtime on Jan. 16).
Senior Ethen Shaw led the Wolf Pack with 20 points in the win over the Vaqueros while senior Cameron Toups dropped in 15 points and sophomore Malekai Dillon had 14 points.
Freshman Kash Curo poured in 20 points in the setback for El Capitan.
Dillon had 13 points and Toups added 10 points in besting Grossmont.
Sophomore Will Wolchko pumped in 22 points in the win over ECV while sophomore Jack Lord tacked on 11 points.
The teams combined for 25 points in a furious overtime period with Santana out-scoring El Capitan 13-12 for the one-point victory. Wolchko led the Sultans with 17 points while junior Ethan Miller was next up with 16 points.
El Cap sophomore Trystan Billinger dropped in 15 points while junior Trevin Curo had 13 points and aenior Ethan Adams had 11 points.
Grossmont and Valhalla are both1-1.
Grossmont edged Valhalla 69-40 on Jan. 13 while Valhalla rebounded with a 71-38 victory against El Cajon Valley on Jan. 16.
Top performers
•El Cajon Valley scoring leaders include seniors Shay Hopson (24.1 ppg) and Amir Eation (22.6 ppg).
•Valhalla scoring leaders include senior Cole Davis (19.3 ppg) and sophomore Andrew Mikhail (16.3 ppg).
•Mt. Miguel scoring leaders include Jerome Radcliff (16.1 ppg) and sophomore Brooklyn James (11.1 ppg),
•West Hills scoring leaders include Dillon (15.5 ppg) and Shaw (9.4 ppg).
•Helix scoring leaders include sophomore Trey Cavazos (14.7 ppg) and junior Donovan Bryant (14.0 ppg).
•Santana scoring leaders include Wolchko (13.8 ppg) and junior Cruz Guidry (8.6 ppg).
•El Capitan scoring leaders include Trevin Curo (12.1 ppg) and Billinger (8.7 ppg),
•Grossmont scoring leaders include junior Andrew Ashton (13.0 ppg) and sophomore Jackson Baird (9.0 ppg).
Curo is averaging 11.0 rebounds per game while Davis and Wolchko are both averaging 8.1 boards.
Of note, Foothills Christian freshman Joel Richards-Jones is averaging 26.8 ppg.
