Granite Hills, Grossmont earn high seeds in section lacrosse playoffs

Photo by Phillip Brents Freshmen Sophia Lindall (21) guards the Granite Hills defensive end during the team’s home opener against Patrick Henry.

The San Diego Section has released playoff brackets for boys and girls lacrosse and also for boys volleyball as part of the ongoing Season 2 postseason competition.

Grossmont Conference champion Granite Hills (16-1) received the No. 2 seed in the Division I girls lacrosse bracket while Grossmont Conference champion Grossmont (14-2) received the No. 5 seed in the Open Division boys lacrosse bracket to highlight the local field.

Both Granite Hills and Grossmont finished undefeated in league play this season.

Ladies first

Granite Hills (10-0 in league) compiled an impressive 275-66 goal-differential. The Eagles’ lone loss this season was 11-8 in a non-league game at Torrey Pines on May 6.

Torrey Pines is seeded third in this year’s Open Division bracket.

“I’m really proud of the girls’ hard work to get the No. 2 seed,” Granite Hills coach Jose Carlos Soto said. “Our goal is to always compete at the highest division of play, take one game at a time, control what we can control and react to what we cannot control. The expectation is always a championship or bust because when it’s all said it done, there is one champion and then there is everyone else.”

The Eagle ladies, who closed out regular season play with an 18-7 win against visiting Helix on May 19, will host seventh-seeded Mission Hills (5-10) in Friday’s quarterfinals after the Grizzlies defeated 10th-seeded Helix, 12-7, in Tuesday’s opening round.

The Highlanders finished the season 8-7.

Quarterfinal-round winners in the Division I lower bracket advance to the semifinals on June 2.

Just three East County teams gained entry into this year’s section girls playoffs.

Besides Granite Hills and Helix being seeded in the Division I bracket, Valhalla (12-5) received the No. 13 seed in the Division II bracket and a first-round date at fourth-seeded Mt. Carmel in Wednesday’s opening round.

The Valhalla-Mt. Carmel winner advances Saturday’s quarterfinals against either fifth-seeded Sage Creek (11-2) or 13th-seeded Fallbrook (5-7).

The Division II semifinals are also scheduled June 2.

Championship games are scheduled June 5 at San Dieguito Academy, starting with the Division II final at noon, the Division I final at 2:30 p.m. and the Open Division final at 5 p.m.

Scripps Ranch (14-0) received the No. 1 seed in the Open Division while San Marcos (10-4) received the No. 1 seed in Division I. La Jolla Country Day (10-0) received the top seed in Division II.

Boys lacrosse

Grossmont (11-0 in league) will start the playoffs at fourth-seeded San Marcos (10-4) on Saturday, May 29. The winner advances to the division semifinals on June 2 against the quarterfinal-round winner between top-seeded Torrey Pines (10-2) and eighth-seeded La Jolla (7-5).

Semifinal winners advance to the championship game.

The Open Division bottom bracket pairs second-seeded Cathedral Catholic (12-1) against seventh-seeded Poway (7-5) and third-seeded La Costa Canyon (11-2) against sixth-seeded Santa Fe Christian (10-4).

Grossmont dropped an 8-3 non-league decision at San Marcos in the second game of the season back on April 3. The Foothillers will be eager to show their improvement since then.

Grossmont defeated host Granite Hills, 16-3, to close out regular season play on May 20. Prior to that, the Foothillers defeated host Valhalla, 18-0, on May 4, visiting Monte Vista, 17-2, on May 13 and visiting El Capitan, 24-1, on May 18.

Grossmont’s largest margin of victory was 23-0 at Helix Charter on April 13.

Six teams overall from East County made the postseason cut, including five from the Grossmont Conference.

Besides Grossmont being seeded in the Open Division, Granite Hills (11-4) received the No. 8 seed in the Division I boys lacrosse bracket. Four other East County teams were seeded in the Division II bracket: No. 6 Santana (14-5), No. 8 Foothills Christian (12-1), No. 10 Valhalla (6-8) and No. 12 El Capitan (5-9).

Granite Hills finished 9-2 in conference play while Santana was 7-4 in league competition.

First-round contests in Division I were scheduled on Tuesday, followed by quarterfinals on Friday.

Granite Hills was scheduled to host ninth-seeded Del Norte, with the winner advancing to meet top-seeded Bishop’s (8-4) on Friday.

Division II opening-round games were scheduled on Wednesday. Santana was set to host 11th-seeded Francis Parker (4-10), with the winner advancing to meet the winner between third-seeded El Camino (8-4) and 14th-seeded San Diego (13-6) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Fifth-seeded San Dieguito Academy (11-4) was set to host El Capitan in Wednesday’s opener, with the winner advancing to meet either fourth-seeded Eastlake (11-5) or 13th-seeded Mission Hills (4-8).

Foothills Christian was slated to host ninth-seeded Bonita Vista (10-4), with the winner advancing to a date against top-seeded Mt. Carmel (14-1) or 16th-seeded Point Loma (7-6) in the quarterfinals.

Valhalla was scheduled to play at seventh-seeded Pacific Ridge (5-7), with the winner advancing to meet the first-round winner between second-seeded Patrick Henry (10-3) and 15th-seeded Del Lago Academy (4-6).

The Division I semifinals are scheduled for June 1 while Division II semifinals are scheduled for June 2.

Higher-seeded teams will retain home field advantage through the semifinals.

Championship games are scheduled June 5 at Westview High School, starting with the Division II final at 2:30 p.m., the Division I final at 5 p.m. and the Open Division final at 7:30 p.m.

Boys volleyball

Seven East County teams received invitations to this year’s boys volleyball postseason tournament.

Fourth-seeded Helix (13-0) and ninth-seeded Santana (16-7) were seeded in the Division II bracket while Valhalla (5-8) defeated Fallbrook (5-16) in Monday’s play-in round to earn the No. 12 seed.

Helix finished regular season play as the Grossmont Hills League champion with an unblemished 10-0 league record while Santana was the runner-up at 7-3 in league play.

Helix will host a quarterfinal-round game on Saturday while Santana was scheduled to open the playoffs on Wednesday at eighth-seeded Coronado (10-9).

Valhalla advanced to meet fifth-seeded Bishop’s (10-5) in Wednesday’s opening round.

Summit League champion Liberty Charter (12-0) received the third seed among Division III schools and a quarterfinal-round home game on Friday.

El Cajon Valley (11-3) received the No. 2 seed in the Division IV bracket while El Capitan (11-5) received the No. 3 seed. Both the Braves (Grossmont Valley League champion) and Vaqueros (Grossmont Valley League runner-up) are scheduled to host quarterfinal games on Saturday.

Monte Vista (0-11 in conference play) ended its season with a 3-0 loss to Mater Dei Catholic (3-9) in Monday’s play-in round.

Semifinal matches are scheduled June 1 (Division I and Division III) and June 2 (Division II and Division IV).

Championship games are scheduled June 4 at West Hills High School for Division I and Division III and June 5 at West Hills High School for Division II and Division IV.

The Open Division will feature double-elimination brackets, with the championship game concluding June 5 at West Hills High School.

For updates, visit the website at www.cifsds.org.