Prep Review : All but Three San Diego Section Playoff Berths Have Been Clinched

SAN DIEGO â€”  As the boys prep basketball season winds down to the final week of the regular season, only three of the 16 San Diego Section playoff berths have yet to be determined.

The Palomar League has the most wide open race with four teams competing for two spots. Only Patrick Henry, Sweetwater and Chula Vista have clinched league titles outright.

Here are the league-by-league playoff breakdowns:

Avocado League (2-A)--No. 8 El Camino (10-1, 20-2) and No. 10 Oceanside have clinched the two playoff spots. Oceanside has an outside chance to tie the Wildcats for the league title. In its final regular season game, El Camino hosts San Pasqual (5-5, 13-10) on Tuesday. Oceanside, the defending San Diego 2-A champion, is off Tuesday and plays at Ramona (5-5, 11-9) on Thursday.

City Central League (2-A)--No. 7 Hoover (7-2, 19-4) and Crawford (7-2, 11-9) have clinched the two playoffs spots. The only thing left to determine is the league champion. Hoover appeared to have the title wrapped up, but the Cardinals lost to Lincoln in overtime two weeks ago, 62-55, and was beaten by Crawford, 79-71, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Crawford hosts Christian (4-5, 13-8) and Hoover plays at Saint Augustine (4-5, 9-12). Should the teams tie, the title will be decided by a league vote.

City Eastern League (3-A)--No. 2 Patrick Henry (9-0, 22-0), the only unbeaten team in San Diego, clinched the league title with a 63-60 double overtime win against Morse (7-2, 13-5) on Tuesday. Morse, No. 5 in San Diego, has clinched the second playoff spot. The Tigers’ two league losses were to Patrick Henry.

City Western League (2-A)--Mission Bay (8-1, 16-5) and Kearny (8-1, 17-6) have clinched the two playoff berths. The league title will be determined when Kearny plays host to Mission Bay on Wednesday.

Grossmont League (3-A)--No. 4 Monte Vista (14-0, 20-1) and No. 6 El Capitan (13-1, 17-4) have clinched the two playoff spots and the league title will be decided when Monte Vista plays host to El Capitan on Friday. If Monte Vista wins, it will win the title outright. If El Capitan wins, it will create a first place tie and the title will be decided by a league vote. The teams must win league games on Tuesday, however, to set up a Friday showdown. El Capitan plays at El Cajon (6-8, 9-11) on Tuesday and Grossmont (2-12, 4-16) hosts Monte Vista.

Metro Mesa League (3-A)--No. 3 Sweetwater (11-0, 22-2), winners of 50 consecutive Metro Conference games, have clinched the league title. Bonita Vista (8-3, 12-8) can clinch second place with a win against Sweetwater on Tuesday or Montgomery (6-5, 10-8) on Friday. Montgomery is in third place, two games behind the Barons.

If Montgomery beats host Marian (2-9, 4-15) on Tuesday and Bonita Vista on Friday, combined with a Bonita Vista loss to Sweetwater, Montgomery and Bonita Vista will tie for second place. The second playoff berth will be decided by a league vote.

Metro South Bay League (2-A)--No. 9 Chula Vista (10-1, 16-6) has clinched the league title. Hilltop (6-5, 7-16) and Southwest (5-6, 6-15) will decide the final playoff spot this week. Hilltop has a scheduling advantage as its opponents have a combined record of 6-31. Hilltop plays at Coronado (1-10, 3-15) on Tuesday and plays host to Mar Vista (1-10, 3-16). Southwest hosts Chula Vista on Tuesday and plays at Marian on Friday.

Palomar League (3-A)--Despite losing its first game of the season (to Torrey Pines, 53-52) on Friday, top-rated Poway (9-1, 19-1) has clinched a playoff spot and can clinch the league title if it wins one of its last two games. Poway hosts Orange Glen (3-7, 6-11) on Tuesday and plays at Mount Carmel (6-4, 10-12) on Thursday.

Torrey Pines (7-4, 11-11), Vista (6-4, 11-10) and Mount Carmel are in the race for the second playoff berth. Torrey Pines, which has just one game remaining, plays at Orange Glen on Thursday. Vista plays at San Dieguito (2-9, 5-15) on Tuesday and plays host to Fallbrook (3-7, 3-15) on Thursday. Mount Carmel hosts Fallbrook on Tuesday and Poway on Thursday. It is possible the teams could end in a three-way tie for second place. Any tie for the second playoff spot would be decided by a league vote.

Add league titles: Despite having one week of league play remaining, all eight of the county’s girls basketball league titles were determined last week.

Top-rated Point Loma (9-0, 21-0) clinched the City Eastern League weeks ago. Santana (14-0, 20-0), the 3-A defending champion, has clinched the Grossmont League. Lincoln (7-0, 8-5) beat Crawford (5-2, 14-6), 49-42, on Friday to clinch the City Central League and Hilltop (9-2, 16-4) beat Southwest (7-4, 10-6), 75-49, on Tuesday to clinch the Metro South Bay League.

Other title winners include: El Camino (9-0, 21-1) in the Avocado League, University (9-0, 18-3) in the City West, Bonita Vista (11-0, 15-5) in the Metro Mesa and Fallbrook (11-0, 17-4) in the Palomar.

El Camino’s Sharon Turner is still the county’s leading scorer, averaging 33.3 points-per-game. She is followed by Point Loma’s Terri Mann (25.1), Monte Vista’s Paula Mascari (23.8), Southwest’s Vicki Williams (22.9), Santana’s Chris Sherman (22.5), Hilltop’s Julie Evans (22.2) and Clairemont’s Karen Chariker (21.5).

Inside information: Scott Fry, the winner of the Kinney National Cross-Country title at Balboa Park, has been added to the prep two-mile in the Michelob Invitational track meet on Friday at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Fry of Sandusky, Ohio won the Sunkist prep two mile and will join a talented field that includes Hilltop’s Ellis Del Sol and Southwest’s Shawn Sandoval, John Trautman, from Central Plains, N.Y., who finished second to Fry at the Kinney Nationals and Calvin Gaziano of Castro Valley High in northern California. Gaziano is the country’s top returning prep two miler.

The prep events begin at 5:10 p.m. The two mile is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Baseball in March: Mount Carmel, Helix and Mission Bay will lead 12 teams into the Hilltop-Moose tournament, which begins March 5 and runs through March 16.

Also entered are Chula Vista, El Capitan, Granite Hills, Grossmont, Hilltop, Poway, Saint Augustine, San Marcos and University.