SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PREP BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Boys’ Roundup : Banning, Southern Section Teams Lose

The Southern Regional semifinals of the State high school basketball tournament were not good for the Southern Section.

Seven teams--Simi Valley, La Palma Kennedy, Irvine Woodbridge, Banning, Beaumont, North Hollywood Oakwood and Hesperia Christian--all lost Thursday night to teams from the City, Central and San Diego sections, meaning that the Southern Section will be represented only by the girls’ teams in the State finals next Saturday in Oakland.

In the biggest upset, Jason Webster scored 24 points and Rodney Jones had 20 to lead Central Section runner-up Garces (23-3) over previously unbeaten Southern Section 2-A champion Banning, 87-77, at Ramona High School.

The Broncos (33-1) fell behind by 20 points, 79-59, early in the fourth quarter before rallying to cut the deficit to 8. Kevin Breed added 19 points for Garces, while Chris Samiletti paced Banning with 19, including four three-pointers.

Bakersfield Foothill beat La Palma Kennedy, the Southern Section 3-A champion, 71-64. Beaumont, the Southern Section 1-A champion, lost to Easton Washington, 49-48, while Oakwood, the top-seeded team in Division V, lost to La Jolla Bishop’s, 46-44.

In other games:

Manual Arts 81, Simi Valley 77--The Toilers, trailing 32-22 at halftime, outscored Southern Section 4-A champion Simi Valley, 32-15, in the third quarter on 14-of-20 shooting, setting up a rematch with Crenshaw in the Division I final Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

Crenshaw beat Manual Arts twice this season, most recently last week for the City 4-A title.

Senior guard Wayne Williams, after missing his first seven shots of the game, scored 15 points in the third quarter and finished with 23. Chris Small added 21 for Manual Arts (25-3).

Senior All-American Don MacLean carried the load for Simi Valley, scoring 35 points on 15-of-20 shooting and had 13 rebounds. Shawn DeLaittre added 17 points and 9 rebounds for Simi Valley (28-4).

San Diego Madison 67, Irvine Woodbridge 64--Three players--Andre Mitchell (18 points), Robby Robinson (17) and Jeff Harper (14)--scored in double figures to lead Madison to the Division II final against Bakersfield Foothill. Adam Keefe, Woodbridge’s 6-foot-9 center, scored 34 points and had 20 rebounds in the losing effort.

Calipatria 103, Hesperia Christian 85--Robert Romero, a 5-10 senior forward, scored 39 points, and Andrew Cendejas, a 5-8 senior guard, had 37 to pace Calipatria, the San Diego Section champion, to the win at Calipatria.