Sixteen Valley teams made it to playoffs; ten made it through to the second round; four made it to quarterfinals. Only two remain – Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley, both in Division 2AA, on opposite sides of the bracket. Temecula Valley faces #5 Mira Costa and #6 Murrieta Valley hosts #3 Villa Park on Friday. If they both win their next two games, they could face each other for the CIF-SS championship title. Congratulations to all sixteen teams!

Division 1AA:

OUT – Second Round: The Great Oak Wolfpack (18-8) travelled to Etiwanda (23-2, #4 in the state, #20 in the nation) on Tuesday and were eliminated 68-50 by one of the best defensive teams in California. Justin Sadler had 14 points and eight rebounds; wing shooter Jeremy Smith had 12; Patrick Sniff had ten. Point guard Latrelle Franklin had six assists.

First Round: Great Oak (Southwestern #1) beat #11 Foothill (Century #2), 62-50. Perimeter shooting late in the game made the difference as Smith and Josh Cooper dropped three treys on the Knights’ defense in the fourth quarter. Sadler led all scorers with 15, Franklin had 13, Cooper had 12, and Smith finished with 11 (three 3’s).

Division 1A:

OUT – First Round: Paloma Valley (Sunbelt at-large) lost to #4-seed Crescenta Valley (21-7, 11-3, Pacific League #2), 80-42. Sophomore Preston Green led the Wildcat scoring with 12, all of them from beyond the 3-pt arc. Senior Alec Lazarus and soph Manny Sandoval both shot 50% from the floor, scoring eight and six respectively.

Division 2AA:

OUT – Second Round: Perris (19-9) lost to #8-seed Lawndale (19-8, 10-0, Pioneer League Champions) 54-43. Despite staying within one point each of the final two periods, the Panthers were unable to make up ground on the 28-19 halftime deficit.

First Round: #9 Perris (Sunbelt #1T) beat Redlands (10-17, 3-7, Citrus Belt at-large) 56-46. Three Panther starters were in double figures, led by Elishua Jackson, who had 23. Soph PG Tristan Hunter had 19 and center Tyler Cooper had 14.

IN – Quarterfinals: Friday night Temecula Valley faces #5-seed Mira Costa Mustangs (19-9, 6-4, Bay League #3) who beat Cathedral City (78-53) and Oxnard (74-50) to advance. "It has been at least ten years since TV has been in the elite 8," said Coach Kyle Armstrong.

Second Round: The #11-ranked Golden Bears (15-13) hosted the run-and-gun #4-seed Sunny Hills (22-7) and survived a second-half rain of twelve three’s to win 89-71. "They had a great run shooting the ball," said Armstrong, "we did enough to get it done." Brandon Rosser, in his second game back from a knee injury, opened the first quarter with 11 points and ended with 25 points and ten rebounds. "They were undersized but physical," says Rosser, "We played them my freshman year and they made twenty three’s." Michael Price finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds. "I’m just there to play hard and score when I need to score." Point guard D’aubre Doucette fed on the negative cheering of the visiting crowd and scored 16 points. Riley Schaefer scored 12 on 5-of-6 shooting and brought down seven boards.

First Round: Temecula Valley (Southwestern at-large) beat Victor Valley (Desert Sky #2) 70-51. Rosser (knee), Price (concussion) and defensive stopper Brian Batchelor returned from injury after sitting out the last two games. Rosser had 23 points, ten rebounds, four assists, and four blocks in limited playing time.

OUT – First Round: Heritage (11-14) was eliminated by Murrieta Valley, 68-58. The Patriots overcame an early nine-point difference and tied the game up at 58 with six minutes left. Heritage’s Andrew Oliver poured in 28 points and Mat Bradshaw hit five three’s in the valiant effort.

IN – Quarterfinals: #6-seed Murrieta Valley hosts #3-seed Villa Park (22-6, 10-2, Century League #1) on Friday. The Spartans beat Valencia (53-44) and Keppel (68-63) to advance.

Second Round: Murrieta Valley (20-7) struggled offensively in the first half against the Cajon Cowboys (19-9, Citrus League #3), behind 14-13 at halftime, but then exploded for a 20-7 third quarter and finished 52-34. Kevin Padlo led all MVHS scorers with 19.

First Round: Murrieta Valley (Southwestern #2) controlled the clock and scored ten unanswered points in the final six minutes to defeat Heritage (Sunbelt at-large) 68-58. Padlo and Mitchell Lenhart each had 15 points for the Nighthawks. Thomas Alexandre and Talon Watkins each had 12. Tyler Bilton contributed eleven. Lenhart also had eight assists.

Division 2A:

OUT – Second Round: The #4-seed Elsinore Tigers (21-7) made the long bus trip to Goleta to face the Dos Pueblos Chargers (16-9, Channel League #3) and came home one point short of making it to quarterfinals, 49-48. Elsinore held the Chargers scoreless in the final 3:30 of the game, reduced the deficit from eight to one (Tommy Wilson 3, Deven Riley free throws, and Rey Solorazano putback) with 1:30 left in the game, but were unable to convert on lay-up attempts. Riley ended with 18; Solorzano with 16.

First Round: #4 Elsinore (Sunbelt #1T) squeaked by visiting Moorpark (Marmonte at-large), 58-57 to advance to the second round. Solorzano’s double-double was key (26 pts, 10 rebounds).

Division 3AAA:

OUT – Second Round: Mesa was eliminated in the second round 49-36 by Brea Olinda. Staton had 23 points (three 3’s), six rebounds and 3 steals in the effort.

First Round: Murrieta Mesa (Southwestern #3) defeated#7 Palm Springs (Desert Valley #1) on a last-second driving lay-up by Shane Staton to win 62-60 and advance to the second round. Palm Springs’ 23-10 run in the third quarter temporarily negated Mesa’s 31-26 lead. Staton ended with 20 points, including 4-of-5 from 3-pt land. He also led rebounders with seven. Khalil Sharpe had 14 points and five assists. This is the Rams’ first playoff win in any sport.

Division 3AA:

OUT – Second Round: Lakeside (12-16) faced #5 Santa Margarita Eagles (14-14) and were eliminated 76-60. The five-time CIF Champ and two-time state-champ Eagles had lost 11 consecutive games before beating Century and Lakeside in playoffs.

First Round: It was a game of big shots as Lakeside (Sunbelt at-large) nipped #12 La Canada (Rio Hondo #2) 49-48 to advance to the second round. The Lancers held a 36-29 lead with almost eleven minutes left in the game and fought off a Spartans comeback that fell short as two final shots missed. Marcus Eggum had 17 points, eight rebounds; Justin Hall had ten points, six rebounds.

OUT – Quarterfinals: Cinderella team Temescal Canyon Titans (14-15, Sunbelt #3) knocked off two seeded teams, but their run ended against #2 Damien (22-6, Sierra League #2) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals round, 62-32. Damien’s pressure defense was too much for the young Titans’ team to handle, creating turnovers and missed shots. The Titans trailed 19-6 after the opening period and 33-16 at halftime. Marcus Kilpatrick was the leading scorer for the Titans with eight points.

Second Round: The Titans upset #7 Temple City Rams (21-5, Rio Hondo League #1) in the second round on Friday, 67-61. The Titans turned an early 29-17 deficit into a 34-29 halftime lead. Luke Timm scored 25 points (four 3’s), Tim Fazande had 16, Jay Merriwether 14.

First Round: The Titans travelled to #10 Pacifica Garden Grove (Empire #3) and came home with a surprise first-round win, 49-45. Fazande had 18 points, including 6-of-7 from the charity stripe and Merriwether contributed 17 points.

Division 4A:

OUT – First Round: California Military Institute (Warrior #3) lost 70-30 to #14 Ontario Christian (Ambassador #3).

Division 5AA:

OUT – Second Round: #10 Linfield Christian’s hopes were dashed in the second round by Oxnard Santa Clara, 68-57. Darryl Morris had 22; Rhett Johnson had 16; Torin Webb had 13.

First Round: Linfield Christian (Ambassador #1) defeated Xavier Prep (Desert Valley #4) 69-59. Webb had 16 points and six assists; Darryl Morris scored 16, including 6-6 of from FT; Daniel Morris had 13, with three 3’s, Jack Dickson added nine (two 3’s).

Division 5A:

OUT – First Round: Temecula Prep lost in the first round to Rancho Christian, 78-43. Jordan Santa Cruz had 15 points, Kylle Vitor had 11, and Zach Franklin had 13 points and nine rebounds.

OUT – Second Round: The #6 Rancho Christian Eagles lost to #11 Desert Christian 88-79, despite sophomore Ja’mel McMahan’s 30 pts and and JB Brower’s 17.

First Round: Rancho Christian (freelance) defeated Temecula Prep (Majestic #1), 78-43. McMahan put up 26 points. Terrell Fuller had 17 points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots.

Division 6:

OUT – First Round: Cornerstone Christian (Majestic #4) lost at #8 Lone Pine (Desert Mtn #2), 98-46 and were eliminated in the first round.

OUT – Quarterfinals: Playing the playoffs without their big man, 6’10-1/2" Ryan Smith (leading scorer and rebounder) and their point guard Noah Schriefer, the #4-seeded C-Hawks (18-7) were eliminated by Desert Chapel (14-12) 60-55. The C-hawks had beaten Desert Chapel 66-39 earlier this season. Rebounds and missed free throws proved to be the difference despite a valiant fourth quarter rally by the C-hawks who trailed 51-38 in the final half of the last period. They closed the gap to three points with seven seconds left. Joseph Shiery had 15 points, Adam Hussman and Robert Riesenberg each had 13.

Second Round: The C-hawks continued their quest with a 64-43 win over Acaciawood from Anaheim. Riesenberg had 18, Shiery had 17, Hussman added 14 and Erik Romero contributed 10. Shiery also had 18 rebounds; Hussman had 16.

First Round: The C-hawks defeated Liberty Christian (12-12, 7-3, Express League #2), 49-25. Riesenberg scored 17; Phillip Harrison added 10 points and eight steals.; freshman Levi Schriefer added five points and ten rebounds.