Division-I
De La Salle vs Centennial
North
De La Salle
Obvious choice. Spartans handled Cal 37-0 and now has their second chance at the title after losing to Canyon last year.
San Ramon Valley was also eligible to be chosen.
South
There were three teams (Long Beach Poly, Centennial-Corona and Birmingham) with a legit shot at getting a shot at De La Salle.
Poly won the Southern Section Pac-5 title, which is widely considered the toughest section bracket in the state, but lost to Birmingham. They did, however, beat Crespi, which handed Birmingham its only loss of the year. Birmingham was DLS-esque in its run through the L.A. City Section outscoring their opponents by over 150 points. Centennial came in ranked as the top team on most accounts and won the Southern Section Inland Empire title. After watching the FSN selection show, it seems like Poly wasn’t really considered…
After Centennial was selected a player from the team said “Were going to get it done”
… prior to that The writer from the L.A. Times said he was going to pick the south regardless of who was selected.
That can’t sit well with the Spartan faithful…
I can just see coach Lad now, “Well done is better than well said … That’s been the motto of the team.”
Division-II
Novato vs Oceanside
North
It came down to Novato and Foothill-Palo Cedro. Both teams were undefeated, but Foothill plays in the unheralded Northern Section while Novato is an NCS team. Novato was edged out by Palo Alto last year and that may have played a role in Novato getting picked.
South
When Crespi lost to Poly it really opened it up for Oceanside, which has won four section titles in a row. Oceanside would be Division-I if they were in Northern California, I wrote about it earlier in the week. That makes absolutely no sense. They have an unfair advantage going into the game.
Division-III
Central Catholic vs St. Bonaventure
North
Central Catholic - San Joaquin Section champions of Modesto. CC went 11-1-1 with a loss to St. Mary’s (Stockton) and a tie against Cardinal Newman. After Newman lost to San Ramon last night, this became an easy choice for the comittee which also probably considered undefeated Sutter.
St. Elizabeth and McClymonds were also eligible for this bid, but at 8-4 and 5-6-1, the local teams really didn’t match up.
South
St. Bonaventure - Ventura
Came into the season ranked No. 1 in the state in all levels by CalHiSports and finished 13-1. Its lone loss came Crespi.