Mater Dei Seeded No. 1 for 5-A Division Playoffs

Defending champion Santa Ana Mater Dei, winner of 54 straight games and two Southern Section titles in the past three years, was seeded No. 1 Sunday for the 5-A Divison basketball playoffs, which begin with wild-card games Wednesday and conclude March 8 at the Sports Arena.

Despite being considered a strong favorite to repeat, especially after Huntington Beach Ocean View lost its appeal to be reinstated into the playoffs last week, Coach Gary McKnight said the Monarchs (25-0) consider it a long road to Los Angeles. They open against La Canada St. Francis (13-11) Thursday night at Chapman College.

Playa del Rey St. Bernard (16-6), which plays Friday at Fountain Valley (13-12), is fourth-seeded and in the same bracket as the Monarchs. Second-seeded Gardena Serra (20-4) plays host to Huntington Beach Marina (14-12) while No. 3 Long Beach Poly (17-7) has a home game against Santa Fe Springs St. Paul (12-8). St. Bernard, the second-place team in the Camino Real League behind Serra, must play on the road after losing a coin flip with Fountain Valley, which finished second in the Sunset League.

In the 4-A Division Capistrano Valley (24-2) is the top seeded team and plays Redondo (9-13). Ganesha (24-1) is seeded first in 3-A and plays Burbank Burroughs (8-13). In 2-A, No. 1 San Bernardino (23-3) plays Artesia (8-12) and in 1-A Whittier Christian (23-0) will play either Beaumont (13-10) or Pasadena Poly (10-11).