Seven OC boys basketball teams open CIF SoCal Regional Championships Tuesday (brackets)

The CIF SoCal Boys Basketball Championships begin on Tuesday with the first of three rounds culminating with the finals on Saturday and seven Orange County squads are participating.

There will not be a state championship tournament this year, officials announced earlier. Second round is Thursday and the finals are on Saturday at home sites.

The SoCal Championships includes teams from Central, Los Angeles County, San Diego and the Southern Section competing in 12, eight team divisions. Complete brackets are available online at https://cifstate.org/sports/basketball/SC_brkts_2021/index. 

Divisions with Orange County teams:

OPEN

Mater Dei (27-3) is seeded sixth and will face No. 3 Etiwanda (11-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Etiwanda. Torrey Pines is seeded first and Sierra Canyon second.

1A

Division 1 runner-up Capistrano Valley (15-3) is seeded fifth and will play at No. 4 Fairfax (8-3) Tuesday.

2AA

Crean Lutheran (18-2) is seeded first and will host No. 8 King Drew (5-1) on Tuesday. Crean Lutheran, coached by Nate Klitzing, captured the CIF 2A title last week. The winner moves on to the second round to face the winner of No. 4 El Camino vs. No. 5 Los Altos Thursday.

Santa Margarita (14-6) is the No. 6 seed and plays Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the road against No. 3 Bullard (15-8).

3A

Marina (15-8) is seeded third and will host No. 6 Francis Parker (10-8) Tuesday at 7 p.m. Marina is the CIF 3A runner-up. The Vikings lost to Glendora 53-50 in the title game last week.

5AA

Calvary Chapel (22-6), the CIF 5AA champion, is seeded third and hosts No. 6 Atasacadero (16-5) Tuesday at 7 p0.m.

Costa Mesa (15-9), the CIF 5AA runner-up, is seeded fifth and will play at No. 4 Palisades (4-7) Tuesday at 8 p.m.