February 8, 2026

OC Sports Zone: Community First

OC teams earn high seeds in CIF girls basketball playoffs, key opening round games

Four Orange County teams earned high seeds in the CIF girls basketball playoffs that begin this week.

Pacific Coast League champion Sage Hill (24-4) is seeded fourth in the open division, which will utilize a pool play format again.

The Lightning will have their first game Wednesday at home vs. No. 12 Redondo Union.

Also in the open division is No. 10 Fairmont Prep, which plays at No. 2 Etiwanda Thursday.

JSerra is seeded No. 8 and will open play at home against Rancho Christian Saturday. Mater Dei is seeded fifth and hosts No. 12 Redondo Union Friday.

Mater Dei will play at Sage Hill Tuesday in pool play.

Ontario Christian (27-1) is seeded first, Etiwanda (27-2) and Sierra Canyon (25-2) third in the ioen division.

In Division 1, Trinity League runner-up Santa Margarita earned an at-large berth. Santa Margarita (17-10) will play at Crestview League champion Esperanza Thursday.

Pacific Coast League runner-up Rosary Academy (19-9) is seeded second in Division 2 while Portola, the fourth place team from the PCL, earned an at-large berth.

Rosary Academy will host Trinity Classical Academy in the first round Thurday while Portola (18-10) will play at Paramount, which tied for the Gateway League title, on Thursday. Paramount is 22-5.

In Division 4, Sunset League No. 3 team Marina (15-13) is seeded second and Crestview League at-large entry El Dorado (14-14) is seeded third. Marina will host St. Genevieve in the first round while El Dorado will host Loma Linda Academy.

In Division 5, Sea View League runner-up Tesoro (16-12) is seeded first and North Hills League runner-up Foothill is seeded third. Tesoro will host Santa Fe League champion St. Paul (20-7) in the opening round while Foothill (12-6) will host Temecula Prep.

In Division 8, Santa Ana Valley, the Orange League champion, is seeded fourth. The Falcons (14-6) will host Providence of Santa Barbara in the opening round.

CIF officials said that 300 teams are entered in the playoffs. The finals are Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28 at Toyota Arena in Ontario and Azusa Pacifica University.

OC match-ups include:

Division 1:

Troy at Los Osos

Marlborough at South Coast League champion Beckman

West Torrance at Orange Lutheran

Palos Verdes at Villa Park

Buena Park at La Salle

Division 2:

Sonora at Rolling Hills Prep

Pacifica Christian at San Juan Hills

Portola at Paramount

Dos Pueblos at Los Alamitos

Division 3:

El Toro at Lynwood

South Hills at Segerstrom

La Serna at Trabuco Hills

Rio Mesa at Aliso Niguel

Cypress at Oxnard

El Modena at Aquinas

San Dimas at St. Margaret’s

Huntington Beach at Wiseburn DaVinci

Division 4:

Quartz Hill at Yorba Linda

Canyon at Moorpark

Shalhevet at Bolsa Grande

Divsion 5:

Lakewood at Sunny Hills

Fullerton at Twentynine Palms

Temescal Canyon at Fountain Valley

Cantwell Sacred Heart at Godinez

Division 6:

Newbury Park at Costa Mesa

Loara at Redlands

Savanna at Pilibos

Irvine at Liberty

Woodbridge at Santa Fe

Division 7:

Capo Valley Christian at Monrovia

Laguna Hills at Mary Star

Kennedy at San Jacinto Leadership Academy

Garden Grove at Kaiser

Division 8:

Orange at California Military Academy

University Prep at Anaheim

Westminster at Pacifica Christian Santa Monica

Division 9:

Saddleback at Victor Valley Christian

Western at Avalon

Valley Christian Santa Maria at Rancho Alamitos

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com