Two games make it clear just how important it is to reach CIF basketball playoffs

University players celebrate during a timeout after the team made a second half comeback Sunday. (Photo OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).

CIF boys and girls basketball playoff pairings will be announced Tuesday at noon.

Last weekend, it was very clear how much it means for teams to reach the CIF playoffs.

There were two examples in Irvine, but most likely there were similar scenes at other locations throughout the county and Southern California.

Saturday afternoon, Laguna Hills and Woodbridge battled in a regular-season Pacific Coast League finale which went back and forth. Laguna Hills won 54-48 to earn the No. 2 spot in the CIF playoffs from the league and it forced a bizarre five-way tie for second place.

Laguna Hills fans showed up in big numbers for the Saturday game and they celebrated with the Hawks after the game.

Woodbridge, the defending champion, still had a shot at reaching the playoffs but it needed to win in a Sunday afternoon league playoff game at University, which was also in a win-or-else scenario for the host Trojans.

University had to come back twice in this one, winning in the final second 59-58.

A big crowd, which included fans (most of them masked) from both schools turned out and the game was hard fought, intense and very entertaining. It was a tremendous atmosphere for a high school basketball game and players from both teams played their hearts out.

In the end, University players were celebrating with their fans, pouring onto the court.

“I didn’t expect that (the fans swarming) either,” said Uni senior Ali Wahedi, who made the second of two free throws with under one second remaining to lift the Trojans to the win. “I was honestly just trying to get out of the way, I didn’t want to get trampled. It was a great win for all of us.”

Woodbridge players tried to cope with the devastating loss, one player was consoled by a Warrior fan. The Warriors were without their star center Nygle Williams down the stretch drive. He returned for the last two games and helped his team battle.

Woodbridge Coach Steve Scoggin praised the play of Uni but also said how proud he was of his team which had its share of adversity for much of the season.

“I couldn’t ask anymore from my guys,” Scoggin said.

In a show of sportsmanship, Scoggin’s father, Steve Scoggin, a former coach at Uni who was cheering for his son’s team, congratulated University’s third-year Coach Beau Budde after the game and gave credit to his players.

University, which has struggled the past couple of years and finished 1-12 during the abbreviated spring season in 2021, will now try and pull off an upset in the first round of the CIF playoffs. As a fourth place finisher, the Trojans will likely play a highly-seeded league champion on the road. Budde said the Trojans will likely be in the 4AA division.

Click here for the CIF basketball playoff pairings.

“We’re ready for the challenge,” said Budde, who will lead the Trojans into the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Budde has a saying on an Instagram post:

“Anyone, anywhere, any time, we’re ready for it.”

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