Most Local Teams On the Road for State Playoffs

South Orange County may get a boys' basketball state champion, but it's going to take some roadwork.

When Mission Viejo—and Capistrano Valley before it—failed to beat Orange Lutheran in the Southern Section Division 1A playoffs, it cost both schools first-round home games and virtually assures every playoff game from here on out will be in a hostile gym.

The California Interscholastic Federation released the brackets for its 2012 State Basketball Championships on Sunday that lead up to the state finals the weekend of March 23-24 in Sacramento.

Prior to that, a Southern California representative will need to be determined on March 17 in Ontario at Citizens Bank Arena, and the going will be rough from the outset for both South Coast League boys' teams that qualified in State Division I.

Mission Viejo (27-4), beaten 64-58 by Orange Lutheran on Saturday in the section finals, was seeded ninth and will open the state tournament Wednesday at Torrey Pines High in Del Mar against the eighth-seeded Falcons (22-10). The winner of that game will likely play top-seeded Mater Dei, the No. 1 ranked team in the state, which plays against Crescenta Valley in the first round. Only if Crescenta Valley wins would Mission Viejo play at home in the second round on March 10.

Capistrano Valley (25-6) has an even tougher task. The Cougars, beaten by Orange Lutheran in the section semifinals, 67-60, will play at second-seeded Long Beach Poly (27-2). The host Jackrabbits were beaten by Mater Dei on Saturday for the Division 1AA championship, 63-59, while ranked No. 2 in the state.

The winner of that game will play the winner of the Dorsey-Orange Lutheran contests. If Capo's 17 seniors are able to draw on their experience and pull off an upset of Poly, they would play the second round on the road regardless of the opponent.

Unlike Mission and Capo, Laguna Hills' girls' team will be on the road until the Regional finals. The Southern Section Division 3AA champion scored a double-overtime upset of second-seeded Mission Hills Alemany, 59-55, and was named the second-seeded team in State Division III. During the Southern Section playoffs, Laguna Hills was seeded fourth and posted victories over teams seeded 1-2, including top-seeded Yorba Linda.

Laguna Hills (22-8) will play host to Los Angeles Marshall (20-10) in the first round. The Hawks are on the same side of the bracket as third-seeded Alemany (29-3), which was ranked No. 18 in the state when they played last week. The top-seeded team in the division is Mission Bay (24-6) from the San Diego Section.

The other local team selected for the state playoffs was El Toro (26-3), which opens on the road at Harbor City Narbonne (28-6), one of the perennial girls' basketball powers from the Los Angeles City Section. The winner of that Division I game will likely face Brea Olinda in the second round. 

Laguna Hills and El Toro shared the South Coast League title.