State Basketball Playoffs Tonight : DIVISION I : Manual Arts (24-3) vs. Simi Valley (28-3) : Simi Valley 7:30

Comparative scores favor Simi Valley in its initial meeting with Manual Arts. In December, Simi Valley recorded an 86-77 win over Cleveland, which defeated Manual Arts in the Chaminade tournament final, 84-77. Those games are more than 2 months old, but Simi Valley, the second-seeded team in the regional, might put stock in the results because Manual Arts resembles Cleveland: fast but lacking height. Like Cleveland, the Toilers have no one to match up with 6-10 center Don MacLean. Manual Arts starts four players 6-1 and under, and no one on the team is taller than 6-5. But Manual Arts averaged 95 points a game during Marine League play and has broken the century mark 10 times. Coach Reggie Morris, who has won two City titles in 11 seasons, uses a trapping defense that averages 22 steals a game. Six players average in double figures for the Toilers, who lost the City 4-A final to Crenshaw, 83-67, and beat Bishop Amat on Tuesday, 94-91. Chris Small (6-0), the league MVP last season, has averaged 20 points a game for two seasons. Guards Develle Walker and Wayne Williams are each 6-0 and average 17 points. MacLean, who is 27 points short of a 1,000-point season, needs 7 tonight to pass Wayne Carlander for fifth place on the Southern Section career scoring list. MacLean has 2,308 points in his three-year career. Senior 6-5 forward Shawn DeLaittre has had trouble making layups the past two games, but is averaging 21.5 points in 6 playoff games. Senior point guard Butch Hawking helped clinch the Southern Section title with 4 free throws in overtime against Capistrano Valley and led the team with 20 points in Tuesday’s 92-67 win over Santana of Santee.

DIVISION IV

La Jolla Bishop (23-1) vs. Oakwood (25-2)

Hoover High 7:30

Oakwood, the division’s top-seeded team, drew a bye in Tuesday’s first round, which came as good news to Coach Roz Goldenberg, who said her team needed a few days to savor Friday’s 61-60 win over Hesperia Christian for the Southern Section Small Schools Division championship. “We needed the time off to try and psyche up again,” she said. The Gorillas also needed a chance to get well: Starters Eric Leddel and David Fond have been slowed by the flu. But as long as Mitchell Butler is well, the Gorillas have a healthy chance of winning the state title. Butler, a 6-5 junior forward, has had 50- and 47-point games in postseason play and is averaging 32.3 points and 16.9 rebounds a game this season. Bishop Coach Ren Marquette has been too busy to devise a defense for Butler. Bishop entered the San Diego Section championship game with a 22-game winning streak but lost in overtime to Calipatria, 52-51, despite leading by 20 points in the third quarter. Bishop got a reprieve with a wild-card berth in the state playoffs and drove seven hours to the Fresno area to beat Reedley Immanuel on Tuesday, 51-48. “Our guys are exhausted. We haven’t had a real practice since last Thursday and I’m not going to work them hard today,” Marquette said Wednesday. “But we feel things are on an upswing now. The kids are having fun.” Senior point guard Kamal Assaf is averaging 17 points and 8.5 assists, and 6-6 senior center Chris McKenna averages 8 points, 9.5 assists and 3 blocked shots. Bishop’s defense allows only 42 points a game, a total that Butler himself has surpassed twice.