It’s Still a Championship Game, but . . .

Harvey Kitani is hopeful his Fairfax High boys’ basketball team can reach the City Section Division 4-A championship game for the first time in eight years.

But he says he is not excited about playing it at Cal State Dominguez Hills. That is the site designated last week for the tournament finals on March 3 and 4 after negotiations broke down with the Sports Arena and Pauley Pavilion.

“Every time I drive by the Sports Arena I always think about getting my team to the championship (game) so we can play there,” said Kitani, whose squad plays host to Pacific Palisades in a quarterfinal game Wednesday night. “It’s sort of a reward for the kids for a job well done. It’s an honor.”

The Sports Arena has been the site of the City Section’s boys’ and girls’ championship games for 30 years, and many were played before capacity crowds.

Escalating security costs and changes in management have made the Sports Arena less desirable, according to the City Section. The section has lost $27,000 on its basketball tournament the last two years, and Commissioner Barbara Fiege said she could not afford the $43,000 rental.

“Our football and basketball playoffs are supposed to generate enough revenue to help pay for the playoffs in all of our other sports,” Fiege said. “The situation is unfortunate, but we just cannot continue to operate in the red.”

Besides Dominguez Hills, Fiege looked at the Pyramid at Long Beach State, the Forum and Pauley Pavilion.

Conflicts ruled out the Pyramid and Forum, but Fiege was hoping she could get Pauley.

But when Pauley officials came back with a $46,000 rental fee, Fiege had to pass.

“We did not have time to research things as well as we like to,” said Katie Abbott, manager of Pauley Pavilion. “We gave them a price that was on the high end, figuring capacity crowds all day with the right amount of security.

“We’re going to try to plan this out so that we can hold costs down and host this event next year,” she said. “We want to work with them.”

With limited options and only two weeks until the finals, Fiege turned to Dominguez Hills, which seats only 4,500. Fans are expected to be turned away.

Because of the limited seating, the four championship games will not all be played on the same day, as usual. The Division 3-A boys’ and girls’ games will be played on March 3 and the 4-A games on March 4.

Fiege said she has not received a final figure from Dominguez Hills, but she expects it to be well below those of the Sports Arena and Pauley Pavilion.

Since basketball is the section’s premiere sport--its boys’ teams have won eight of the last 13 state Division I titles--it seems a shame to showcase the tournament finals in a venue similar to that of a nice high school gymnasium. Such a situation might have been avoided with proper planning.

It also would have helped if arena management staffs would have been more considerate of meeting the needs of the section, instead of negotiating with a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach.

For example, the Southern Section will conduct six boys’ championship games at The Pond of Anaheim on March 4 for less than $40,000. Commissioner Dean Crowley said the arena staff went out of its way last year to keep costs down and work with the section.

In a city with two professional basketball teams, it also would seem that one might have been willing to step forward and help the schools in their back yard.

Those who want to see some of Southland’s finest high school basketball teams, however, must get in line for tickets. And there aren’t many of them.

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Prep Notes

The start of the boys’ soccer playoffs was difficult for several schools last week. First, Long Beach Wilson was withdrawn from the Southern Section Division II playoffs Tuesday after it was discovered the team had used an ineligible player during the season. Wilson was replaced by Compton. The same day, Chatsworth was nearly removed from the City Section playoffs when it was revealed that one of its players had played in an outside league during the season, a section violation. Officials allowed Chatsworth to remain in the playoffs, and the Chancellors won their opening-round game over Hollywood on Friday, 2-0.

In another City Section game Friday, Roosevelt defeated Van Nuys by forfeit after Van Nuys Coach Gustavo Correa was ejected for bumping an official. Correa was apparently upset after three of his players had been given red cards during a short span in the second half. Roosevelt was leading, 4-1, when the game was called.

Tom Harp, the football coach at Granada Hills the last 10 years, stepped down last week. His record was 74-32-2. . . . The City Section wrestling finals will be held Saturday at Granada Hills beginning at 6 p.m. The winner in each weight class advances to the state tournament, March 3-4, at the University of Pacific in Stockton. The Southern Section masters’ meet is also set for Saturday at Fountain Valley, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The top eight finishers qualify for the state tournament.

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Times’ Basketball Polls

The Times’ top 20 high school basketball polls, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

BOYS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Mater Dei SS I-A 29-1 1 2. Dominguez SS II-A 25-2 2 3. Inglewood SS II-A 24-3 3 4. Tustin SS II-A 25-1 4 5. Westchester City 4-A 24-6 6 6. JW North SS II-AA 21-3 8 7. Fairfax City 4-A 21-5 7 8. Fremont City 4-A 26-3 9 9. Nogales SS I-A 24-3 11 10. Artesia SS III-AA 23-3 10 11. Harvard-Westlake SS III-A 24-2 12 12. Crenshaw City 4-A 21-5 13 13. Glendora SS I-A 25-3 14 14. Sonora SS III-AA 24-3 15 15. Santa Margarita SS II-A 24-2 16 16. Pasadena SS II-AA 21-6 17 17. Crescenta Valley SS II-AA 25-2 5 18. Westlake SS I-AA 19-4 18 19. Washington City 4-A 20-6 20 20. Fontana SS I-AA 21-6 NR

GIRLS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Woodbridge SS II-AA 26-1 1 2. Newbury Park SS III-AA 25-1 2 3. Buena SS I-A 21-2 3 4. Mater Dei SS I-A 22-1 4 5. Brea-Olinda SS II-A 25-2 5 6. Crenshaw City 4-A 24-0 6 7. JW North SS II-AA 25-1 7 8. Peninsula SS I-AA 23-4 8 9. Alemany SS II-AA 21-4 9 10. Diamond Bar SS I-AA 24-2 10 11. Bishop Montgomery SS III-AA 21-4 11 12. Chino SS I-A 21-4 16 13. Fountain Valley SS I-A 21-6 13 14. LB Poly SS I-AA 22-4 14 15. Muir SS II-A 22-2 15 16. Simi Valley SS I-AA 24-4 17 17. Downey SS I-A 22-5 19 18. Palmdale SS I-A 21-3 NR 19. Marina SS II-AA 20-6 20 20. Cerritos SS I-A 21-5 NR