Three With No Losses Hope to Keep It That Way

The Southland’s three undefeated girls’ basketball teams will try to run the table to win Southern Section championships when the playoffs begin in earnest Thursday.

Erika Arriaran, who led Norco to its first final last season in Division II-AA, will try to lead the Cougars (26-0) to a championship in Division I-AA, which is as deep as any division has ever been.

Unlike Norco, La Puente Bishop Amat (27-0) won a title last season, but the Lancers too must emerge from a difficult division behind Juanise Cornell, Jessica Carrera and Candice Brown. Among the 21 teams in Division III-A, 13 are league champions.

Unlike Norco and Bishop Amat, which defeated a number of teams ranked among the Southland’s top 25 by The Times, Hesperia (26-0) is looking for credibility as well as a Division II-AA title in the playoffs. None of Hesperia’s opponents has been ranked.

Here’s how the divisions break down:

DIVISION I-AA

2004 champion: Lynwood.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Long Beach Poly; 2. Norco; 3. Lynwood; 4. Etiwanda.

Others to watch: Temecula Valley, Newhall Hart.

Outlook: Poly’s depth should be able to weather any challenge on its side of the bracket. Scoring sensations Erika Arriaran of unbeaten Norco and Jessie Thompson of Temecula Valley could meet in the quarterfinals; Norco won their last meeting, 73-62. Lynwood was upset by Hart in last season’s regional after then-freshman Lenita Sanford sat out the game because of burns on her legs. They could meet again in the quarterfinals, and Sanford won’t be doing any pregame cooking. Hart, the Division I-A runner-up the last three seasons, is led by Ashlee Trebilcock, giving the bottom half of the bracket the three most dynamic scorers in the division and probably the section.

DIVISION I-A

2004 champion: San Clemente.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Moreno Valley Canyon Springs; 2. San Clemente; 3. Ventura Buena; 4. Ventura.

Others to watch: Corona Centennial, Mira Loma Jurupa Valley.

Outlook: With the division’s best 1-2 punch in Jennifer Risper and Brandi Jones-Fitzgerald, no team can match Canyon Springs on the top end, but harder-working teams further down the lineup -- such as Buena -- could have a chance. San Clemente could face Ventura in a semifinal matchup, but Centennial’s Jenna Sybesma won’t be an easy mark for San Clemente in the quarterfinals. In all likelihood, the two finalists are probably the teams that will be hosts of their semifinals.

DIVISION II-AA

2004 champion: Fullerton Troy.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Troy; 2. Alhambra Keppel; 3. Perris; 4. Hesperia.

Others to watch: Villa Park, Placentia El Dorado.

Outlook: Apart from Troy, the most dangerous team in the division right now may be Perris. Troy should repeat, but Hesperia should be eager for a shot at the Warriors because it could bring credibility to its unbeaten record. There’s a potential second-round upset if Keppel gets sloppy at Santa Barbara, where the Aztecs are unlikely to get any breaks.

DIVISION II-A

2004 champion: Brea Olinda.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Redondo; 2. Brea Olinda; 3. Riverside North; 4. Irvine Woodbridge.

Others to watch: Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Outlook: Redondo could get a stiff challenge from Woodbridge, which has won 12 in a row since its four-game losing streak; Woodbridge’s first-round opponent, Orange El Modena, is the last team to beat the Warriors. Nothing has been easy for Brea Olinda, but the Ladycats showed marked improvement down the stretch; still, a quick team such as North is likely to give them trouble. Mater Dei’s defense could give any team fits.

DIVISION III-AA

2004 champion: Inglewood Morningside.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Santa Margarita; 2. Newbury Park; 3. Morningside; 4. Riverside Ramona.

Others to watch: Lakewood Artesia, La Verne Bonita, La Canada.

Outlook: A wide-open division because there are no dominant teams, but in the end, it should come down to the top four. Still, four teams not among the top four have first-round byes, and that could be an advantage for Artesia, Bonita and La Canada, the last of which won 13 of its last 14 games.

DIVISION III-A

2004 champion: La Puente Bishop Amat.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Bishop Amat; 2. Fullerton Rosary; 3. Pasadena Muir; 4. Santa Ynez.

Others to watch: Oak Park, Orange Lutheran.

Outlook: Any number of teams could make a good run at the larger III-AA title, but here, they’re on the outside looking in. A possible matchup of Rosary and Muir in a semifinal would be a major battle, and either would be a dynamic opponent for Bishop Amat, which beat Muir in overtime, 39-36, on Dec. 21.

DIVISION IV-AA

2004 champion: L.A. Marlborough.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Marlborough; 2. Gardena Serra; 3. Lancaster Paraclete; 4. Cerritos Valley Christian.

Others to watch: Inglewood St. Mary’s Academy.

Outlook: With Abi Olajuwon and Emily Tay, it should be Marlborough’s title to lose, though Paraclete can answer with one of the Southland’s top scorers, Bria Fields, who is averaging 24.8 points.

DIVISION IV-A

2004 champion: L.A. Brentwood.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Brentwood; 2. Westlake Village Oaks Christian; 3. L.A. Windward; 4. Ontario Christian.

Others to watch: None.

Outlook: This should come down to the top four teams. Brentwood and Windward have victories over solid larger programs; Brentwood beat Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 53-51, and Windward beat Long Beach Millikan, 46-43. A knee injury to Oaks Christian’s Kayla Rutherford changed the complexion of the division; she scored 38 in a 68-52 victory over Brentwood, but she can’t score points from the sidelines.

DIVISION V-AA

2004 champion: L.A. Pacific Hills.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Pacific Hills; 2. Santa Monica New Roads; 3. Palos Verdes Estates Rolling Hills Prep; 4. Oxnard Santa Clara.

Others to watch: San Juan Capistrano Serra.

Outlook: Because the Harbor League’s first-place entry was third-seeded Rolling Hills, second-place and second-seeded New Roads had to be placed in the opposite bracket, meaning Pacific Hills and New Roads could meet in the semifinals instead of the finals. Making matters worse, freelance school Serra was ranked third or better all season, then inexplicably seeded fifth, meaning the division’s probable three best teams are on the same side of the bracket. Santa Clara will be without two players, who were ejected in the season finale, in the first round.

DIVISION V-A

2004 champion: Huntington Beach Liberty Christian.

Top-seeded teams: 1. Santa Maria Valley Christian; 2. Calimesa Mesa Grande; 3. Liberty Christian; 4. Victor Valley Christian.

Others to watch: Arcadia Rio Hondo Prep.

Outlook: Mesa Grande, which had never won a playoff game before reaching last year’s finals, beat Valley Christian, 52-50, to reach last season’s title game; it hopes for a repeat performance.

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

MARTIN HENDERSON’S GIRLS’ BASKETBALL RANKINGS:

(Final regular season)

*--* Rk Team Rec Div LW 1 L.B. POLY 22-3 Div. I-AA 1 2 NORCO 26-0 Div. I-AA 2 3 TROY 26-2 Div. II-AA 3 4 BISHOP AMAT 27-0 Div. III-A 4 5 ROSARY 18-3 Div. III-A 5 6 CANYON SPRINGS 23-3 Div. I-A 7 7 LYNWOOD 22-4 Div. I-AA 8 8 ETIWANDA 24-4 Div. I-AA 14 9 BUENA 20-6 Div. I-A 15 10 VENTURA 23-3 Div. I-A 6 11 SAN CLEMENTE 22-4 Div. I-A 10 12 TEMECULA VALLEY 23-4 Div. I-AA 11 13 PERRIS 20-7 Div. II-AA 12 14 RIVERSIDE NORTH 19-7 Div. II-A 13 15 MILLER 23-2 Div. I-AA 16 16 KEPPEL 25-3 Div. II-AA 17 17 REDONDO 22-3 Div. II-A 18 18 NARBONNE 17-8 City 19 19 HART 21-5 Div. I-AA 21 20 VALENCIA 20-7 Div. I-AA 20 21 COR. CENTENNIAL 17-6 Div. I-A 22 22 BREA OLINDA 20-6 Div. II-A 23 23 CHATSWORTH 21-4 City 24 24 MUIR 22-5 Div. III-A 25 25 SANTA MARG. 17-6 Div. III-AA NR

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