Sierra Canyon is No. 1 seed for Southern Section Open Division boys’ and girls’ playoffs

Chatsworth Sierra Canyon has received the No. 1 seed for the Southern Section Open Division basketball boys’ and girls’ playoffs, it was announced Sunday. Both are defending state champions who established themselves as the teams to beat in the regular season. But there will be strong competition to determine who emerges as No. 1 when championship games are played Feb. 28 at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

For boys, the Open Division seedings are No. 1 Sierra Canyon, No. 2 Corona Centennial, No. 3 Temecula Rancho Christian, No. 4 Etiwanda, No. 5 Long Beach St. Anthony, No. 6 Studio City Harvard-Westlake, No. 7 Santa Ana Mater Dei and No. 8 Bellflower St. John Bosco.

For girls, the seedings are No. 1 Sierra Canyon, No. 2 L.A. Windward, No. 3 Long Beach Poly, No. 4 Mater Dei, No. 5 Etiwanda, No. 6 Fullerton Rosary, No. 7 Corona Centennial, No. 8 Lynwood.

To reach the final, teams have to compete in pool play in two four-team brackets, with the champions of each pool advancing to the final.

The Sierra Canyon boys’ team, led by McDonald’s All-American BJ Boston and Ziaire Williams, opens pool play Friday against Bellflower St. John Bosco at Cal State Northridge. Also in the pool is Etiwanda, which will host St. Anthony. The other pool has Mater Dei at Corona Centennial and Harvard-Westlake at Rancho Christian. Pool games continue Feb. 18 and 21.

Sierra Canyon’s girls’ team, led by Texas-bound Ashley Chevalier and Duke-bound Vanessa DeJesus, opens Saturday at home against Lynwood.

One of the toughest divisions is the boys’ 2-AA. It’s loaded with teams that easily could be placed in Division 1. There are 14 league champions in the division. Santa Clarita Christian is seeded No. 1 and North Hills Heritage Christian is No. 2.

Windward’s boys’ team is seeded No. 1 in Division 1 and opens Wednesday at home against Los Angeles Loyola.

Several teams that were ranked in the coaches’ polls failed to draw at-large berths because there were none available in their divisions. Anaheim Servite (17-10) finished fourth in the Trinity League but couldn’t get into Division 3-AA.