CIF-SS BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Battle-tested La Mirada ready for Open Division, to begin with four road playoff games

By Loren Kopff

@LorenKopff on X

For the first time since the CIF-Southern Section added the Open Division to its playoffs, La Mirada High will be a part of it. The Matadores concluded the regular season with 24 victories in 28 games, won all eight Gateway League games by an average of nearly 34 points and played one of the toughest non-league schedules around.

La Mirada is seeded ninth in the 10-team bracket and will visit top-seeded Harvard-Westlake High (27-1) on Feb. 12, Notre Dame High/Sherman Oaks (22-6) on Friday, Santa Margarita High (22-5) on Feb. 21 and JSerra High (21-7) on Feb. 25.

“We assumed we would drop to number 9; that’s why we were hoping [the division] would expand only because of Notre Dame’s wins against Sierra Canyon,” said La Mirada head coach Randy Oronoz. “We’ve been scouting Harvard-Westlake and prepping for them last week. We just didn’t know where the other ones were. We’re just happy and blessed to be in this position. I’m excited for the boys.”

This is the first time the CIF-SS basketball divisional playoff brackets are put together based off computer rankings instead of a team’s performance from the previous two seasons. Oronoz added that he didn’t know how many teams would be in the Open Division and was hoping his team would at least be in the top eight in the event the division would have eight teams.

“I think the computers did a pretty accurate job of saying who was where, and I think CIF did it right,” said Oronoz.

To say that the Matadores are more than ready for the Open Division is an understatement as they defeated a top five team from Illinois (Morton High), Florida (St. Petersburg-based Gibbs High), Utah (Layton Christian High) and New Mexico (Volcano Vista High). They also defeated Redondo Union High 82-72 on Dec. 27, and the Seahawks are the seventh-seeded team in the Open Division. Two of the four losses came to St. John Bosco High, which is the third-seeded team.

Harvard-Westlake is the top-ranked team in the state, according to MaxPreps.com and second in the nation. The lone loss for the Wolverines came in the 10th game of the season when they fell to Timpview High out of Provo, Utah 61-49.

“The hardest part for us is a lot of these private schools have been playing in their league really good teams, and I’m not knocking our Gateway League, but it was kind of down this year,” said Oronoz. “Instead of complaining and saying, ‘hey, we haven’t been able to continue to sharpen our skills’, we ‘ve been getting after it in practice. We might be well-rested.”

One of the interesting things about the 2024-2025 La Mirada team is the fact that it has played in front of its home fans just four times, all coming in league action (Jan. 24-Feb. 5). The Matadores began the season winning the Rumble on the Hill Tournament, then went to the Kevin Brown Memorial Tournament of Champions the week of Thanksgiving. La Mirada came home to compete in the St. John Bosco Braves Winter Classic and the Classic at Damien before heading out to Arizona the first week of January for a three-game tournament.

La Mirada’s starting lineup is one of the best in Southern California with the tandem of senior Julien Gomez and sophomore Gene Roebuck along with seniors Jarret Cole and M.J. Smith and junior King-Riley Jones. But there’s a plethora of bench players who would be solid starters on a lot of teams.

Some of those would be senior Chris Perez, junior Daquan Idemudia, a 6’6” wing player and sophomore Santiago Lopez, who last played on Jan. 2. In fact, he had been a starter earlier in the season.

Oronoz has reached the Division 2A finals in 2022 and 2023, but the Matadores, under the tutelage of Bryce Jones, won the Division II state title in 2015 despite falling in the Division 2A championship game. The 24 victories are the most for the program since winning 25 games two seasons ago and the four losses are the fewest since the 2014-2015 team went 31-5.

The top four teams in each pool automatically move on to the CIF State Southern California Regionals.

Projected starters: Cole, Gomez, Jones, Roebuck and Smith

For the other divisions, all first round games are on Wednesday, Feb. 12 and all second round games are on Friday, Feb. 14.

DIVISION 2A

#23 Artesia High (20-7, 9-1 in the 605 League) @ #10 Orange Vista High (18-6, 10-0 in the Sunbelt League)-This is one example of the new playoff system as both teams are league champions. In the old system, league champions would never have met in the first round. The Pioneers won the 605 League for the third time in the last four seasons. Only Cerritos High has finished in first place more than Artesia (four) in the history of the league.

“Coming into the season, I thought we would probably be a 3A team or a 3AA team,” said Artesia head coach Jeff Myles. “I never thought we would be a 2A team. So I guess that’s kind of a good thing [when] people say we had a good season. I don’t think we’ve been in a 2A division in a long time. But it’s sports and no matter if you’re in 2A, 3A, or 5A, you still have to play the guys who are in front of you.”

Artesia began the season with three straight wins, then went through a stretch where the black and red went 3-5 before ending the season strong. In fact, the last three losses, all since Jan. 3, have been by six, three and five points, respectively. Offensively, the Pioneers have scored over 60 points 11 times. To go one step further, winning the 605 League was not as easy as it appeared because the first three games were five-point victories and in the second round, Artesia lost to Oxford Academy by five points before bouncing back to edge Whitney High by three points.

“We knew coming into the season that every [league] game would be between five to seven points and every game was going to be a battle,” said Myles. “We knew the 605 [League] was going to be a lot tougher this year. So, we wanted to schedule some tough games out of league.”

The Pioneers have been flying under the radar, sort of speak, without a go-to player, or two, unlike the past when it was a given that Aaron Banks or Zion Staples would be the players to stop. The most consistent starting rotation this season have been seniors with Jovell Tate leading the way with 318 points. Senior Judd Sajise and juniors Christian Stewart and Kobe Young are the top bench players, all of whom have started at least once.

Orange Vista, based in Perris, began the season with three straight losses, but now has won 12 straight games while Artesia enters the playoffs as winners of its past 14 of 16 games with the only setbacks coming to Warren High by three points and Oxford Academy by five points.

Projected starters: seniors Cayden Del Rosario, C.J. Okeke, Jaylen Reed, Christopher Vargas and Tate.

The winner plays either #26 Holy Martyrs High or #7 Villa Park in the second round.

DIVISION 3AA

# 19 Cerritos (13-14, 7-3 in the 605 League) @ # 14 El Toro High (15-13, 3-5 in the Sea View League)-The four straight losses to begin the season for Cerritos seems like a long time ago as the Dons gradually got better as the campaign went on. And while the team never reached the .500 mark during the regular season, it enters the playoffs winners of nine of the last 12 games. Head coach Jonathan Watanabe, who has been around the coaching ranks for 23 seasons, says the team and coaching staff is just happy to qualify and they’re ready for the challenge of playing.

“We just focused on league and not knowing what division and what teams could possibly be in your division, I think in my case in particular, was kind of a blessing because I wasn’t stressed over trying to get film on all the teams in our division because we didn’t know who was in our division,” said Watanabe.

The Dons have used the same starting lineup 17 times and all five of them are seniors. But Watanabe has emptied his bench in virtually every game, minus injuries, and because of that, all 16 players have had game experience. This way, the nine players who are not seniors will have that going for them next season.

In fact, all five of the everyday starters have scored over 150 points which gives the Dons a great opportunity to make another deep run just like last season when it took home the Division 4AA title. Watanabe added that his six sophomores have finally adjusted to the play at the varsity level. Making key contributions off the bench on a consistent basis have been sophomores Rocco Chua, Noah Lai and Antonious Youseff, all first-year varsity players.

El Toro has had somewhat of a streaky season, losing four of its first six games before winning seven of its next eight games, then ending the regular season with four wins in 11 games. The Chargers were tied for third place in the Sea View League and are an at-large representative because they finished with at least a .500 record.

“That’s the whole point of the bracket,” said Watanabe. “The way that [CIF] is doing everything, is that regardless of whether you’re the first seed or the 32nd seed in the bracket, all the teams are going to be pretty equal. You might face somebody who is a little bit stronger or a little bit weaker than you thought. But the idea of it is where anybody can win it. As long as you make the playoffs, you have a chance to win your division regardless of where your position is.”

Projected starters: Seniors Jaylen Barsana, Benson Cho, Nathan Ju, Jaden Ribac and Demetrious Washington

The winner plays either #3 Capistrano Valley Christian High or #30 Kennedy High in the second round.

# 20 Gahr High (13-14, 3-5 in the Gateway League) @ #13 Ayala High (17-11, 5-5 in the Palomares League)-After the first round of Gateway League action, Gahr needed to win at least three wins in its final five games, including a non-league tilt against Marquez High. Knowing that La Mirada and Mayfair High were still on the docket, there wasn’t much margin for error. But the Gladiators defeated Dominguez High on the final day of the regular season to lock down third place and get an automatic qualifier. Last season, Gahr was in Division 3A, but despite moving up, head coach Marcus Girley says there are some winnable games in this season’s bracket.

“I thought there was a slight chance we might slide to 3A by the looks at the teams,” he said.

The heart and soul of the team is senior Josh Pearson, but two other veteran seniors have shined as well-Ethan Carey and Uchenna Okoli. Junior Austin Woon has been a solid starter, but the pleasant surprise of the season comes from senior Jaison Joyce, a transfer who wasn’t eligible since late December. All he has done is score at least 20 points in five times and over 10 points five other times.

The top players coming off the bench have been junior Roman Acosta and freshmen Xavier Brown and Bryce Titus.

“Roman is the starting quarterback of our football team, and he plays basketball like he plays football,” said Girley. “He’s just extremely competitive and always has the energy. He gets the guys going and worked up before the game starts. He’s just passionate and never takes a play off.

Ayala began the season with a loss, followed by five straight wins, then another loss before reeling off five consecutive victories. Like Gahr, the Bulldogs are also a third place representative, and the two teams have played twice since 2011 with each team picking up a win.

Projected starters: Carey, Joyce, Okoli, Pearson and Woon

The winner plays either #4 Price High or #29 Pacifica Christian High/Santa Monica in the second round.

DIVISION 3A

#19 Providence High/Burbank (12-12, 6-1 in the Prep League) @ #14 Whitney (13-15, 6-4 in the 605 League)-The last time Whitney hosted a playoff game was two seasons ago on Valentine’s Day. Before that, you have to go back to 2013 when the Wildcats, members of the Academy League, lost to JSerra in the first round. How times have changed since then as Whitney has reached the playoffs three straight seasons, the longest stretch since going in five straight seasons from 2009-2013.

The most intriguing aspect of this division, according to Whitney head coach Nasir Akmal, is the fact that the Wildcats shot up from Division 4AA. He felt Whitney would have stayed in Division 4AA or 4A based on the small enrollment of the school.

“I do know that the CIF system this year has kind of been all over the place,” he said. “But opponents-wise, I guess it’s more balanced than in previous year. I would have liked us in [Division 4] at highest. But at the end of the day, hey, we’re in Division 3; I’m cool with that too. These guys earned their place into [this division], so now, let’s go do something.”

Whitney, the third place representatives from the 605 League, have hovered around the .500 mark most of the season and once sported a 3-1 mark, and of the six league wins, three came by three points or fewer while the Wildcats fell to Artesia by five points.

The heart and soul of the Wildcats for four seasons has been Morgan Marks. But, senior Peter Poitras and sophomore Jezreel Dela Cruz have been turning up the heat this season and all three have combined to score 874 points.

Whitney has 15 players on the team with another one who has missed the entire season. Akmal hasn’t been shy about unloading his bench this season and outside of his normal everyday starters. His top player coming off the bench figures to be senior Alex Cheng. But don’t overlook junior Shayan Saravanakumar, whose height and wingspan provides an extra spark in the rebounding department.

“The thing about our team is our guys already know what they have to do in terms of opponents,” said Akmal. “It’s just a matter of us executing, and if we do that, I like our chances against anyone. We played San Clemente earlier [in the season] and they’re in D1 now. Obviously, it was a blowout; it wasn’t a competitive game. But they know what it’s like to play a D1 team, and we’re a D3 team.”

Providence finished in second place in the Prep League but comes into the playoffs having split its last eight games. At one point, the Pioneers won four straight games while Whitney’s longest winning streak was three games. The Wildcats did have losing streaks of three and four games respectively before league play started and have reached the .500 mark five times while never getting more than two games above .500.

“It is a testament to our guys and the program and how far we’ve come,” said Akmal. “And also the fact that I think that we’ll be competitive in [Division] 3. We’ve played some of  the teams; Pioneer is in there with us. So, I’m good. I’m more than happy to show that we can compete in Division 3 and not only compete; we want to go out there and win.”

Projected starters: Seniors Alex Cheng and Jeffrey Nishida, Dela Cruz, Poitras and Marks.

The winner plays either #3 Salesian High or #30 La Salle High in the second round.