Powerhouse after powerhouse. Juggernaut after juggernaut.
When Birmingham basketball coach Nicholas Halic set up this year’s schedule, he did not hold back.
“Honestly when I did this schedule, I thought it would be nice if we were over .500 when we got to league. I’m not even joking,” Halic said. “There were some really good games on the schedule.”
Yet Birmingham rose to the challenge, posting a 24-3 record, including a 4-1 record against CIF Southern Section Open Division teams.
Rancho Christian, Santa Margarita, Oak Park, Etiwanda, Long Beach Poly, Heritage Christian from the Southern Section? No sweat.
Narbonne, Westchester, El Camino Real (twice) and Taft (three times) in L.A. City Section matchups? No worries.
“Who else plays Taft three times?” Halic said, laughing. “The non-fear factor alone is something you need going into the playoffs.”
Birmingham cashed in a spectacular regular season for the No. 1 seed in the City’s Open Division playoffs.
Birmingham, one of three local teams to make the Open Division, takes a 15-game winning streak into Friday’s first-round game against No. 8 Dorsey.
“Being No. 1 doesn’t guarantee anything. It’s just a target,” Halic said. “But I think the kids are ready. They definitely feel the schedule helped them, No. 1. And No. 2, they silently had certain goals and they have achieved each one so far. They have answered every challenge they have faced this year.”
Taft drew the No. 5 seed and travels to No. 4 Narbonne, and El Camino Real was the No. 7 seed and treks to No. 2 Fairfax.
The Open Division and Division I championships will be held at Cal State Dominguez Hills on March 4, the Division II final will be at Royal on March 3, the Division III final will be March 2, Division IV is March 1 and Division V will be Feb. 28.
Open Division Girls
West Valley League co-champs El Camino Real and Granada Hills returned to the Open Division as the No. 3 and 4 seeds.
El Camino Real hosts No. 6 Carson and Granada Hills hosts No. 5 Eagle Rock. Palisades is the No. 1 seed and Fairfax is No. 2.
Division I boys
Sylmar earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 14 LACES.
No. 10 Granada Hills travels to No. 7 View Park, No. 13 Chatsworth travels to No. 4 Palisades, No. 15 Eagle Rock travels to No. 2 Fremont and No. 16 Poly travels to No. 1 Crenshaw.
Division I girls
Birmingham drew the No. 3 seed and hosts No. 14 San Pedro while Sylmar is the No. 5 seed and also earned a first-round home game against No. 12 Taft.
No. 11 North Hollywood travels to No. 6 LACES, No. 13 Su Valley Poly travels to No. 4 View Park Prep and No. 16 Kennedy ventures to No. 1 Westchester.
Division II boys
Grant, whose coach Howie Levine won his 500th game earlier this season, claimed the No. 2 seed and hosts No. 15 Hollywood.
Kennedy drew the No. 4 seed and hosts No. 13 Middle College. No. 12 Vaughn travels to No. 5 Garfield, and No. 14 Verdugo Hills travels to No. 3 Gardena.
Division II girls
Local teams took the top three seeds.
East Valley League champion Arleta locked down the No. 1 seed and hosts No. 16 Huntington Park while San Fernando drew the No. 2 seed and hosts No. 15 Rancho Dominguez. Cleveland took the No. 3 seed and hosts No. 14 Sherman Oaks CES.
No. 9 Chatsworth travels to No. 8 Hamilton, and No. 12 VAAS travels to No. 5 King Drew.
Division III boys
Van Nuys claimed the No. 1 seed and hosts No. 16 L.A. Wilson.
Monroe took the No. 4 seeds and hosts No. 13 Northridge Academy. No. 11 VAAS travels to No. 6 Banning, and No. 15 San Fernando travels to No. 2 Sotomayor.
Division III girls
Panorama secured the No. 2 seed and hosts No. 15 Verdugo Hills and No. 14 Northridge Academy travels to No. 3 Torres.
Division IV boys
Chavez grabbed the No. 1 seed and hosts No. 16 Canoga Park.
No. 4 Panorama hosts No. 13 Santee, No. 6 Lakeview Charter hosts No. 11 Legacy and No. 8 East Valley hosts No. 9 New Designs
Division IV girls
Vaughn drew the No. 3 seed and hosts No. 14 Canoga Park.
No. 5 Reseda hosts No. 12 Marquez, and No. 6 Community Charter hosts No. 11 Rivera.
Division V boys
Community Charter is the No. 5 seed and hosts No. 12 Rivera.
No. 10 Triumph travels to No. 7 Smidt Tech, No. 15 Sun Valley travels to No. 2 Gertz-Ressler and No. 16 North Valley Military Institute travels to No. 1 New Designs Watts
Division V girls
Panorama-based Valor Academy claimed the No. 1 seed and hosts No. 16 CALS Early College.
No. 3 Triumph hosts No. 14 USC Hybrid, No. 5 Lakeview hosts No. 12 Burton, No. 10 Discovery Prep travels to No. 7 Animo Venice and No. 13 Sun Valley Magnet travels to No. 4 Maywood.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
