The CIF Southern Section winter playoff brackets are set to be released this weekend, and the CIF has preempted that with the latest polls released on Monday.
West Ranch boys’ basketball continues to be one of the teams to watch, once again garnering a spot on the Open Division Watchlist. The Wildcats (25-1, 10-0) are also fourth in Division 1 and could make it a perfect Foothill League campaign with an away game at Golden Valley on Tuesday before the season finale at home against Castaic on Friday.
Hart remains a team to keep an eye on in Division 3A, as the Indians (15-10, 4-6) are ranked 13th for the second straight week. They travel to Canyon on Tuesday and then finish off the season hosting Valencia on Friday.
Speaking of Valencia, the Vikings (16-10, 8-3) are looking like the team to beat in Division 4AA. They jump up from being tied with Flintridge Prep in second in last week’s poll. Valencia has a bye in the league on Tuesday before Friday’s away matchup at Hart.
In girls’ basketball, Hart (24-2, 10-0) is still the top team in Division 2AA, a place the Indians have held for much of the season. They have two intriguing matchups to close out the season: an away game at Canyon, second in the league, on Tuesday before hosting Valencia on Friday.
Canyon is ranked eighth in the poll, the same spot the Cowboys (16-7, 9-1) held last week. Canyon can try to steal the league from Hart on Tuesday before closing out the regular season on Friday at home against Saugus. Hart ended up winning the previous matchup against Canyon at home, 51-48.
Valencia (16-9, 7-4) remains in the middle of the pack in Division 3AA, dropping down from ninth to 10th. The Vikings have just Hart on the road on Friday on their schedule.
Trinity Classical Academy (18-5, 5-0) is starting to make some noise in Division 3A, staying in seventh for the second straight week. The Knights (18-5, 5-0) are top of the Heritage League and host West Ranch on Monday before closing out their league schedule with a home game on Tuesday against Desert Christian and a road game on Thursday against Faith Baptist.
Golden Valley drops from ninth to 11th in Division 5A. The Grizzlies (10-13, 3-8) host West Ranch on Tuesday to close out their league campaign.
Boys’ soccer sees Hart rise slightly in Division 3, going up from fifth to fourth. The Indians (16-1-1, 9-0-1) have already wrapped up the Foothill League and will travel to Canyon on Tuesday before hosting Valencia on Thursday to finish the regular season.
The Vikings (6-6-4, 5-4-2) have guaranteed themselves a playoff spot and are one of the teams being watched in Division 1/2. They are not ranked in the poll but are being considered for the second straight week.
The soccer brackets are set to be released at 9 a.m. on Saturday while the basketball brackets are set to be released on Sunday at noon.
The full boys’ basketball polls can be found at tinyurl.com/3c8uaa4y. The girls’ basketball polls can be found at tinyurl.com/2p92tuj8.
The boys’ soccer polls can be found at tinyurl.com/5x5as2rz. The girls’ soccer polls can be found at tinyurl.com/97xd9h7m.