fairfax

When Jeff Bryant was playing high school basketball at Sylmar, the top teams in the City Section were annually among the best in California.

“The City dominated back in the day,” Bryant, now the head coach at Palisades, said Tuesday before Southern California Regional Division II boys’ basketball final. His Dolphins lost a heartbreaker, 59-57 at Bakersfield Christian, falling a win short of a trip to Sacramento for the state finals.

Eleven days earlier Palisades captured the City Open Division crown, going undefeated against section opponents, and with 10 players — including all five starters — returning next season, Bryant not only has his sights set on a repeat, he wants to reverse a 15-year trend during which City teams have struggled to compete at the highest level.

City boys teams won the state’s top division five times in six years from 1993-98 and seven times in nine years from 2002-10. However, since the Open Division debuted in 2013 only two City teams have advanced to the regional finals in that division — Westchester in 2014 and Fairfax in 2015 — and the last time a City team made the Open bracket was five years ago when Birmingham lost in the first round.

Bryant, who graduated in 2006, will be rooting for his former coach on Friday when his alma mater plays for the Division V state championship under the guidance of Bort Escoto, who piloted the Spartans to the City Division II title on the same night Palisades won the Open Division. Sylmar was dropped down to Division V for regionals and ran the table.

Birmingham was upset by Fairfax in the opening round of the City Open Division playoffs Feb. 11 and dropped to Division III for the regional tournament. The Patriots have since reeled off four convincing victories and will also play for a state title Friday afternoon.

Birmingham and Sylmar are the latest City teams to benefit from regional playoff expansion in which teams are placed several divisions lower from where they played in their section. Chatsworth advanced to the Division II state final last winter after losing in the City Open Division final and reached the Division IV state final after its City Open semifinal loss two years ago. Like Sylmar this season, Verdugo Hills was the City Division II champion in 2024 and went on to play for the Division V state title.

On the girls’ side, no City squad has won an Open Division state playoff game. Five teams from the section have received berths in the highest division over the last 14 years, but none since Fairfax in 2018. Narbonne is the last City team to conquer the state’s top division, claiming back-to-back Division I titles in 2000 and 2001, long before the Open debuted.

Like the boys, City girls’ teams fare well when dropped to lower divisions.

Palisades, which fell in the first round in the City Open Division, plays for the state Division IV crown Saturday while City Open Division champion Westchester was seeded 14th in Division I for regionals and lost in the first round. Granada Hills went to the Division III state finals two years ago after losing in the first round of the City’s Open Division.

Before taking the helm at Palisades, Bryant guided West Ranch of the Southern Section into the Open Division regional playoffs in 2023. Now he aims to do the same at a school in the section he once played in.

Tyran who?

Remember when people were wondering what might happen to the Sherman Oaks Notre Dame basketball team after All-American Tyran Stokes left for a new high school in Washington?

What’s happened is that the Knights (20-6) went into the weight room, got stronger to make up for losing Stokes’ rebounding prowess and are very much alive in the Southern Section Open Division playoffs after defeating La Mirada 76-60 on Wednesday night in their opening game of Pool D. Next up is St. John Bosco at home Tuesday night.

Players such as Zach White, Josiah Nance, Ilan Niklov and Zion Lanier are showing off their muscles. Even guard NaVorro Bowman, who scored 25 points, is using his strength to draw fouls and head to the free-throw line.

Andrew Castro scored 17 points for La Mirada, which had won 14 consecutive games.

Santa Margarita 81, Damien 71: The Eagles won their pool play opener at home. Kaiden Bailey finished with 21 points.

Sierra Canyon 71, Crespi 64: Jordan Mize scored 16 points, Brandon McCoy and Brannon Martinsen 15 and Maxi Adams 14 to power top-seeded Sierra Canyon to an Open Division win.

Redondo Union 74, Etiwanda 31: SJ Madison led the way with 20 points for Redondo Union.

Windward 77, Bishop Montgomery 61: Davey Harris finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Windward.

JSerra 72, Pasadena 66: The Lions won in overtime. Jaden Bailes had 21 points.

Orange Lutheran 79, Arcadia 74: Josh King scored 22 points for Orange Lutheran.

Inglewood 102, Tesoro 70: Jason Crowe Jr. finished with 34 points for Inglewood.

St. Bernard 63, La Habra 51: Chris Rupert led St. Bernard with 14 points.

Saugus 65, Culver City 64: Braydon Harmon came through with 44 points and 14 rebounds for Saugus. The Centurions came back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Brentwood 61, Long Beach Poly 55: AJ Okoh delivered a 31-point performance for the Eagles, who will face Fairmont Prep on the road Friday. Fairmont Prep eiminated Crossroads.

Loyola 72, Los Alamitos 64: Deuce Newt had 24 points for the Cubs.

Eastside 65, Redlands East Valley 61: Christian Duran led Eastside with 18 points.

Rolling Hills Prep 50, St. Monica 47: Kawika Suter had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Rolling Hills Prep.

Oakwood 72, San Bernardino 69: Dylan Williams had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Bryce Fletcher added 18 points for Oakwood.

Rancho Christian 78, St. Francis 59: With 7-4 center Cherif Millogo not playing, St. Francis was beaten in its playoff opener. Luke Paulus had 17 points.

Long Beach Millikan 79, Thousand Oaks 34: Freshman guard Quali Giran had 21 points.

Murrieta Mesa 71, Viewpoint 58: Murrieta Mesa advances in the Division 3 playoffs.

MIra Costa 57, Oaks Christian 56: Paxx Bell scored 15 points for Mira Costa.

Fairfax 66, Birmingham 58: Chris Stokes scored 22 points to help the Lions upset No. 3-seeded Birmingham in the City Section Open Division playoffs. Fairfax will face Cleveland, a 57-52 winner over Narbonne, in the semifinals on Feb. 21. Charlie Adams scored 23 points for Cleveland.

Palisades 72, El Camino Real 45: Top-seeded Palisades received 23 points from EJ Popoola and will face San Pedro in an Open Division semifinals on Feb. 21 at L.A. Southwest College.

San Pedro 51, Washington Prep 47: The Pirates won on the road to reach the Open Division semifinals. AJ Bobich made four free throws in the final 30 seconds and finished with 10 points. Chris Morgan led the way with 15 points and Ricky Alonso had 12.

Sun Valley Poly 44, Westchester 36: The Parrots eliminated defending City Open Division champion Westchester in a Division I opener. Kevin Lara scored 15 points for Poly.

Carson 68, LACES 53: Mekhi Williams had 28 points and Blake McCall 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Colts in a City Division II game.

Crenshaw 69, Grant 58: Lauran Coleman had 20 points for the Cougars in a Division I opener.

Eagle Rock 53, University 51: Skylar Melton scored 27 points for University in the Division II loss.