High school playoff roundup: Catching up and looking ahead as nine teams remain
The first two rounds of winter playoff action are behind us, so it's a good time to look back and look ahead. There are still nine desert teams remaining across the sports of boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' soccer and girls' water polo, let's look back at some memorable efforts from last week.
Here is a look at what has happened and what's still ahead.
Boys' basketball
Teams remaining (1): Rancho Mirage basketball. The Rattlers will travel to play at Northview High School in Whittier on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Roundup up the week that was: Aside from the Rattlers advancing to the quarterfinals with wins over Desert Christian Academy and California High, the biggest story of the week was the Coachella Valley Arabs. Coachella Valley picked up its first postseason victories since 1993. The 31-year drought ended with wins over Victor Valley Christian and Palm Valley before ending on Friday night in a loss to Los Amigos.
Yucca Valley and Palm Springs were the only other desert teams to win a game. The Trojans topped Fontana before falling to Cerritos, and the Desert Empire League champion Indians ran past Ayala before losing to Corona Del Mar on the road.
Girls' basketball
Teams remaining (1): Shadow Hills. The Knights are on the road Wednesday against Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) in the quarterfinals.
Roundup of the week that was: The Desert Empire League champion Knights have looked the part so far, showing they can make quick work of inferior opponents (58-31 over Hesperia) and still ground out wins over ranked opponents (Diamond Bar 43-39). In the win over Diamond Bar, senior star Victoria Hyatt had 16 points and 15 rebounds while freshman Analiah Cardona added 14 points and three assists.
DEL runner-up Xavier Prep started its playoffs with an impressive win on the road at a ranked team in Sunny Hills. Senior stud Amoree Ferrel led the Saints with 20 points and 12 rebounds in that one, while Grace Thomsen had 10 points and Rosalee Gutierrez added nine points. The Saints couldn't keep the magic going at home on Saturday, though, falling to a loaded Lakewood team 68-50.
Palm Desert, the third team out of the DEL, also had a nice run, winning its first game on the road 56-46 over Riverside Poly with freshman Katelyn Gallagher leading the way with 28 points after she raced to Riverside to join the team after she helped the Palm Desert girls' soccer team win at home the same night. The Aztecs' run ended on Sunday with a heartbreaking 53-48 overtime loss to Immaculate Heart. Gallagher had 32 points in that one, while Ava Tethal added 10 points and nine rebounds and Naomi Plunkett had six points and six rebounds.
The Desert Valley League contingent didn't fare as well with only Desert Hot Springs picking up a win. League champions Yucca Valley had a difficult draw, losing to a tough Aquinas team 65-62 in Division 2A. Twentynine Palms and Coachella Valley also lost their openers, as did Desert Christian Academy, champions of their league. The Golden Eagles, though, picked up a historic win, 56-32 over Mesa Grande. It was the school's first-ever girls' basketball playoff win. They lost a heartbreaker on Saturday, though, falling 54-53 to Colton.
Boys' soccer
Teams remaining (4): Rancho Mirage, Shadow Hills, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs are still alive with the Rattlers, Knights and Lions all picking up a pair of wins to move into Tuesday's quarterfinals. The Golden Eagles division is on a different time schedule, their second-round game is Tuesday.
Roundup of the week that was: Boys' soccer is traditionally the sport that the desert has the greatest depth of talent and this year has proven that. Two Desert Empire League teams and two Desert Valley League teams are still alive. And the four matchups show that the season might not end on Tuesday. Let's take a closer look.
In Division 5, DEL co-champs Rancho Mirage, coming off what their coach called their best game of the season, a 3-0 win over University Prep on Friday, will hit the road to face Esperanza. In the latest Division 5 poll, the Rattlers are the No. 3-ranked team and Esperanza is unranked. So despite being on the road, you might call Rancho Mirage the favorite in this game.
Also in Division 5, Shadow Hills is at home Tuesday against Leuzinger. The Knights have won two road games to start the postseason including an impressive 4-1 in the first round over No. 5 ranked Nuview Bridge. Interestingly, neither the Knights nor Leuzinger are ranked in the poll as this is an unlikely Elite Eight matchup.
In Division 6, Cathedral City hosts Wilson-Hacienda Heights on Tuesday. The Lions trailed 2-0 late in their second-round match only to come back and tie it in regulation and then win the shootout. Cathedral City is the 10th-ranked team in the division and Wilson is unranked, but did knock off the No. 2 team in the division already during their run.
In Division 7, Desert Hot Springs will play Buckley in a game that is still just a second-round contest as the Division 7 bracket is not on the same schedule as the other six divisions. The Golden Eagles won their opener and are the No. 3 team in the division and are set to face a Buckley team that is unranked. If Desert Hot Springs wins it will play a quarterfinal on Thursday. If any of the other three desert teams win, they will play in a semifinal on Friday.
Girls' soccer
Teams remaining (1): Palm Desert. The Aztecs will hit the road for a quarterfinal match on Wednesday against Warren High School in Downey in a Division 3 quarterfinal.
Roundup of the week that was: It's a little surprising that only the Aztecs have emerged into the second week with all the talented teams entering the postseason this year. Palm Desert, Desert Empire League champions, eked out a shootout win in their opener and then knocked off Santa Paula 2-1 in round two. The Aztecs are the No. 5-ranked team in Division 3 and their opponent on Wednesday is unranked.
Palm Springs, Indio, Coachella Valley and Cathedral City, all won their first-round games, but alas none of them made it past round two.
Girls' water polo
Teams remaining (2): Indio and La Quinta have both worked their way into the CIF-SS Division 6 semifinals in what could be considered surprising runs for both teams, even though both are ranked in their division. Indio will host Anaheim and La Quinta will be on the road against El Modena in Orange County.
Roundup of the week that was: Desert Empire League champions Xavier Prep was ousted in the first round in Division 3 by Villa Park. Palm Desert had an excellent run in Division 4, winning a pair of games before falling to a talented Los Osos team on the road Saturday 16-5.
So it's the third- and fourth-place representatives out of the DEL that are still alive. Indio needed to win a wild-card game 9-8 just to make the field and since then the offense has been on a roll. The Rajahs trounced Indian Springs 24-5 and the outscored 18-16 to make the semifinal. Indio is the No. 5-ranked team in the division and will host No. 7 Anaheim on Wednesday
La Quinta beat Edgewood 15-8 in the first round and then rallied with a 4-0 fourth quarter to stun Chaffey 6-5 in the quarterfinals. The Blackhawks are ranked No. 4 in the division but have the unenviable task of going on the road to face the No. 1 team El Modena on Wednesday.
If desert fans dare to dream, we're one glorious night away from an Indio vs. La Quinta head-to-head battle for a CIF-SS championship. Which if it were to happen would be on Saturday.
Wrestling
We haven't forgotten about the wrestlers who took home CIF-SS titles over the weekend. Look for a full report later this week as we look ahead to the Masters Meet which will be this weekend at Palm Springs High School.
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
CIF-SS playoff schedule
TUESDAY'S GAMES
Boys' basketball
D4A: Rancho Mirage at Northview, 7 p.m.
Boys' soccer
D5: Leuzinger at Shadow Hills, 5 p.m.
D5: Rancho Mirage at Esperanza, 5 p.m.
D6: Wilson (Hacienda Heights) at Cathedral City, 5 p.m.
D7: Desert Hot Springs at Buckley, 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
Girls' water polo
D6: La Quinta at El Modena, 5 p.m.
D6: Anaheim at Indio, 5 p.m.
Girls' soccer
D3: Palm Desert at Warren (Downey), 5 p.m.
Girls' basketball
D2A: Shadow Hills at Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: CIF-SS high school playoffs: What 9 desert teams are still alive?
