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SoCalHoops High School News

CIF Southern Section Division III
Teams For 2000-2001--(Dec. 2, 2000)

Last year, the CIF realized that having 8 teams in a playoff bracket for a Southern Section "Championship" was kind of silly, so TPTB (the powers that be) decided to combine two shrinking subdivisions (III-AA and III-A) into a single Division III consisting of just 39 teams overall.   This made good sense, presented a more competitive playoff bracket, and conformed a little more closely to other CIF Sections across the state which don't have to deal with subdivisions.  Of course, it also meant a further deviation for purposes of entry into the state tournament, since the Southern Section gets four teams from each division (in recognition of its greater number of schools), and so not only do the section champion and runner-up get to go, but all four semifinalists are in, and it will be the same way this year again.  And we're willing to make a prediction right now who those teams will be.  Forget even playing the season, just mail in the results, start the State Tournament right now:   Bishop Montgomery will be one such team;  Ridgecrest Burroughs will be another;  Compton Centennial will be among the final four, and. . . well, it's that fourth spot that's a little hard to predict. . . . looks like everyone will have to play the season after all. . .

This year, even with the addition of two schools to Division III (both of which have asterisks beside them, Immaculate Heart--do they even have a boys' team?-- and Riverside King, which has only grades 10-11),  D-III's list of teams is down overall by three schools, to just 36 teams.  We're also guessing that this will be a 32 team bracket by the time the playoffs roll around. 

Why is the division even smaller this year than last?   Where are the teams going?  Several (Monrovia, for example) have moved up into Div. II-A, and one or two have moved down into IV-AA (Crespi, e.g., although they were already there, just not officially listed as such last year). 

But regardless of the overall loss of schools in the division, it's still a strong one, with some really dominant teams. With the addition of Ridgecrest Burroughs (and the of USC signee Rory O'Neil),  a new contender has shown up to give Bishop Montgomery (with two other USC signees, Errick and Derrick Craven)   Compton Centennial (which is absolutely loaded and just keeps getting more guys all the time, like Tony Key from Mt. Zion and the now defunct Emmanual Christian, and Brian Freeny from Arizona, just for starters), Notre Dame Sherman Oaks, and perhaps even Morningside, Pomona, or a few others a run for the money.

CIF Southern Section 2000-2001 Boys Basketball
Division III (750-1124) as of November 29, 2000

  Division III-AA Enrollment  
Alemany
Azusa
Banning
Bassett
Bishop Montgomery
Blair
Burroughs-Ridgecrest
Cabrillo-Lompoc
Centennial--Compton
Chaminade
Corona del Mar
Costa Mesa
Covina
Estancia
Gabrielino
Ganesha
Gladstone
Harvard-Westlake
Immaculate Heart*
King, ML (10-11 only)
La Canada
Morningside
Nordhoff
Northview
Notre Dame--Sherman Oaks
Pomona
San Dimas
San Jacinto
San Marino
Santa Paula
Santa Ynez
South El Monte
South Pasadena
St. Francis
Workman
Yucca Valley
1080
1031
853
994
946
852
1077
915
1032
785
843
893
1039
818
1075
986
968
809
772
858
1019
926
911
816
834
1065
970
819
861
1031
791
966
1018
888
1102
865
  

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