REGION — A trio of North County teams will compete in the highest division of the CIF Basketball Playoffs, while another North County team fell victim to one of the biggest upsets on record.
Torrey Pines, San Marcos and Vista are seeded second, fourth and sixth, respectively, in the CIF Open Division playoffs, which pits the top eight teams in San Diego according to a rating system by Maxpreps.
Torrey hosts La Jolla Country Day and San Marcos hosts Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista, while Vista will travel to Mission Bay for its game.
All three games are Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, Rancho Buena Vista, which was seeded second in the CIF Division 3 playoffs, fell at home to 15th-seeded University City, 61-51. It is believed to be one of the largest upsets on record in CIF history.
A number of North County programs are still alive in CIF Divisions 1-5 after winning their opening games, including El Camino, Santa Fe Christian and Canyon Crest Academy, which are the No. 1, 2 and 3 seed in Division 1, respectively.
Orange Glen, the fifth seed in Division 1, advanced to a quarterfinals date against No. 4 Poway after defeating Grossmont in the first round.
La Costa Canyon, seeded 10th in Division 1, registered a moderate upset by defeating No. 7 Rancho Bernardo 61-53. The Mavericks face Canyon Crest in the second round.
Oceanside is the lone team in The Coast News’ coverage area to advance in the Division 2 playoffs. Seeded seventh, the Pirates travel to El Cajon to face Christian High School in second-round play.
Carlsbad (seeded sixth) and San Dieguito Academy (seeded eighth) are the lone North County teams remaining in the Division 3 field. Despite its seeding, Carlsbad will host Central High School of El Centro, the 14th seed, which defeated No. 3 Bonita Vista in opening round play.
San Dieguito Academy gets a crack at the top seed Mount Miguel, which enters the playoffs as the heavy favorite to win the Division 3 crown.
Small schools Tri-City Christian, Escondido Adventist Academy and Guajome Park Academy all advanced in Division 4 play, but only two of the teams will have a chance to advance to the semifinals, as the Eagles and Red Hawks will face each other in the 4-5 game, while the Frogs will face No. 3 seed Monte Vista in another quarterfinals game.
And in Division 5, No. 11 seed Del Lago Academy of Escondido upset San Pasqual, the No. 6 seed, in opening round play and will face Southwest San Diego, of San Ysidro, in quarterfinals action.
Escondido Charter, the No. 2 seed in Division 5, faces Clairemont in the second round.
All quarterfinals action resumes at 7 p.m. Feb. 23.
Playoff brackets can be viewed at http://www.cifsds.org/boys-basketball.html.
