Prep basketball: Central Section semifinals set for Tuesday, Wednesday
The road to Selland Arena for Central Section high school basketball teams reaches its penultimate stop Tuesday and Wednesday with semifinals in all 10 divisions.
The boys get it started with games Tuesday night. Girls semifinals are Wednesday night.
Boys divisions I, II and III have seen the top four seeds in each advance to Tuesday’s semifinals. Not so in divisions IV and V, where the top seeds (Immanual in IV, Kern Valley in V) are joined by dark horses.
In fact, the boys brackets will produce two of the lowest-seeded teams to reach Selland. In D-IV, No. 15 Orosi plays at No. 11 Taft on Tuesday night for a berth in Saturday’s championship. In D-V, No. 14 Fresno Christian plays at No. 10 Strathmore with a spot in Friday’s final on the line.
Kingsburg, seeded 12th in D-IV, has averaged 81 points in winning its first two games to advance to a semifinal at Immanuel. But the visiting Vikings figure to have their hands full against the Eagles, who beat them 91-49 and 72-42 in the Central Sequoia League.
Also seeking an upset is fourth-seeded Centennial, which will attempt to become the first D-I boys team from Kern County in 12 years to make it to Selland when it takes on top-seeded Clovis North.
The girls semifinals feature all the top seeds with two exceptions: Sanger, No. 5 in D-III, advanced with a 46-31 win at Fresno High and No. 5 Bakersfield beat Tulare Western 43-33 in D-II. (Note: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that Tulare Western had advanced.)
Central Section basketball semifinals
All games 7 p.m.
BOYS
Tuesday
DIVISION I
No. 4 Centennial at No. 1 Clovis North; No. 3 Clovis East at No. 2 Central
DIVISION II
No. 4 Mission Oak at No. 1 Ridgeview; No. 3 Memorial at No. 2 Lemoore
DIVISION III
No. 4 Porterville at No. 1 Roosevelt; No. 3 Selma at No. 2 West
DIVISION IV
No. 12 Kingsburg at No. 1 Immanuel; No. 15 Orosi at No. 11 Taft
DIVISION V
No. 1 Kern Valley at No. 5 Riverdale (per section rules); No. 14 Fresno Christian at No. 10 Strathmore
GIRLS
Wednesday
DIVISION I
No. 4 Clovis at No. 1 Clovis West; No. 3 Hanford at No. 2 Edison
DIVISION II
No. 5 Bakersfield at No. 1 Redwood; No. 3 Lemoore at No. 2 Independence
DIVISION III
No. 5 Sanger at No. 1 Mission Oak; No. 3 Madera at No. 2 Exeter
DIVISION IV
No. 4 Sierra Pacific at No. 1 Immanuel; No. 3 Kingsburg at No. 2 Orosi
DIVISION V
No. 4 Kern Valley at No. 1 Memorial; No. 3 Minarets at No. 2 Caruthers
FINALS AT SELLAND ARENA
Friday: Girls D-V, 2 p.m.; Boys D-V, 4 p.m.; Girls D-II, 6 p.m.; Boys D-II, 8 p.m.
Saturday: Girls D-IV, 10 a.m.; Boys D-IV, noon; Girls D-III, 2 p.m.; Boys D-III, 4 p.m.; Girls D-I, 6 p.m.; Boys D-I, 8 p.m.
This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Prep basketball: Central Section semifinals set for Tuesday, Wednesday."