Unlucky Coin Flips Put County Teams on the Road

Orange County girls’ basketball teams will hope for better luck in their semifinal games on Saturday than they had Thursday, when coin flips determined home teams for many of those games.

Esperanza, Woodbridge and Rosary were the big losers, and must win on the road if they are to advance to the Southern Section finals March 3-4 at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

Although semifinal games will be played at alternate sites, they will be played at the choice of the designated home team.

In a battle of unbeaten teams in Division I-AA, fourth-seeded Woodbridge must play Ventura Buena, the state’s top-ranked team, at Ventura High. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Troy-El Dorado game, which will be played at Cypress College.

Esperanza, the second-seeded team in Division I-AAA, will play third-seeded Long Beach Poly at Long Beach Wilson High. The winner plays the winner of the Lynwood-Oxnard game, which will be played at Downey Warren High.

Rosary, the second-seeded team in Division III-AA, will play third-seeded North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake at L.A. Baptist High.

If those schools were the losers, Calvary Chapel was a big winner. The second-seeded Eagles play at Woodbridge High against Santa Maria St. Joseph, the No. 3 team in Division IV-A. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.

All other games will begin at 7:30.

Among quarterfinalists, Westminster won a coin flip and will host fourth-seeded Moreno Valley in Division I-AA.

Coin flips weren’t necessary in Division I-AA, where top-seeded San Clemente will play at La Crescenta Crescenta Valley and third-seeded Irvine will play at El Toro.

In Division II-A, top-seeded Brea Olinda will host La Quinta from the Inland Empire, and Santa Margarita will play at Bellflower.

A coin flip determined that Brethren Christian will host St. Margaret’s at the Warrior Center in Division V-AA.