The bracket was released Sunday for the 3C2A Men’s Basketball State Championship, held at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. The Hawks will face Citrus College on Thursday at 3 p.m. — the second game in the eight-team tournament featuring the top four teams from the South and the top four teams from the North. The Hawks advanced with a 78-67 road win over Modesto on March 8.
Citrus is the No. 2 seed from the SoCal region after finishing with a 28-2 record. The Owls ranked No. 2 in the state in the latest coaches poll. LPC, ranked No. 12 in California, did not play Citrus during the season. This will be the first meeting between the schools since head coach James Giacomazzi took over the Hawks’ program.
If the Hawks win, they advance to the semifinals and play the winner of San Francisco City vs. Cerritos on Saturday, March 15. The Hawks have played San Francisco twice. The first meeting on Jan. 10 ended with an 81-69 win for LPC in San Francisco. The rematch fueled San Francisco into an 80-61 win in Livermore.
That means the road to the championship game for Las Positas, the No. 3 seed from the North, would likely have to go through two of the best teams in the tournament. Citrus and San Francisco have a combined record of 57-3.
First up, Citrus. The Owls have won 22 games in a row. Their last loss was 90-87 to East Los Angeles on Nov. 27. Citrus is the No. 1 scoring team in California with an average of 102.5 points per game. The Owls have scored 100 points or more in 17 of their 30 games this season.
They do a lot of their damage on 3-pointers. They make 36.8 percent of their three-pointers, which is the sixth-best in California. They also shut down their opponents’ three-pointers. Citrus has given up the fewest three-pointers (144) in California. Teams shoot just 28.4 percent on 3-pointers against the Owls, which is the fourth-lowest in the state.
Las Positas is the sixth-highest scoring team in the state with an average of 86.3 points per game. The Hawks struggle from three-point range. Their 30.7 percent shooting from three-point range ranks No. 67 in California. The Hawks defend the three-pointer well. They allow opponents to shoot just 30.6 percent, which ranks No. 23 on defense.
The Hawks against the Owls might be a battle of the guards. The two best sophomore guards for Las Positas are Elijah Mobley and Sterling McClanahan, who average a combined 34.4 points per game. They will face a dominant guard tandem from Citrus. Sophomore guard Tyler Isaak and freshman guard K.J. Perry have a combined average of 35.7 points per game.
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TOP PHOTO: The offense of sophomore guard Jorren Edmonds will be necessary if the Hawks are to keep up with Citrus’ offensive potency. (Photo by Angelina An/ The Express)
Camille Leduc is the editor-in-chief of The Express. Follow her on X, formally Twitter, @CLeduc7603.
