Pairings for the 2011 CIF Southern Section Basketball playoffs were announced Sunday at 1:40 and both the Firehawk boys’ and girls’ teams are in contention for section championships. This year marks the first that both teams will enter the postseason. The boys team, Mulholland League co-champions were named as the number nine seed in the 32 team bracket while the unseeded girls’ team will play the 15th seeded Temecula Prep.
First year boys’ coach Colin Jamerson, will lead the team against North County Christian High School Wednesday February 16 at the JCC. North County finished third in the Coast Valley League and will bring an 11-11 squad against a Shalhevet team that finished 10-2 in the Mulholland League. If Shalhevet wins, they will play the winner of seventh seeded Hesperia Christian and West Valley Christian. Hesperia Christian defeated the Firehawks in the second round last year.
Top seeded in Division VI-AA, the division in which Shalhevet competes, is Valley Torah. A meeting between the two Jewish schools could only occur in the championship game.
Coach Ronnie “Flava” Winbush, has led the Lady Firehawks to their first matriculated playoff bid in over five years. Last year, the team turned down a low seeding to compete in a tournament in Miami. Coach Flava was last year’s Mulholland League Coach of the Year for his work with the boys’ team and now as Shalhevet’s Athletic Director, will see both programs headed for post-season play.
The Temecula Prep Patriots, who finished second in the Majestic league at 11-10 will host the Lady Firehawks on Thursday evening. In 2009, the boys’ team won its first playoff game in 10 years when they made the long journey to Temecula in an opening-round game. That year, the Firehawks advanced to the next round where they fell to eventual champion Beasant Hill.
