Open Division gearing up for semifamiliar Final Four

Bishop Montgomery, Sierra Canyon in rematch; Fairfax faces Etiwanda after upset.

A high school basketball season that began in November is down to its final three weeks. There are four teams left in the Southern California Open Division boys’ basketball regional playoffs, setting up two semifinal games for Tuesday.

Torrance Bishop Montgomery (28-1) will play Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (24-4) at Calabasas High, and Fairfax (23-9) will play at Etiwanda (29-3). Both games begin at 7 p.m.

It’s rematch time for Bishop Montgomery and Sierra Canyon. They played on Jan. 5 and Bishop Montgomery won 65-62 without three of its starters. They played Feb. 24 and Sierra Canyon won in double overtime 77-74.

Both teams match up perfectly because of their strong guard play and talented front-line players who aren’t tall but can rebound and play defense.

Gianni Hunt, who started the year on crutches with a broken ankle, is finally healthy and ready for Bishop Montgomery.

Fairfax is the surprise Final Four team, having upset No. 1-seeded Santa Ana Mater Dei on the road last week. The Lions are always tough to beat when guards Jamal Hartwell and Ethan Anderson are at their best. They are a dangerous team for Etiwanda, which doesn’t have much size but plays great defense and has Pepperdine-bound Kessler Edwards.

In Division I, there’s a rematch of the Southern Section championship game, matching Pasadena and host Chino Hills. Pasadena faces a familiar challenge: trying to deal with 6-foot-9 Onyeka Okongwu. The other semifinal has Temecula Rancho Christian playing at Bellflower St. John Bosco.

In Open Division girls, Windward and Studio City Harvard-Westlake need semifinal wins to set up a rematch in the regional final. Etiwanda is at Windward and Clovis West is at Harvard-Westlake. Regional finals will be held Saturday. Open Division and Division I finals will take place at Long Beach State beginning at noon for girls’ Division I, followed by boys’ Division I at 2 p.m., girls’ Open Division at 4 p.m. and boys’ Open Division at 7 p.m. General admission tickets will be $18 and good all day.