High school boys basketball: CIF Southern Section playoff brackets, results

Top seed Sierra Canyon to host second seed Centennial for the Open Division championship; 252 teams overall started the tournament, 20 will play for championships this week, starting Wednesday.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens

By Mitch Stephens

Jun 7, 2021, 10:20am

Sierra Canyon junior Amari Bailey scores 35 in 70-54 win over Windward.

Five-star UCLA commit Amari Bailey scores 35 8,881 views 1:24

The massive 10-division, 252-team CIF Southern Section boys basketball tournament is down to 20 teams. The Open Division final between host, top seed and two-time defending state champion Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) and No. 2 seed Centennial (Corona) is one of 10 championship games.

Sierra Canyon (15-0) won three straight pool play games over St. John Bosco-Bellflower (60-46), Ribet Academy-Los Angeles (82-70) and Etiwanda (82-76) and hasn't lost a playoff game since dropping the 2018 Open Division final to Mater Dei (Santa Ana).

Centennial (20-2) won its Pool B despite losing the opener to Harvard-Westlake-Studio City (70-65). The Huskies came back to defeat Damien-La Verne (82-69) and Mater Dei (84-69).

Despite injuries and adjustments to its roster, Sierra Canyon has loads of firepower led by five-star junior guard Amari Bailey (UCLA commit), 6-6 junior guard Ramel Lloyd Jr. and 6-6 junior forward Shy Odom. Bailey is averaging more than 28 points per game.

Centennial is led by guards Kylan Boswell, Jared McCain and Donovan Dent. The Huskies rely on constant defensive pressure.