Rancho Bernardo High will host a state basketball playoff game for the first time since 1998 when Moreno Valley Rancho Verde visits Tuesday for a first-round boys game.
Pairings for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs were announced Sunday, extending the season of eight North County high school basketball teams and four soccer teams.
Rancho Bernardo earned its berth and first-round home game by defeating El Camino in Saturday's CIF San Diego Section Division I championship game. The Broncos' last section title came in 1998, when they lost their first-round game in the state playoffs to Glendora.
"We're playing a lot better right now,'' said Rancho Bernardo coach Jim Choe, whose team has won 10 of its last 11 games. "I'm sure Rancho Verde is, too.
"It sounds like a cliche, but I'm being totally sincere when I say we didn't take any team lightly this year. So we haven't even thought about the state playoffs, although the players have joked about it.
"It's an honor to be in the state playoffs, but the fact that we made it to the big dance in San Diego is great. We still get to hang a banner no matter what happens, and that is still very cool.''
El Camino (21-11) also earned a berth in Division by virtue of reaching the section final. The Wildcats travel to Etiwanda (23-9) in the first round.
All first-round basketball games are Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The boys teams at Maranatha Christian (22-9) and Christian L.I.F.E. Academy (17-10) received berths in Division V.
Maranatha Christian, which lost to Foothills Christian in the section final, will host Irvine Tarbut V'Torah (24-4) in the first round. Christian L.I.F.E. Academy (17-10) visits Los Angeles Windward (20-8).
On the girls side, Division I runner-up Poway (27-4) goes to Corona Santiago (29-3), while Division II runner-up Westview (26-5) hosts Pomona Diamond Ranch (26-2). Christian L.I.F.E. Academy (24-3) and Calvin Christian (17-9) made the Division V bracket. Section champion Christian L.I.F.E. hosts Palos Verdes Chadwick (18-10) at San Diego Jewish Academy, while Calvin Christian (17-9) visits Sepulveda Montclair Prep (21-7).
In the CIF Southern California Soccer Regionals, the San Pasqual boys (15-3-3) host Santa Ana Valley (28-3-4) in Division I, while Cathedral Catholic (17-4-4) visits San Juan Capistrano Serra (26-5-2) in Division II.
On the girls side, La Costa Canyon (16-5-3) hosts Riverside Martin Luther King (20-7-1), while Rancho Buena Vista (15-5-4) goes to Anaheim Esperanza (24-0-4). Both games are in Division I.
The Orange Glen boys were the only San Diego Section champion from North County not to receive a berth in the regional playoffs. The Patriots won the section Division II title, but they compete in Division I on the regional level. San Pasqual, which received the section's only Division I boys berth, defeated Orange Glen during the regular season.
