East County Sports

Only Foothillers left standing in CIFSDS

2-23=24 EAST COUNTY PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
CIF-San Diego Section Championships

 

ECS staff report

EL CAJON — With the sudden demise of the Mount Miguel girls basketball program following 23 consecutive league titles, only one question remained and that was which team that would take over the region remained in doubt all season.

However, following just two rounds of the CIF San Diego Section championships, just one school from East County remains to participate in the semifinals.

Grossmont High, which tied with Helix for the Grossmont Hills League crown, advanced to the Final Four in Division 1 following a surprisingly easy 40-point decision over San Marcos, 66-26.

The Foothillers (22-7 overall) will advance to the semifinals where they will be facing sixth-seeded Oceanside. The Pirates took out Torrey Pines in a defensive slug-fest, 41-38.

Since the Foothillers won a Division IV CIF Title in the 2015-16 season the Foothillers have made the championship game in Division II losing to Carlsbad 64-42 and a couple of semi-finals appearances. Grossmont’s last appearance in the semi-finals was a 52-45 setback to the Eastlake Titans in the 2020-21 season.

Every other East County school — public or private — either lost on Friday (Feb. 16) or earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, the Open Division remained on track with the top seeds all winning except one, but that was a minor upset.

Fifth-seeded Del Norte took a rare road victory in stopping Poway, 62-59. The Nighthawks next play at top-seeded Mission Hills, a 96-34 victor over Scripps Ranch.

The bottom half of the draw saw No. 2 La Jolla Country Day double up Rancho Bernardo, 60-32, while No. 3 Westview stopped Bonita Vista, 67-55.

Details on the Foothillers’ victory were not reported.

Among the locals

Division 2: Top-seeded Francis W. Parker 58, Helix 36
; Victory Christian 49, El Capitan 47; and The Bishop’s won at the Fleet Center over Granite Hills, 46-42.

Division 3: Fourth-seeded Vista stopped No. 5 West Hills, 52-43.

ivision 4: Escondido Charter 56, Valhalla 44.

Division 5-AA: The Rock 43, Foothills Christian 22

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