Tough road ahead

The Silverado and Hesperia boys basketball teams won the Desert Sky League and Mojave River League titles respectively this season, but it could be a tough road ahead in the CIF-Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs.

If either team wins its first round game on Wednesday, they will likely get nationally ranked opponents.

Silverado (16-8, 8-0 DSL) would get to play No. 1 ranked Mater Dei (26-0) if it wins its home game against 16-seed Upland (17-11). The Hawks and the other local boys teams open the playoffs on Wednesday.

All games are slated to start at 7:30 p.m., but game times are subject to change.

“We’re not looking past Upland,” Silverado coach Pat Brannon said. “That’s all we’re concerned with. We’ll worry about Round 2 if we get there. Hopefully Upland’s looking at the second-round game.”

While the Hawks haven’t played the Highlanders this season, they’ve played three other Baseline League teams, going 1-2. They beat Alta Loma 66-63, and lost to Rancho Cucamonga 108-99 and to Los Osos 94-92 at the buzzer.

“We’re expecting a good game,” Brannon said. “We’re ranked 17th and they’re 16th.”

Hesperia was bumped up from Division III due to its high enrollment this year. The Scorpions will host 15th-ranked Santiago/Corona (19-7), which finished third in the Big VIII — a league in which seven of eight teams made the playoffs. A win would likely set them up against defending Division champ Dominguez (21-5) — seeded third and ranked 17th in the USA Today Super 25 Poll.

“Anybody we play is going to be solid,” Hesperia coach Sergio Lugo said. “We’ll prepare and play the game. We’re excited to be (in the playoffs) and host a home game.”

Division VI-AA fourth seed and Agape League champion Hesperia Christian will host Desert Chapel.

Serrano, which finished third in MRL, hosts 10th-seeded West Valley, a Foothill League at-large team, in a Division II-AA first-round game.
Inland Valley League third-place team Ramona (seeded ninth) travels to the DSL’s third-place team, Granite Hills, in Div. III-AA.

Apple Valley, which finished second in the MRL, hosts seventh-seeded Cerritos in Div. III-A. Both Brannon and Lugo think the Sun Devils have a chance to make a deep run.

In the same division, Barstow — second in the DSL — hosts 13th-ranked Brea Olinda.

In other boys games on Wednesday: Silver Valley hosts Verbum Dei; Excelsior visits Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana; Academy for Academic Excellence travels to St. Anthony; and Lucerne Valley goes to Desert Christian/Bermuda Dunes.