Attendance falls at Saturday’s basketball finals

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Saturday’s City Section boys’ and girls’ basketball finals at USC’s Galen Center produced a final attendance count of 1,613, plus 244 through the pass door, which is a big drop from last year’s finals, which drew close to 5,000, according to City Section administrator Trent Cornelius.

This year’s contests were held in the afternoon, while last year’s were at night.

The Southern Section also suffered a drop in Saturday’s attendance at the Anaheim Convention Center, drawing 6,091 for the morning session and 5,230 for the evening session for a combined 11,330. Last year at the Honda Center, the combined attendance was 15,584.

One possible reason for the drop was the absence of Santa Ana Mater Dei, which has one of the most loyal fan bases.

Thom Simmons, the Southern Section spokesman, said the ability to use the Anaheim Convention Center Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday helped with attendance during the week, and that the section was ‘very happy’ with the venue. The Southern Section is likely to sign a three-year agreement to continue using the convention center.

-- Eric Sondheimer