Boys’ basketball: Taft is in good shape

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After looking at the Southern California Regional pairings for the Division I state tournament, Taft Coach Derrick Taylor should be smiling and Long Beach Poly Coach Sharrief Metoyer should be kicking a trash can.

In Poly’s bracket are Etiwanda, Loyola and Mater Dei. In Taft’s bracket are Corona Centennial and Westchester.

Most ominous for Poly is a potential Thursday game at home against Etiwanda. These two schools have had three fierce games the last two seasons, and Poly has a 2-1 edge. Loyola and Mater Dei could meet on Thursday.

Taylor said Etiwanda is “one of the top five teams in the state.”

Taft won’t have an easy opener against Clovis West on Tuesday, but the Toreadors are likely to win and move on to games Thursday and Saturday. A Corona Centennial-Taft semifinal on Saturday would be quite entertaining.

-- Eric Sondheimer