Boys' basketball: Is the City Section final already a done deal?

Fans from Crenshaw and Palisades won't like it, but all signs point toward an El Camino Real-Westchester City Section Division I championship game next Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Since Jan. 21, the closest any City Section team has gotten to beating top-seeded Westchester (26-6) is 21 points. Palisades (22-8) which plays the Comets on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in a semifinal game at Dominguez Hills, has lost twice to Westchester.

No. 2-seeded El Camino Real (27-2), which plays Crenshaw (19-8) at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the other semifinal, has been equally dominant for more than a month. The closest any team has come to the Conquistadores since the middle of January is Taft, which lost by 19 points.

Not that Crenshaw or Palisades really care what others think. They'll embrace the underdog role and perhaps play with nothing to lose.

Andre Edwards of Crenshaw is capable of scoring points in bunches. Teammate Micah Winn has been playing well at the guard position. Ammar Rehman of Palisades has shown he can score points in a hurry. The Dolphins aren't afraid of Westchester.

But it would be a major surprise if by the end of Saturday, El Camino Real and Westchester aren't the last two teams alive in the Division I playoffs. Each has proven itself over the course of the season as being capable of playing well against a strong opponent.

-- Eric Sondheimer