The Anzar boys basketball team starts its playoff run at home
Wednesday when it hosts Downtown College Prep at 7pm in the first
round of the Central Coast Section Division V playoffs.
The Anzar boys basketball team starts its playoff run at home Wednesday when it hosts Downtown College Prep at 7pm in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division V playoffs.
The Hawks (16-10) earned the third seed in the playoffs, finishing just behind No. 2 Sacred Heart Prep (16-8).
“I was hoping for No. 2 but Sacred Heart Prep had a better record than us,” Anzar coach Ed Cecena said. “The third seed isn’t all that bad. We avoid the No. 1 seed (Woodside Priory) until the finals if we get that far.”
The biggest benefit is that if the teams were to reach the finals, they would automatically qualify for the Northern California playoffs.
In the playoff opener against the Lobos, the Hawks face a team they are fairly familiar with. Anzar did not play Downtown College Prep (9-11) this year, but did play and beat the Lobos in the three previous years.
“Their record doesn’t seem to indicate they’re a very strong team,” Cecena said. “But we’ll prepare like anybody else and try to execute the best we can.”
A win would advance the Hawks to the quarterfinals where they would face either No. 10 Fremont Christian or No. 6 Bridgemont.
“Bridgemont’s kind of scary,” Cecena said. “They have a real good record (13-2) but didn’t play any preseason games. It’s hard to gauge any strengths they may have.”
Anzar expects to have point guard Adrian Monroy back in the lineup. He missed the past two games due to illness and won’t likely be 100 percent after missing a week, but should be back in action.
