10:11am | A star-studded Long Beach Poly boys basketball team leads the field into the CIF Playoffs this week, earning the No. 1 seed in the Division 1AA bracket with an undefeated Moore League title season and a 24-1 overall record.

Poly will face Santiago (14-13, Corona), an at-large entry from the Big VIII league. The first-round matchup will take place at 7:00pm this Wednesday at Long Beach Poly High School.

With Division 1 signees in forward Ryan Anderson (Boston College) and point guard Alexis Moore (USC), Poly is the odds-on favorite to win the CIF Title and a popular choice to win State. Senior forward Alex Carmon and sophomore Roschon Prince provide a stellar compliment.

Perrenial powerhouse Mater Dei earned the No. 2 seed with a 22-2 overall record, and will face Rancho Cucamonga (13-14) this Wednesday. Centennial of Corona (23-3) earned the No. 3 seed while Etiwanda (25-2) captured the No. 4 spot.

There will be Long Beach flavor in that game, as local Wilson High School (14-12) draws Etiwanda as their first-round opponent after a fourth place finish in the Moore League. Third-place Lakewood (16-10) will travel to No. 9 Thousand Oaks (19-8) on Wednesday.

The second-place finisher in the Moore League, Compton (18-9), competes in the Division 2AA bracket and earned the No. 4 overall seed. Talented senior point guard Allan Guei and the Tarbabes will face Inland Valley champion Canyon Springs (16-10) this Wednesday to kick off their playoff schedule. Compton is looking for another crack at a CIF Title after falling in last year’s championship game.