DIVISION VI-A

PADRE PIO ACADEMY (19-5) VS. BESANT HILL OF OJAI (20-1)

Site, time: Thacher High of Ojai, 7:30 p.m.

Outlook: Padre Pio’s first year of playoff eligibility has yielded a trip to the semifinals. A Catholic K-12 school in Garden Grove, Padre Pio had its first boys varsity team last year, but had probationary status as a new member of the CIF-Southern Section. It has 12 boys, eight of whom are on the basketball team. The Rebels are a freelance team, which means it does not belong to a league. In the playoffs in the VI-A’s 16-team bracket, they beat Waverly of Pasadena, 56-36, in the first round, and Lee Vining, 53-37, in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Besant Hill was champion of the Condor League. The Coyotes have won 18 in a row since an early-December tournament loss to Bishop Diego of Santa Barbara. Matip Ivan, a 6-3 junior, leads Besant Hill with 23 points a game. The Coyotes have a 6-9 junior center, Atanga Yannick, who is scoring 19 a game.

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