Van Nuys went into a packed Duarte High School gym, and walked out a convincing 74-62 victory. Tyree Winborn (somehow still unsigned) had yet another performance of scoring dominance, dropping 45 points. Not bad for a road state playoff game. Teamed with Winborn’s buckets, fellow senior, Ethan Quiambao made some key shots while Matthew Sykes chipped in with an all around night, 14 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block.

Southwest SD will be looking to spoil the Wolves attempt to make history. After going into La Puente and Nogales, the Raiders are well tested on road games during post-season play. Diego Edwards, Ivan Martinez and Jorge Castillo will need to contained.

Prediction: Van Nuys went into Duarte, won a game that most pundits thought they shouldn’t and will continue their historic run to a state championship behind a high scoring 80-67 win.

I would like to start this off with an apology to San Diego. I had them losing in the opening round and they have two wins by 40 and 28 points respectively while eclipsing 80 in both matches. Santa Clarita Christian knows all about offense, as the Cardinals average over 70 points a night (73.8 to be exact) and have usurped 80 on nine occasions, hitting triple digits twice. Santa Clarita Christian also dispatched their first two opponents by 18 and 16.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Cavers can force the Cardinals into a physical match-up, which plays in their advantage.

Prediction: I like San Diego to force this into a physical match-up, walking out 58-53 victors.