CIF State Playoffs: Best Opening Round Games in Division 2

<p>With CIF Southern and Northern Section champions having been crowned last week, the CIF State playoff brackets were release Sunday afternoon. The state’s top teams are now competing for the opportunity to be called the best in California within their divisions with action starting Tuesday. In this piece write about the best opening round matchups in the Division 2 field.</p> <h6>No. 16 Francis Parker (18-7) at No. 1 Foothill (27-3)</h6> <p>This will be a game of similar styles of play as both Parker and Foothill really like to get out in transition, push the tempo and play a free-flowing style filled with drive and kicks and plenty of three-pointers being launched. Foothill received the No. 1 overall seed in Division 2 after falling to Long Beach Poly in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs. The Knights are led by a plethora of talented guards in <strong>Cruz Billings</strong>, <strong>Jacob Horton</strong> and <strong>Carlo Billings</strong> who are all dynamic open court players. Parker will need to rely on point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="971188" first="Vinny" last="Ferrari"]</strong> and combo guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="971229" first="Camden" last="McCormick"]</strong> to match the energy and pace of the Foothill side. Ferrari is a quick and decisive decision-maker and passer in the open court, while McCormick is one of those guys who can get you an isolation bucket in crunch time.</p> <h6>No. 9 Taft (17-6) at No. 8 Carlsbad (21-11)</h6> <p>The Toreadors love themselves a visit down to the San Diego area. A few years back Taft, a No. 15 seed in the state playoffs, went down and stunned a very good Torrey Pines team. The seeding is a little tighter for Taft and Carlsbad, so if the Toreadors are able to pull out a victory it wont be quite as big of an "upset." Taft is loaded with high level athletes with major potential in 2023’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1222428" first="AJ" last="Johnson"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="994940" first="Keyon" last="Kensie"]</strong> and complement them with a host of solid role players. The upstart Carlsbad squad has put together a great season led by freshman sensation Jake Hall. Look for <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="971191" first="Toby" last="Harris"]</strong>, <strong>Mason Bowers</strong>, <strong>Cole Murray</strong> and sophomore guard <strong>TJ Duckett</strong> to have a say in the final outcome of this one.</p> <h6>No. 14 Birmingham (17-8) at No. 3 San Juan Hills (27-4)</h6> <p>What a run it has been for the deep South Orange County based Stallions who raced to a Southern Section 2A title over La Mirada. Birmingham comes into Tuesday’s match-up after falling to Fairfax in the City Section Open Division semifinals, a bracket that the Lions eventually went on to win over King/Drew. This game is intriguing for a variety of reasons, but mainly because of the difference in styles of play. San Juan Hills, from what we have seen, is best when slowing the game down and executing in the half-court setting while also playing a half-court style of defense led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="971252" first="John" last="McFadden"]</strong>, <strong>Mark Reichner</strong> and <strong>Jacob Simon</strong>. Birmingham and coach Nick Halic love to push the pace on offense and look to speed teams up with full-court defensive pressure. The key question here is will San Juan Hills handle the pressure similar to how it did in its win over La Mirada? For Birmingham it will be crucial for them to turn turnovers into points on the other end.</p>