- CIF Sac-Joaquin

Most area schools have hit the second half of their league seasons this week, meaning postseason play is fast approaching. In the Sac-Joaquin Section, soccer playoffs are set to get underway Feb. 13 for girls brackets and Feb. 14 for the boys. According to the SJS bylaws, 77 boys soccer teams will make the playoffs, while 78 will make it in the girls divisions. The Pioneer Valley League and Capital Valley Conference, where Marysville, Lindhurst, Sutter, Wheatland, Yuba City and River Valley compete, earn three automatic qualifying spots to the girls tournament for Divisions I-VII. The CVC has four automatic playoff bids in the boys soccer tournaments, according to Sac-Joaquin bylaws. In the Northern Section, there is a D-I, D-II and D-III tournament. D-I and II are scheduled to begin Feb. 14, while D-III is set for Feb. 16. The mid-valley begins girls basketball playoffs on Feb. 14 and boys playoffs on Feb. 15, according to the NSCIF calendar. Area basketball in the Sac-Joaquin Section begins Feb. 16 across all divisions. The CVC, PVL and Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League, where Faith Christian School competes, are guaranteed three teams each into the playoffs, according to the SJS bylaws. At-large berths in basketball can be acquired in D-I through IV for any upper echelon teams that do not finish in its league’s top-3. According to the Sac-Joaquin, any D-I through IV team not in the top-3, but ranked in the top-15 by the Maxpreps SJS computerized final rankings will earn an at-large playoff berth. In Divisions V and VI – the latter where Faith Christian is slotted, any school not in its league’s top 3 that is ranked in the Top 10 by MaxPreps will be added as an at-large. Any school with incomplete results on MaxPreps will be ineligible for an at-large berth, according to the Sac-Joaquin bylaws. Girls basketball Marysville, currently in second in the PVL at 18-3 as of Tuesday, dropped one spot in this week’s MaxPreps rankings to No. 21. In D-IV, Marysville, which hosted Sutter Union High late Wednesday in a game not available by the Appeal deadline, sits No. 3 behind Colfax and Calaveras, respectively. Faith Christian (14-5) dropped three spots in the SJS rankings following its first loss in SMAL action last week. The Lions remain the top-ranked team in D-VI heading into a home bout Friday against Western Sierra Collegiate Academy of Rocklin. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. YC is 81st in the section and fifth in the CVC this week. Boys basketball Marysville (18-3), sits atop the PVL by a game over Twelve Bridges, No. 2 in D-IV but dropped one spot in the overall Sac-Joaquin rankings published each week by MaxPreps leading up to the playoffs. The Indians host Center, currently third in the PVL, in the backend of a doubleheader with the girls team, at 8 p.m. Friday. Yuba City (12-10), playing without its top-3 scorers due to injury or illness according to head coach Terry Evans, dropped to fifth place in the CVC. In the SJS rankings, the Honkers are 56th overall and 18th in D-II. YC hosts No. 13 Woodcreek (16-6) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Colusa dropped to No. 3 in the Northern Section Division IV rankings and 10th overall in the NSCIF. The RedHawks (17-4) round out the week at home against Paradise Friday at 7:30 p.m. Girls soccer YC (12-3-3) leads the area at No. 30 in the whole section, but fifth in the CVC. The Honkers are coming off back-to-back draws to Roseville and Bella Vista, the former ranked 27th this week. Yuba City is home Friday to take on No. 8 Inderkum (14-2-4), who sits second in the CVC, in a league game at 7:30 p.m. at Honker Field. In the PVL, Sutter (13-4-1) took down Center, 9-0 behind four goals from Swaisy Van Dusen to remain in third in the league The Huskies welcome in the league’s second place team, Twelve Bridges (12-4-1) at 3:15 p.m. today. Live Oak (9-4-1) girls soccer is No. 2 the NSCIF D-II rankings and No. 7 overall. The Lions are at Los Molinos today at 3:15 p.m. today. Boys soccer River Valley dropped three spots to No. 46 in the section this week. The Falcons (4-5-4) are fifth in league heading into the first of their remaining two regular season games today at home against Woodcreek at 6 p.m. at River Valley. MaxPreps’ rankings system does not poll coaches, sportswriters or fans, nor does it make any judgments on any individual teams. Prior season history, school size and comments on message boards are not considered in the MaxPreps computer rankings, according to a release via MaxPreps.com. MaxPreps stated that the system utilizes the huge number of games stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, MaxPreps stated. However, the system takes into account quality wins (against other highly-ranked opponents) and strength of schedule, MaxPreps stated. Other factors that will affect the rankings are times when MaxPreps has incomplete or inaccurate information. MaxPreps will correct errors when they are reported. A missing score should be reported on the team’s MaxPreps page, according to the release. Schedules can also be updated by MaxPreps upon request from schools. For complete rankings visit your MaxPreps team page and click on rankings.

Marysville girls, boys basketball lead area rankings