Prep Finals Have That Familiar Look

The finals of the State basketball tournament will be held at a new venue this year, but the visitors remain pretty much the same.

The championship games move from their traditional home at the Oakland Coliseum Arena to Arco Arena in Sacramento this Friday and Saturday. The finals will be held at the Pond of Anaheim next year.

Five boys’ and five girls’ titles will be decided, and half of the participating teams were finalists last season.

No team has played in more championship games than the Crenshaw boys, who have won six Division I titles in six appearances. They will play Concord De La Salle at 8 p.m. Saturday. De La Salle, which defeated Carmichael Jesuit in the Northern Regional final, has never gone this far in the tournament.

In other boys’ games, Van Nuys Montclair Prep will defend its Division V title against Oakland St. Elizabeth at 12:45 p.m. Saturday. In Division II, Compton Dominguez makes a return visit after losing to St. Francis Mountain View last year. The Dons, the top-rated team in the Southland by The Times, will play Walnut Creek Northgate at 8 p.m. Friday.

In girls’ action, the headliner is a Division II matchup between Irvine Woodbridge and Sacramento El Camino at 6:15 p.m. Friday. Woodbridge defeated El Camino in last year’s final and the teams are regarded as the two best in the state this season. Atherton Sacred Heart Prep, which won the Division I title a year ago, dropped down to Division V this season and will play San Luis Obispo Mission Prep at 11 a.m. Saturday.