The Grossmont Conference made a big impact in the boys lacrosse playoffs by advancing three teams to the San Diego Section semifinal playoff round. Additionally, four of six qualified girls teams made it to the quarterfinals.
Championship games are this weekend at Westview High School (boys teams) and San Dieguito Academy (girls teams).
Fifth-seeded Granite Hills upended fourth-seeded Del Norte, 7-5, in Saturday’s Division I boys quarterfinals while third-seeded Helix Charter slipped past sixth-seeded Mt. Carmel, 11-7, in a Division II matchup last Friday. Second-seeded Valhalla reserved a berth in the Division III semis with last Friday’s 10-8 quarterfinal victory against seventh-seeded Del Lago Academy.
Granite Hills (14-5) was set to tangle with top-seeded Carlsbad (12-8) in Tuesday’s semifinals, with the winner advancing to Friday’s Division I championship tilt at 7 p.m. against either No. 2 St. Augustine (11- 6-1) or No. 3 San Marcos (11-8).
Helix (15-3) was slated to meet second-seeded San Dieguito Academy (16-3) in Wednesday’s Division II semifinals, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship game at 2 p.m. against either No. 1 Westview (11-6) or No. 4 Patrick Henry (5-15).
Valhalla (13-4) was scheduled to face third-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (13-5) in Tuesday’s Division III semifinal, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s division final at 11 a.m. against either top-seeded Classical Academy (16-3) or fifth-seeded Clairemont (12-5).
Granite Hills tipped off this year’s playoff run with a commanding 14-2 win over 12th-seeded Scripps Ranch (0-9) in an opening-round matchup on May 7.
The win paired the Eagles against Del Norte (13-3). That quarterfinal game was tied, 4-4, before the East County visitors reeled off three unanswered goals to take a 7-4 lead.
Tristan Diaz had three goals and Logan Vance and Cayden Phillips two goals each in support of goalkeeper Julian Boetjer (nine saves).
“Our defense played lights out,” GHHS coach Henry Diaz said. “They were flying around and communicated. This is a big win for us.
“When the game was tied at 4-4, I told the kids to keep your eyes open and to start dodging but we finished the game. When we shut down their offense, our goalie communicated well to our team that is how you win games.”
A total of seven East County prep squads qualified for this year’s boys lacrosse playoffs.
Besides the aforementioned semifinalists, Santana (13-9) received the No. 7 seed in the Division I playoffs, El Capitan (10-9) received the No. 7 seed in the Division II playoffs while West Hills (12-10) was seeded eighth in the same bracket, and Foothills Christian (4-14-1) received the No. 11 seed in the Division III tier.
Santana defeated 10th-seeded Point Loma (13-6) by a count of 9-5 in the opening round to meet second-seeded St. Augustine in the quarterfinals, which resulted in an 11-6 victory for the host Saints.
El Capitan defeated 10th-seeded Mission Hills (8-9) by a score of 16-10 in the opening round on May 6 while West Hills nosed past ninth-seeded University City (12-7) by a score of 7-6 as both teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Westview halted West Hills’ march with a 12-4 victory while El Capitan’s playoff run ended with a 16-6 loss to second-seeded San Dieguito Academy.
Foothills Christian failed to advance beyond the first round with a 15-6 loss at sixth-seeded UCSD Preuss (13-5) on May 6.
Overall, six of the seven East County playoff qualifiers won at least one game to showcase their abilities.
Boys championship matches are scheduled at Westview High School. The Division I final is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, May 16, while the Division III final is scheduled Saturday, May 17, at 11 a.m., followed by the Division II final at 2 p.m. and the Open Division final at 5 p.m.
A total of six Grossmont Conference girls lacrosse teams advanced to this year’s playoffs, with four teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
Seventh-seeded Valhalla (11- 8) and ninth-seeded Granite Hills (10-9) both advanced to the Division II quarterfinals with first-round wins but ended their seasons there with losses to higher-seeded teams, as did sixth-seeded Helix (10-11) and seventh-seeded West Hills (5- 13) in the Division III quarterfinal tier.
Valhalla advanced with a tight 9-8 win over 10th-seeded Mira Mesa (10-10). However, the Lady Norsemen ended their season there with a 17-8 loss to second-seeded Canyon Crest Academy (8-12).
Granite Hills topped eighth-seeded Westview (4-12) by a score of 11-7 in the opening round before running into top-seeded Rancho Bernardo, a 15-8 win for the Lady Broncos (15-5).
Helix defeated 11th-seeded Morse, 17-8, in the opening round on May 9 while West Hills eliminated 10th-seeded Del Lago Academy (8-8) by a 9-2 score.
Helix ended its season with a 14-5 quarterfinal loss at third-seeded Mission Bay (16- 2) while West Hills dropped a 13-4 decision to second-seeded Olympian (11-10) in Monday’s quarterfinal game.
El Capitan (11-6) received the No. 11 seed in the Division II field but failed to move forward following a 17-6 loss to sixth-seeded Eastlake (15-4) while Grossmont (3-12) received the No. 12 seed in Division III but fell, 15-3, to fifth-seeded El Camino (12-6) in the Division II opening round.
Girls finals matches are all at San Dieguito Academy: Division III (Saturday at 11 a.m.), Division II (Saturday at 2 p.m.), Division I (Saturday at 5 p.m.) and Open Division (Friday at 7 p.m.).
