New dates announced for L.A. Chinatown Firecracker race and festival

• March 3, 2025

Following a delay due to the recent fires and the poor air quality that followed, the L.A. Chinatown Firecracker now has new dates.

Originally slated to take place in early February, the Firecracker race, which has been happening for 47 years and is one of the largest and oldest-running races in the country, will take place Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 at the historic Los Angeles Chinatown Plaza.

The race includes run, walk, cycling and dog walk events throughout the weekend and starts with an opening ceremony with performances by lion dancers and the lighting of 100,000 firecrackers. It also includes a free festival that features exhibitors, a beer garden, vendors, activities for children and live entertainment.

And those who signed up for the original February event will have their registrations automatically transferred to the new dates.

L.A. Chinatown Firecracker

When: 8 a.m. March 8-9

Where: Los Angeles Chinatown Plaza, 943 N. Broadway, Los Angeles.

Information: firecracker10k.org/

​ Orange County Register 

Man pleads guilty to murder and attempted murder in shooting at suburban Chicago July 4 parade

• March 3, 2025

By SOPHIA TAREEN

WAUKEGAN, Ill (AP) — An Illinois man pleaded guilty Monday to killing seven people and injuring dozens more when he opened fire on a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb, a stunning development moments before opening statements in his trial on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Appearing in a Lake County circuit courtroom, Robert E. Crimo III, 24, withdrew his earlier not-guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting.

Prosecutors initially charged him with 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped 48 less serious counts of aggravated battery before jury selection last week.

On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked questions to be sure he understood before any open plea was read to the court. He was sitting next to his lawyers wearing a dark suit.

“Is that what you went over with your attorneys?” Rossetti asked.

“Yes,” Crimo replied to the judge.

He gave one-word answers, indicating he understood the charges. His mother, Denise Pesina, had a brief outburst at the news and was called up to the judge for a warning.

“We’re going to move forward,” the judge said to her. “You are not a party to this proceeding. If you would like to stay in the courtroom please have a seat and be quiet.”

She was allowed to stay.

The judge said with the plea change, there would be no trial or further motions on the case.

“He has knowingly and voluntarily waived those rights and pleaded guilty,” Rossetti said.

Lake County prosecutors read the names of all those killed in the shooting and of those injured, with the judge stopping to ask questions to make sure Crimo understood.

They went over the substantial evidence, including his prints on the gun used in the crime, and statements to police admitting to the mass shooting.

Sentencing will come April 23, but Crimo is certain to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each count of first-degree murder carries a natural life prison sentence.

Crimo did not further address the court or ask questions before leaving the courtroom.

His defense attorneys declined comment ahead of the trial.

Ashley Beasley, who attended the parade with her son, said the guilty plea was a huge relief. She and her son were among the paradegoers who had to run for their lives and even though they weren’t injured, they have had to heal.

“Every single time I see him, it’s stressful. It’s upsetting for everyone in our community,” she told reporters after the hearing. “We all just wanted this to be over.”

Security was very tight for the proceedings at the courthouse in Lake County, with multiple bag checks and observers required to lock up their phones. The crowd expecting to hear opening statements included survivors and their family members.

Jurors, who were chosen last week, had not even been let into the courtroom yet when the plea change happened.

The trial was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police. Prosecutors had submitted thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the shooting.

Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting in the suburb about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Chicago. The wounded ranged in age from their 80s down to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed.

Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic as families fled the downtown parade route, leaving behind lawn chairs and strollers to find safety inside nearby businesses or homes.

Authorities said Crimo perched on a roof and fired into crowds assembled for the annual Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park.

The criminal case proceeded slowly for months, partly due to Crimo’s unpredictable behavior. In June 2024, when he was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly, Crimo showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers.

He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself. Then he abruptly reversed himself.

As potential jurors were questioned last week, he sporadically appeared in court, at times refusing to leave his jail cell.

The trial came almost two years after his father faced separate charges connected to how Crimo obtained a gun license.

In 2019, at age 19, Crimo was only allowed to apply for a gun license with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father agreed, even though a relative had reported to police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.”

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., a onetime mayoral candidate, was charged in connection with how his son obtained a gun license. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and served less than two months in jail.

He has attended his son’s hearings, sometimes making eye contact with him during court. He declined to discuss the case in detail ahead of the trial.

“As a parent, I love my son very much,” he said. “And Bobby loves this country more than anyone would ever know.”

Residents in the wealthy Highland Park community of roughly 30,000 set along Lake Michigan have mourned the losses deeply. Some potential jurors were excused because of their connections to the case.

City leaders canceled the usual parade in 2023, opting for a “community walk.” The parade was reinstated last year on a different route and with a memorial for the victims.

“Our community is once again reminded of the immense pain and trauma caused by the Highland Park shooting,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said in a statement ahead of jury selection. “Our hearts remain with the victims, their families, and all those whose lives were forever changed by that devastating day.”

The victims killed in the shooting included Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35.

Survivors and their families have filed multiple lawsuits, including against the maker of the semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting and against authorities they accuse of negligence.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump’s next first speech to Congress is bound to have little resemblance to his last first one

• March 3, 2025

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation will hear a new president sing a far different tune in his prime-time address before Congress on Tuesday night. Some Americans will lustily sing along. Others will plug their ears.

The old tune is out — the one where a president declares “we strongly support NATO,” “I believe strongly in free trade” and Washington must do more to promote clean air, clean water, women’s health and civil rights.

That was Donald Trump in 2017.

That was back when gestures of bipartisanship and appeals to national unity were still in the mix on the night the president comes before Congress to hold forth on the state of the union. Trump, then new at the job, was just getting his footing in the halls of power and not ready to stomp on everything.

It would be three more years before Americans would see Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, then the House speaker and his State of the Union host in the chamber, performatively rip up a copy of Trump’s speech in disgust over its contents.

On Tuesday, Americans who tune into Trump’s address will see whether he speaks to the whole country, as he mostly did in his first such speech in the chamber as president, or only to the roughly half who voted for him.

They will see also whether he hews to ceremony and common courtesies, as he did in 2017, or goes full bore on showmanship and incitement.

How Democratic lawmakers will react — whether they make a scene — is another question. At least four have invited fired federal workers to come as their guests.

Trump gives the speech days after assailing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his face and before the cameras in the Oval Office for not expressing sufficient gratitude for U.S. support in Ukraine’s war with Russia. It was a display of public humiliation by an American president to an allied foreign leader with no parallel in anyone’s memory.

Jarrett Borden, walking to lunch on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Florida, this past week, expressed ambivalence about Trump, having heard a lot of “hogwash” from him even while liking some of what he has done. Borden anticipates a good show Tuesday and will watch.

“I want to see if he’s going to leave the mic open for Elon Musk, like it’s an open mic at a club or something,” he said, citing the billionaire architect of Trump’s civil service purge. “This is what he’s been doing recently, which is comical.”

In Philadelphia, visual artist Nova Villanueva will spend Tuesday evening doing something — anything — else. She is into avoiding politics and social media altogether these fraught days.

“Yeah, it’s kind of sad,” she said. “It’s almost like I have to be ignorant to be at peace with myself and my life right now.”

A new president’s first speech to Congress is not designated a State of the Union address, coming so close to the Jan. 20 inauguration. But it serves the same purpose, offering an annual accounting of what has been done, what is ahead and what condition the country is in, as the president sees it.

It is customary in modern times for the president to say the state of the union is strong, no matter what a mess it may be in. Trump won the election saying the state of the union was in shambles and he was going to make it right.

The Trump who addressed Congress on Feb. 28, 2017, is recognizable now, despite the measured tone and content of that speech. After all, he had already shocked the political class by assailing “American carnage” from the inaugural stage.

He told Congress that night he wanted NATO members to spend more on their armed forces, wanted trade to be “fair” as well as free, and wanted foreign countries in crises to be made stable enough so that people who fled to the U.S. could go back home. But he did not open his first term with the wrenching turns in foreign policy, civil service firings, stirrings of mass deportation or cries of “drill, baby, drill” of today.

In a line that could have come from any president of either party, Trump noted in his 2017 speech that, “with the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a council with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that women entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams.”

Now he belittles Trudeau as “governor” of a land he wants to make the 51st state and is about to slam with tariffs, along with Mexico. Canadians, not known for displays of patriotism, are seething about their neighbor and rushing to buy and fly their flag.

In Philadelphia, small-time entrepreneur Michael Mangraviti cannot help but take some satisfaction in Trump’s scouring of the bureaucracy as the firings pile up with scant regard for how well people did their jobs or how those jobs helped keep services to the public running.

“He said for years and years, ‘Drain the swamp, drain the swamp,’” Mangraviti said. “But, you know, now is the time to actually drain the swamp.”

“We’ve seen time and time and time again that the government is horribly, horribly ineffective at everything it wants to do,” he went on. “The fact that they’re actually taking action on something that they say they’re going to do, the fact that they’re ready to take the ax and take it to our government, is something I appreciate.”

To Cassandra Piper, a Philadelphia instrumentalist, Trump’s move to stop making pennies was a “fine decision” — unlike everything else he has said and done.

“I comprehensively disapprove of the changes that are being made,” Piper said, stopping to speak while walking by the Liberty Bell Center. “Not that I was all too happy with the status quo beforehand in the first place, but there’s absolutely no good that can come from the inhumanity of mass deportation, something that this country has already been scarred by.”

So, too, with Trump’s selection of vaccination skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and his choice of Musk to lead the effort to “effectively plunder the government of its resources,” in Piper’s view.

In Hollywood, Florida, Borden, who is Black, said that to the extent Trump can take money that Washington spends overseas and pump it into the U.S. economy, “then you are making America great again. But do that without the racial overtones. Do that without the negative energy, and we’re going to be OK.”

“I think the world is just the world, and we should all just love each other,” he said.

Abraham Lincoln might have agreed, as he summoned the “better angels of our nature” in an inaugural speech, a month before the Civil War, that pleaded with Americans not to “break our bonds of affection.”

Trump had something to say on that subject, too, in 2017: “We all bleed the same blood.”

Associated Press video journalists Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia and Daniel Kozin in Hollywood, Florida, and AP Chief Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Best rug runner

• March 3, 2025

Which rug runner is best?

Runners are strips of carpet that have finished edges on all four sides. They are one of the best and easiest ways to protect your home’s flooring from scrapes, dirt and moisture. Rug runners brighten narrow spaces in your home and make them look bigger, too.

Rug runners have another practical purpose: a runner made with a sure-grip backing protects your family and guests from slip-and-fall injuries. If you are looking for a runner that never skids, take a look at House, Home And More Skid-Resistant Carpet Runner. Its soft loop-pile surface and neutral tan color complement a wide range of home decors.

What to know before you buy a rug runner

Where you will put it

• Entrance areas: When you place a rug runner just inside your front door, you are showing visitors your sense of style. You are also being practical, because people’s shoes naturally collect dirt, dust and other debris from outside, and a runner protects the floor in your entryway.
• Hallways: Long, narrow runners in hallways help narrow corridors seem wider, brighter and more inviting to the eye. Hallways typically get a lot of traffic, so durability is a primary consideration.
• Staircases: If you have hardwood stairs, runners help prevent dangerous slips and falls, reduce the sound of feet tromping up and down and protect your beautiful hardwood, all while making a fashion statement.
• Kitchens: In kitchens, runners repel the inevitable greases and liquids that come with cooking. Kitchens are good places for synthetic runners that shrug off stains and are easy to clean. Runners also provide a bit of springiness that makes standing easier on the cook.
• Bedrooms: Bedrooms don’t get as much traffic as hallways, living areas and kitchens. Bedroom rug runners provide traction and warmth for wooden and tile floors. Runners placed on carpet keep the nap of your wall-to-wall carpet from getting trampled down in the same places over and over.

Material

High-traffic areas need durable runners that handle traffic and dirt. Wool resists both dirt and liquids, so it’s easy to clean. In kitchens, look for runners that repel the greases and liquids spilled by even the finest chefs. Check out runners that have enough padding to add comfort for cooks who are on their feet for hours. All runners help reduce sound by cushioning footsteps and absorbing sound waves.

Pile height

For that luxurious, cushiony feeling, deeper piles are better. But deep piles also trap more dirt and debris and are harder to clean, so choose high piles for low-traffic areas and low piles for areas that get lots of foot traffic.

Step up

For added safety that looks good, too, look for runners that taper at the edges so they don’t stick up and trip you.

Bounce back

Runners should rebound immediately from impressions made by people’s feet and shoes. Check the bounce-back factor before choosing a runner.

How much you can expect to spend on a rug runner

The cost of a runner depends on its size and materials. Smaller runners made of synthetic fibers can be found for as little as $20 while plush rug runners made of high-quality fabrics cost almost as much as fine carpets.

Rug runner FAQ

Do all rug runners have the same backing materials?

A. No. Rugs used on slippery surfaces such as wood and tile need to have sturdy backing made to hug the floor and grip it tightly. When you put a runner on top of a carpet, it has much less chance of skidding, but may bunch up, so make sure you match your runner’s backing material and design to the surface where you put it.

Can I install a staircase runner by myself?

A. Yes, if you know exactly how to attach it to your staircase. Stairs are the site of slips and falls and you want to know that without a doubt, your runner will never cause an injury. When in doubt, call a pro.

What’s the best rug runner to buy?

Top rug runner

House, Home And More Skid-Resistant Carpet Runner

What you need to know: Walk safely and comfortably on this soft loop-pile beige runner that complements a wide range of home decor.

What you’ll love: The neutral color and solid design of this 27-inch-wide, 6-foot-long runner provide protection for your floors while not drawing attention from your furnishings. This runner is finished and bound around all four edges and at the corners to provide a finished look and prevent fraying. The rubber backing resists skidding and prevents bunching while vacuuming.

What you should consider: The quarter-inch pile is functional, not luxurious.

Top rug runner for the money

Well Woven Barclay Sarouk Red Traditional Runner

What you need to know: This 2-foot-wide, 7-foot-long red runner is a great addition to any hallway or entrance.

What you’ll love: It also comes in light blue, green, black and ivory. Made of stain- and fade-resistant polypropylene that is very durable and easy to clean, it has a jute backing safe for wood floors and is serged on all sides for added durability.

What you should consider: This inexpensive artificial runner needs to be periodically replaced if used in a high-traffic area.

Worth checking out

Kapaqua Custom Size Solid Color Rubber Backed Non-Slip Stair Runner

What you need to know: This 22-inch-wide stair runner comes in any length you want, all the way up to 50 feet.

What you’ll love: Get the length you want in either a standard 22-inch or 31-inch width for larger staircases, and avoid the gaps and overlaps of trying to use a rug runner that is too long or too short. Choose from seven colors with this solid design that goes with any decor.

What you should consider: You can vacuum it regularly but will have to hand wash only.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

Check out our Daily Deals for the best products at the best prices and sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter full of shopping inspo and sales.

BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

​ Orange County Register 

3.9 quake centered near North Hollywood felt around the region

• March 3, 2025

A 3.9 earthquake was reported Sunday night as being centered 1 mile from North Hollywood.

The U.S. Geological Survey received reports the quake at 10:13 p.m., east southeast of North Hollywood, was felt from Palmdale south into Orange County at a weak intensity.

Earthquakes generally don’t cause damage until the magnitude reaches somewhere above 4, according to the USGS.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said it was not entering “earthquake mode.” After larger quakes, earthquake mode is established so firefighters can look for damage including damage to infrastructure.

​ Orange County Register 

Another storm to hit Southern California on Wednesday

• March 3, 2025

As rain slows to a halt across Southern California in the early morning hours Monday, meteorologists expect a few days of without precipitation before another storm system moves in later in the week.

The Inland Empire and Orange County

Northern areas of the Inland Empire saw the most rainfall from a storm system that moved in Sunday and was expected to last through the early morning hours Monday, according to the National Weather Service office in San Diego.

The NWS said .04 inches of rain was reported at Skinner Lake near French Valley through around 5 p.m. Some heavier rain also affected the Line fire burn scar in San Bernardino County, prompting officials to issue a flood advisory in the area that was set to expire at 9:38 p.m. At Cal State San Bernardino, .51 inches was recorded in the six hours ending at 9 p.m.

Other parts of the Inland Empire received less than a tenth of an inch of rain.

Through the rest of the night, little rainfall accumulation is expected to range from a tenth of an inch or less to half an inch in some areas.

Heavier showers that hit northern parts of the Inland Empire Sunday night are expected to pass to the north of Riverside and head toward the Banning Pass. Areas around there could expect a bit more than half an inch between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Across the Inland Empire and Orange County, the rain will end by mid-day Monday. No showers are expected Tuesday, but meteorologists predict another storm system will move in Wednesday and last through Friday.

Areas around the San Bernardino Mountains could see an inch of rain, while northern portions of the Inland Empire could get about half an inch of rain. In Orange County, communities could expect about half an inch of rain between Wednesday and Friday.

Los Angeles County

Some communities saw about half an inch of rain across the county throughout Sunday, with others seeing no precipitation, according to the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles. The Eagle Rock Reservoir area near the 134 Freeway stood out as receiving a good amount of rain Sunday, .11 inches in the six hours ending at 9 p.m.

Until around midnight, little rain was expected, with scattered showers predicted throughout the county.

Another storm system will move into the area Wednesday, with rain expected to start in the late afternoon and expected to continue into the overnight hours Thursday. Meteorologists predict communities throughout the county will see less than an inch of rain, with a bit more than an inch possible in areas around the San Gabriel Mountains.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers fend off Clippers for 6th straight win, move to No. 2 in West

• March 3, 2025

LOS ANGELES — While acknowledging he still has a ways to go, Luka Doncic has also made it clear that he’s slowly starting to feel like himself again.

That was evident early and often in the Lakers’ 108-102 win over the Clippers on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

Doncic resembled his pre-calf injury self when he made a pair of stepback 3-pointers over Clippers center Ivica Zubac, a familiar sighting from the first 6 ½ seasons of Doncic’s NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.

And the five-time All-Star, who turned 26 on Friday, helped make sure the 21-point lead the Lakers built up to the third quarter didn’t go to waste, knocking down a turnaround fadeaway midrange jumper over Kris Dunn to put the Lakers up 107-96 with just over three minutes left.

“I felt a little bit more comfortable,” Doncic said. “As long as we get the win, we have six in a row, so that’s what this is about.”

The Lakers went cold for the remainder of the game, with their only point in the final three minutes coming off Dorian Finney-Smith splitting a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left with the Clippers intentionally fouling, which put the Lakers up by six, the margin they won by.

“[Sunday] wasn’t perfect with some of the execution stuff,” Coach JJ Redick said. “But we more than made up for it with our effort at times.”

Doncic finished with 29 points, nine assists and six rebounds. He shot 9 for 17 from the field, with his five made 3s on 12 attempts being his most in a Lakers uniform. Doncic entered Sunday 14 for 58 from beyond the arc in his first seven games after returning from a strained left calf that sidelined him for 6 ½ weeks in the Feb. 10 home win over the Utah Jazz.

“Throughout my whole career, that’s the longest I’ve been out,” Doncic said. “So, I didn’t expect that much rust as you could see in the first couple games. But now it’s getting better.”

LeBron James, who didn’t speak postgame, had 17 points (6-of-17 shooting), nine assists and five rebounds, finishing one point shy of reaching 50,000 career points (regular season and playoffs combined).

Rookie wing Dalton Knecht scored 19 points and made five of his eight 3-point attempts – the most points and 3s he’s had in a game since the Lakers’ Jan. 28 blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

“Just staying confident,” Knecht said. “Getting back to my groove. Teammates were finding me. And I was just knocking down shots.”

The Lakers knocked down 18 of their 42 3-point attempts (42.9%): Doncic and Knecht combined for 10. Gabe Vincent, who started in place of Austin Reaves, who sat because of a strained right calf, made a trio of 3s while Dorian-Finney Smith (11 points and three rebounds) and Shake Milton both made a pair.

“Knecht, we understand he’s a good shooter, we got to make him put the ball on the floor and get to the basket,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “We can’t allow him to have catch and shoot 3’s, and we allowed that all night.”

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with a season-high 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting to go with a season-best 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year.

James Harden added 13 points and eight assists but missed 10 of his 14 shots. Dunn finished with 15 points and four assists. Zubac had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double before fouling out late.

“Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us,” Lue said. “We got down 21 points, but I like our fight to come back. [We] didn’t give in, being able to play through adversity, being able to play through missed shots, so I’m going to give our guys credit for that.

“But it’s a long season. It’s a hard season, and so every night’s going to be a tough game, and we understand that.”

The Clippers, who trailed 84-63 late in the third, cut their deficit to 93-88 midway through the fourth after a Zubac turnaround hook shot.

But the Lakers grabbed three offensive rebounds on their ensuing possession, a pair from Jarred Vanderbilt (eight points, nine rebounds) and one from Trey Jemison, before Doncic assisted James on a corner 3 to put the Lakers up by eight.

“[There] wasn’t a play that was more emblematic of our effort,” Redick said. “These opponents that we’re playing, they’re really good teams, they’re fighting like we’re fighting. These are playoff-like games just in terms of the physicality, the effort from both teams. That was a massive, massive play.”

The Lakers have held their opponents to 102 or fewer points in all seven of their games since the All-Star break. Their 101 points allowed per game in that stretch is the league’s best mark.

“Late in the year, you have to win some games in the mud,” Vincent (nine points, three rebounds) said. “We’ve had some games, some stretches here now to be able to test our grit, test our willingness to fight through a lot. And we’ve been doing that at a high level. So proud of the fight this group’s been doing. We just need to keep it up.”

Clippers’ leading scorer Norman Powell, who missed the previous five games because of left patellar tendinopathy, briefly returned on Sunday.

He scored four points, making one of his five shots, in nine minutes before subbing out, with the team saying that Powell wasn’t going to return because of soreness in his right hamstring.

The Clippers (32-28) have lost five of their last six games with the consecutive defeats to the Lakers, who won the regular-season series 3-1.

With Sunday’s win, the Lakers (38-21) moved into the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference standings, ahead of the Denver Nuggets (39-22) by percentage points, and a half game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies (38-22).

“That’s great,” Doncic said. “Great position to be in, honestly.”

​ Orange County Register 

Fairmont Prep and Sage Hill girls basketball seeded 1-2 in Division I for CIF SoCal Regional

• March 3, 2025

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

The Fairmont Prep and Sage Hill girls basketball teams are seeded first and second, respectively, in Division I for the CIF Southern California Regional while Kennedy tops Division V.

The SoCal regional, which starts on Tuesday, send its champions to the CIF State finals March 14-15 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Fairmont Prep (21-10) and Sage Hill (19-11) both competed in the CIF-SS Open Division but drop one division for the regional.

On Tuesday, Fairmont Prep plays host to No. 16 Birmingham (22-7), a semifinalist from the L.A. City Section’s Open Division. Sage Hill takes on visiting No. 15 Westchester (22-7), the Open Division runner-up in the City Section.

All regional games start at 7 p.m. unless noted.

Mater Dei (28-3) is Orange County’s lone team in the Open Division. The third-seeded Monarchs play host to Bishop Montgomery (22-5) on Wednesday and would travel to Etiwanda (22-5) for the semifinals on Saturday with a victory. No. 2 Etiwanda has a bye for the first round.

Kennedy (17-13) earned the county’s other top seed. The Fighting Irish, a semifinalist in CIF-SS Division 4A, plays host to Santana (25-6) in Division V on Tuesday. Santana captured Division V in San Diego.

Tesoro (23-11) and Savanna (21-6) will clash a Division IV first round game Tuesday at Tesoro. In the CIF-SS Division 4AA semifinals, Tesoro beat the Rebels 53-45 en route to its first section final.

El Toro (18-11), which also claimed its first section title, drew the No. 16 seed in Division III and a first-round game against Palisades (15-15) at Birmingham High on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Several players from the City Section team lost their homes in the Palisades fire.

​ Orange County Register