Magnolia, Loara Could Be Headed for Another Showdown

CERRITOS — Magnolia and Loara are seeded first and second in the Southern Section Division II badminton team playoffs pairings, announced Monday.

Top-seeded Magnolia, the Empire League champion, is hoping to redeem itself after losing last season’s section title to second-seeded Loara. Magnolia hosts San Dimas in the first round May 20, and Loara will host El Monte. Both are expected to meet again in this year’s final.

Nine of 16 Division I playoff teams are from Orange County. Ocean View is the highest-seeded (fourth) team from the county, and will host Rowland in the first round. Diamond Bar is top-seeded and will host Santa Ana Valley. La Habra will visit third-seeded West Covina. Last year’s champion Alhambra Keppel is seeded second and will play Chino Hills Ayala.

Ocean View should advance to the semifinals, where it probably will meet Diamond Bar. The Seahawks lost to Diamond Bar earlier this season, but were short-handed because of illness and injuries.

In the individual pairings, Magnolia’s Joyce Cabuhat is top-seeded in girls’ singles. Cabuhat, a semifinalist last year, will play Amina Abdul in her opening match.

In boys’ singles, Garden Grove’s Wook Kim is seeded second and will play Westminster’s Chhay Taing in the first round. All singles matches are at 1 p.m. May 17 at the Orange County Badminton Club.