Boys’ basketball: Fairfax is No. 1 and Dorsey No. 2 in Open Division

A City Section seeding committee made Fairfax No. 1 and Dorsey No. 2 on Saturday in the first-year of the Open Division boys’ basketball playoffs.

Dorsey’s seeding ahead of No. 3 Westchester comes as a surprise. The Western League, with Fairfax and Westchester, was considered the best league and Westchester defeated Fairfax earlier this week. Even more surprising, defending champion El Camino Real, which has a win over Westchester, dropped to No. 5 after a Friday loss to Granada Hills.

And even more surprising, Gardena, a Division II school, was moved into the Open Division.

The first-round matchups: No. 8 Gardena at No. 1 Fairfax; No. 5 El Camino Real at No. 4 Narbonne; No. 6 Crenshaw at No. 3 Westchester; No. 7 Taft at No. 2 Dorsey.

First-round games are next Saturday. The semifinals will be played on Feb. 28 at Roybal in a doubleheader. The championship game is March 7 at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

“That’s incredible,” Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said upon learning that Dorsey was chosen No. 2 ahead of Westchester. “I’m in total disbelief.”

Westchester is 19-11 and has played one of the toughest schedules. The Comets also added 6-foot-8 Keith Fisher in early January to become even stronger and shared the Western League championship with Fairfax. Dorsey is 22-5 and won the Coliseum League title. The Dons’ best win might be a victory over Oak Park in early December.

Gardena is 21-7 and got moved to the Open Division ahead of Palisades and University. Gardena lost to No. 4 Narbonne, 83-51, on Wednesday.

El Camino Real was considered a top candidate for the No. 2 seed but a 53-52 loss to Granada Hills on Friday night apparently hurt the Conquistadores even though they won the West Valley League title and have a win over Westchester.

In Division I, Palisades was seeded No. 1. In Division II, King-Drew was seeded No. 1. In Division III, North Hollywood was seeded No. 1.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer