California CIF State 2026 High School Basketball Playoff Pairings, Brackets

The CIF State office announced the boys and girls basketball playoffs on Sunday afternoon. Now, it's win or go home.

Crean Lutheran celebrates its CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship after defeating JSerra at the Toyota Arena in Ontario on Feb. 28, 2026. / Weston Hancock

No funky formats. No pool play. No double-elimination. It’s win or go home.

California's CIF State playoff pairings were released Sunday afternoon for boys and girls basketball. All divisions except for the Open Division are made up of 16 teams. There are a total of six divisions (Open through Division V).

The action begins Tuesday night and finishes March 13-14 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento where the CIF State finals are held. That’s when the winners from Northern California face off against a Southern California team for California supremacy in their respective divisions.

BOYS OPEN DIVISION

The crown jewel of California high school basketball is the Open Division, which is widely regarded as the most competitive high school basketball postseason tournament in the country, specifically in the CIF Southern Section.

In the South, Sierra Canyon and Harvard-Westlake will have the No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively. But due to the six-team field, the top two seeds will have a bye directly to the semifinals on Saturday, March 7. Sierra Canyon will take on the winner of Redondo Union-Santa Margarita while Harvard-Westlake will await the winner of Santa Maria St. Joseph-Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks.

In the North, it's the same thing: a six-team field. Archbishop Riordan and Salesian Prep will be the No. 1 and 2 seeds with byes. Riordan will face the winner of De La Salle-Modesto Christian and Salesian will host the winner of Sheldon and St. Ignatius.

GIRLS OPEN DIVISION

The Open Division field in girls' is slightly different. In the South, there are jus four teams that will compete in the semifinals. Sierra Canyon will host Sage Hill. Ontario Christian will host Etiwanda.

In the North, there are five teams. No. 1 Archbishop Mitty, No. 2 Clovis West and No. 3 St. Mary's all got first-round byes. Carondelet and San Ramon Valley will be the only first-round game played on Wednesday. The winner there will travel to play Mitty.

NOTABLE SEEDINGS, MATCHUPS

In the Divison I boys bracket, La Mirada received the No. 1 seed in the South while Buchanan will be the No. 1 seed in the North. La Mirada will host Mater Dei in the opening round.

Open Division teams, Corona Centennial, Crespi, and St. John Bosco will play in the Division I state playoffs. Corona del Mar and Etiwanda, which also earned a CIF-SS Open Division berths, did not qualify for the CIF State playoffs.

Clovis and Mater Dei girls both received No. 1 seeds in the North and South regions, respectively.

FULL CIF STATE BRACKETS

BOYS

• OPEN
• DIVISION I
• DIVISION II
• DIVISION III
• DIVISION IV
• DIVISION V

GIRLS

• OPEN
• DIVISION I
• DIVISION II
• DIVISION III
• DIVISION IV
• DIVISION V

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