Willie West (left) and Gary McKnight have combined to win 19 CIF state championships at Crenshaw of Los Angeles & Mater Dei of Santa Ana. Too bad their teams in 1985 weren’t able to face each other. Photos: lagoldeneagles.com & materdeiathletics.org.
Imagine what might happen today if the massive CIF Southern Section were not part of a state championship? Don’t imagine. That’s what happened for the 1984-85 basketball season. It set up a series of insanely difficult final state rankings and team of the year announcements, especially when the top two divisional boys champions in the CIFSS and the CIF Division I boys state champion were all undefeated.
Note: This is a post for our Gold Club members only. We did a similar week-by-week series of season replays last fall for football and will offer them for basketball but in a different format at least until there is more clarity about when high school sports will return during the 2020-21 school year. To check out becoming a member for as little as two dollars per month, CLICK HERE.
1985 BOYS BASKETBALL: HOW IT BEGAN
First, keep in mind that the CIF has only had an Open Division for basketball since 2013. And in the early 1980s, there were only three divisions of the state playoffs – I, II and III – and the divisions were mostly determined by enrollment. Even the term competitive equity was perhaps 20 years away from even being mentioned.
