The Bishop Diego girls basketball team received a No. 1 seed and the San Marcos girls were awarded an at-large berth, when the CIF-SS playoff brackets were released on Sunday.
On the boys side, Santa Barbara High, San Marcos and Bishop Diego all open their playoff runs on the road.
The Bishop girls, who went 21-3 in the regular season and tied for the Tri-Valley League title, got a first-round bye as the top team in the 4A Division. The Cardinals will play a second-round home game against Orange Vista or Yeshiva on Saturday, Feb. 11.
San Marcos was given the only at-large spot in the girls’ 2AA Division bracket. The Royals (13-9) will open the playoffs on Thursday night at Rolling Hills Prep (17-9), the Coastal League champion.
In the 5AA Division, Frontier League-champion Cate (8-6) drew a first-round home game Thursday against Pacifica of Garden Grove (15-14, Empire League No. 2).
Second-round games for the girls are on Saturday.
The Santa Barbara High boys (16-12, Channel No. 3) travel for the first round but will stay in the county. The Dons play at Valley Christian Academy of Santa Maria on Wednesday night in the 4AA Division.
VCA is one of the few North County schools who remain in the CIF-Southern Section. The Lions (18-9) went 12-0 in winning the Coast Valley League, which is comprised of small schools in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. VCA reached the second round of the 5AA playoffs last year.
San Marcos, which beat Santa Barbara to take fourth place in the Channel League, will play Wednesday night at Marmonte League champion Agoura (19-9) in the 2A Division. Agoura, led by 6-foot-6 Nasir Meyer, won a showdown with Thousand Oaks for the league title.
Also in the 2A Division, Bishop Diego makes the long trip to Redondo Union on Wednesday for a first-round game. The Cardinals (15-10), the 3A Division champions last year, finished in a tie for second with Cate in the Tri-Valley League. Redondo Union (19-9) is the No. 2 team from the Bay League. The Seahawks are coming off an upset of 25-2 Mira Costa.
Cate (12-7) received a home game against Northview (17-10, Valle Vista No. 2) in a 4A Division opener on Wednesday. Cate is led by 6-8 senior Babacar Pouye.
In other action, Providence-Santa Barbara (4-6, Condor League No. 3) plays a 5A Division wild-card game at home against Cuyama Valley (5-10, Coast Valley No. 4) on Tuesday.
In 5A first-round games on Wednesday, Midland (5-2, Condor No. 2) hosts Ojai Valley (6-8, Omega No. 4), and Dunn (8-7, Frontier No. 1) plays the winner of the wild-card game between Geffen Academy and Liberty Christian.
The second round for the boys is on Friday.