The Fairfax High School boy’s basketball team, the Lions, will be playing in the regional finals this Saturday evening at the Water Pyramid at California State University, Long Beach. Their opponent has not been announced, pending the result of a Wednesday night’s match between the Bishop Montgomery Knights and the Mater Dei Monarchs at Redondo Beach High School.

Banners hang above Fairfax High School’s gym, honoring past city championships. (photo by Luis Rivas)

The Knights are 27-4 and the Monarchs are 31-1. MaxPreps.com is predicting that the Monarchs will end in the No. 2 spot in their section division, the Knights will finish the playoffs in the No. 1 spot in their section division and the Lions in the No. 1 spot.

Although the Lions ended the season with a loss to their rivals, Westchester Comets, it was only the second loss of the season, 27-2.

The Lions are in the 19th spot nationally and 5th spot in the state. They continue to dominate the No. 1 spot in both city and section divisions. They are currently undefeated in the playoffs, having recently defeated the Etiwanda Eagles, 58-50, at the regional semifinals on March 17. The Lions won the state championship back in 2006-2007. Their overall record is 259-82.

Although the team does not know which team they will be playing yet, the Lion’s 30-plus-year veteran coach, Harvey Kitani, continues to feel confident about ending the playoffs strong, just like the season.

“I think we’re doing pretty good. We’re undefeated in the playoffs,” Kitani said. “We’re just regrouping after last night’s game. We’ll see who we play first and will move from there. I’m proud of our guys. They show a lot of character. It’s a good group.”

The Lions, under the guidance of Kitani, has had a long history of back-to-back wins. Since the 1980s, Kitani has been leading the boy’s basketball team into victories, playoffs and one state championship. Additionally, the team has seen several of its alumni go on to play professionally in the NBA and abroad, such as Chris Mills, who played starting center for the Lions from 1986 to 1988. Mills went on to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks. Craig Smith, another alum of the Lions, went on to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers. Smith currently plays professional basketball in Israel.

After Saturday’s game, if the Lions win, they will move on to state finals on March 28 at the Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.