The Preps Box

Atascadero High's Raven Taylor (5) has helped lead the Greyhounds to the CIF-Southern Section Division 4AA quarterfinals. — Tribune file photo by David Middlecamp ©

Several San Luis Obispo County teams made it out of the first week of the playoffs in the CIF Southern and Central sections. Here’s the immediately upcoming schedule for those teams:

TUESDAY

Boys basketball

7 p.m. — Southern Section Division 3AA quarterfinals: Arroyo Grande at Foothill of Santa Ana; Division 4AA quarterfinals: Inglewood at Atascadero

Boys soccer

3 p.m. — Southern Section Division 5 second round: Arroyo Grande at Paloma Valley

6:30 p.m. — Central Section Division 5 semifinals: Riverdale at Mission Prep

Girls soccer

4 p.m. — Central Section Division 5 semifinals: Fowler at Mission Prep

WEDNESDAY

Girls basketball

7 p.m. — Southern Section Division 4AA quarterfinals: Atascadero at Oak Park; Division 6A quarterfinals: San Jacinto Valley Academy at North County Christian; Central Section Division 4 first round: Mission Prep at Strathmore

Girls soccer

3 p.m. — Southern Section Division 3 second round: Arroyo Grande at Patriot of Riverside, Calvary Chapel at San Luis Obispo

Girls water polo

3:30 p.m. — Southern Section Division 4 semifinals: Cabrillo vs. Arroyo Grande at Cuesta College

THURSDAY

Boys basketball

7 p.m. — Central Section Division 5 quarterfinals: Kings Christian at Mission Prep

Four of the above teams are No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions: Arroyo Grande girls water polo, both Mission Prep boys and girls soccer, and North County Christian girls basketball.

Arroyo Grande girls water polo (28-3) might be the most dominant team in the county of any sort, as the Eagles, anchored by Cal recruit Briana Lippert in goal, are in search of their third straight divisional crown. They could very well be on a collision course with last year’s runner-up, Rio Mesa of Oxnard, the bracket’s No. 2 seed, which Arroyo Grande edged 5-4 at an early-January tournament.

Elsewhere, Mission Prep boys soccer, at a perfect 21-0 and led by Cal Poly women’s assistant coach Bob Galarneau, may be the most surprisingly impressive local story of the winter. The Royals have several players among the Central Section’s individual statistical leaders. Mission Prep’s girls squad (11-11), meanwhile, has been led by forward Kori Disarufino, a Nevada signee who had a hat trick in an opening-round 7-0 drubbing of Firebaugh.

North County Christian girls basketball (16-5) has already had a banner season under first-year coach Alan Scarson, as efficient sophomore point guard Cristy Scarson has averaged 15.9 points, five assists and 5.8 steals — all team highs — while shooting a team-best 41 percent from the floor.

Several lower-seeded teams have also already given themselves plenty of memories.

On Friday, in the 11th-seeded Atascadero boys basketball team’s 56-53 upset over fifth-seeded Cathedral of Los Angeles, ultra-quick 5-foot-10 Greyhounds junior point guard Troy Norris put on what has to be one of the greatest individual late-game playoff performances in county history. In the final minute-and-a-half alone, he outscored the Phantoms 10-3 all by himself, pouring in 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds (19-8) also got stingy defensive play in the post from Weston Walker, Taylor Hendrickson and Sean Slavin, who pooled to hold 6-9 Cathedral center Frankie Eteuati, bound for Cal State Northridge, six points below his season average.

Also coming up big in boys basketball was Arroyo Grande (21-7), which made 11 shots from 3-point range in vanquishing aggressive-trapping North Torrance 72-64 on the road. Senior point guard Michael Escobedo continued his recent hot streak for the Eagles, sinking six long bombs on his way to a game-high 24 points.

Elsewhere, both the Arroyo Grande boys and girls soccer teams are rolling at the right time, having each crushed their respective first-round opponents 5-0 in the first half. The Eagles boys (18-7-2), who made it out of the opening divisional round for the first time in six years, are now 6-0-1 in their past seven contests, while the girls have been in stride all year, currently at 21-4-1.

Perhaps the most under-seeded team of the entire lot, however, is 13th-seeded Atascadero girls basketball (20-4), which advanced by toppling No. 4 seed La Cañada, which entered with only two defeats, 53-51. The Greyhounds have greatly benefited from the return from injury of sophomore floor general Casey Nero, who has a number of weapons to pass to in sharp-shooting off guard Alyssa Palma (who had been filling in at point), versatile post presence Shannon Berwick and, perhaps most importantly, senior forward Raven Taylor (pictured above on the right), who leads the county in scoring (17.3 points per game) and is third in rebounding (12.2).

Which teams and players have impressed you most through Week 1, and who stands the best chance of moving on from here?

A couple unrelated thoughts:

• The PAC 7 boys basketball all-league coaches meeting was held tonight. Stay tuned for the results of that. Also, as soon as the winter season is over, I’ll be asking for your opinions on all-county teams.

• The Southern Section released its preseason boys volleyball coaches poll Monday. No county teams were ranked, but Arroyo Grande was in the “others receiving votes” category in Division 2. No other spring-sport preseason polls have been released yet.