Well, that was a lost weekend. Sorry I wasn't able to post more updates from Lemoore and the wrestling, but at first I had computer problems, and then I just got too busy. But I'll make up for it with an exquisite post tonight. Or at least an average one, right?

All three winter sports are into their biggest times.

Let's start in boys and girls basketball, where the Central Section playoffs start Tuesday for girls and Wednesday for boys. Seedings were released for the Central Section brackets Saturday morning.

Starting with the boys .... Liberty and Garces, the two best teams in Bakersfield all year, could meet for a fourth time — and if they do, it'll be in Selland Arena in Fresno for the Division II section championship. Liberty earned the top seed in D-I and Garces the No. 3, which means they'll have to travel to No. 2 Lemoore in the semifinals if both teams make it that far.

A couple of intriguing quarterfinal matchups are potentially waiting for those teams first: Garces could play No. 6 Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial on Friday, continuing a rivalry that is played every year but wasn't this year because somehow Memorial didn't have the game on its schedule. Ironic that the game could be a juicy playoff quarterfinal instead. For Liberty, the ironic matchup is SEYL rival East, which is the No. 8 seed and could be traveling to see the Patriots on Friday. Hmmmm. East at Liberty? The first time we saw that, it resulted in Liberty's only league loss.

Up in Division I, Clovis East is the top seed as expected. After that, it gets interesting. Fresno-Central, another TRAC team, was given the No. 2, and Centennial was rewarded for its undefeated SWYL season with a No. 3 seed. No time to rest on its laurels for the Golden Hawks, though: They'll face No. 6 Clovis in a Friday quarterfinal, and that's not going to be a picnic even though the game's at home. The other quarterfinal already set will be a juicy matchup of No. 5 Fresno-Edison at No. 4 Clovis West. First, though, on Wednesday, we'll get Fresno-Bullard at Bakersfield for the right to face Central and Clovis-Buchanan at Stockdale for the right to travel to Clovis East.

Ridgeview is the top seed in Division III, with a potential finals matchup waiting with Fresno-Hoover, Hanford West or even Tehachapi. Cesar Chavez is the No. 5 seed there. In D-IV, Bakersfield Christian is the top seed as expected. That gives Kern County the top seeds in three divisions this year. To that end, it's almost too bad Liberty and/or Garces isn't playing Division I. It'd be nice to see how they'd stack up with the beasts up north.

If you're interested, check out Division V with no local teams.

As for the girls, there weren't too many surprises. Division I sets up as a potential finals rematch between No. 1 Clovis West and No. 2 Stockdale. If that's the case, the Mustangs had better hope it goes better than last year's final. First, though, they'll have to beat No. 3 Fresno-Edison for a second time and Clovis West will have to get by No. 8 Centennial and then either No. 4 Bakersfield or No. 5 Clovis-Buchanan. Honestly, I don't see anything preventing a Golden Eagles-Mustangs clash at Selland.

Similarly in Division II, the best teams all year long have been Hanford and Garces, and they were given the top two seeds. Here though, the split seems to be Hanford and then everyone else. The Bullpups are ranked in MaxPreps' top 25 and should march to a championship. Garces, meanwhile, would be happy to get there but has to get through a minefield that includes Sanger and North. Poor Yosemite was placed on Hanford's side.

Golden Valley got a nice No. 4 seed in Div. III, and Ridgeview is the No. 6. Arvin split the SSL title with Bakersfield Christian, but that only got the Bears a No. 9 seed — and a road game at No. 8 Delano, followed by a possible trip to No. 1 Fresno-Roosevelt — while the Eagles, down in D-IV, have just the No. 10 seed. Here is the Division V bracket.

What about the postseasons that are already in full swing? Well, Tuesday and Friday are going to be very big days for soccer fans, with both boys and girls action moving to the same days this year — a ridiculous change, if you ask me. In my experience, you're either a soccer fan or you're not, and the people who want to see these games are being forced to choose boys or girls. Why not have them on separate days like always? Not to mention the headache it causes newspaper folk.

Anyway, here's a sampling of Tuesday's semifinal slate:
Boys
Division I, No. 4 Stockdale at No. 1 Fresno Bullard
Division II, No. 3 West at No. 2 Visalia-Golden West
Division III, No. 5 Highland at No. 1 Golden Valley
Division IV, No. 3 Chowchilla or No. 6 Arvin at No. 2 Wasco
Division VI, No. 5 McFarland at No. 1 Mendota

Girls
Division I, No. 3 Clovis-Buchanan at No. 2 Liberty
Division II, No. 11 Reedley at No. 2 Garces
Division II, No. 8 Frontier at No. 4 Visalia-Redwood
Division III, No. 8 Hanford at No. 4 Golden Valley
Division IV, No. 4 Wasco at No. 1 Visalia-Central Valley Christian
Division V, No. 5 Parlier at No. 1 Bakersfield Christian

Finally, in wrestling, Saturday brings the section's Grand Masters meet at East High, where seven of the 10 wrestlers in each weight bracket advance to state. Twenty-three Kern County wrestlers advanced from last weekend's Yosemite Divisional, and nine advanced from the Sierra/Sequoia. That includes Yosemite champions Seth Hicks of Centennial at 135 and Brian Schoene of Bakersfield at 215, and S/S champs Rene Medina of Shafter at 171 and Michael Machado of Arvin at 189.
The brackets at Masters are set up by formula, with the Yosemite champ and the S/S champ on opposite sides with the other division's runner-up. You only need to win one match (sometimes two, if you come in as a low seed) to guarantee state qualification, but that's easier said than done: Everybody at this tournament is as tough as a finals opponent at most tourneys.

We'll have more on all the playoff excitement as the fortnight progresses.