Corey Cofield, David Elliott lead Birmingham into City Section Open Division semifinals

The Open Division boys’ basketball playoffs began on Thursday night in the City Section and Southern Section, with Birmingham and Etiwanda emerging victorious in their respective debuts.

Birmingham advanced to next Saturday’s City Open Division semifinals with a hard-fought 70-58 win over Gardena. Corey Cofield scored 23 points and David Elliott 21. The Patriots struggled at times with turnovers, but in the end, they had too much firepower. Gardena received 19 points from Michael Frankling.

Etiwanda began pool play in the Southern Section Open Division with a 71-55 win over St. Anthony. The Eagles had four players reach double figures _ Jaylen Clark (15 points), Tyree Campbell (14), Camren Pierce (12) and Brantley Stevenson (11). Jadon Jones scored 1`8 points for St. Anthony.

Birmingham (19-7) will play the winner of Friday’s game between Fairfax and El Camino Real next Saturday at L.A. Southwest College. The game time will be 6 p.m. or 8 p.m.

“Corey was pretty focused,” Birmingham coach Nick Halic said.

The City Section Open Division girls’ playoffs began. El Camino Real knocked off Legacy 64-49. Rebecca Saidoff scored 35 points for El Camino Real. Top-seeded Palisades defeated Taft 45-19.