The members of Central Valley High School's varsity boys basketball team gathered in a P.E. classroom on Wednesday to watch the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Playoff Selection Show.

The section released its postseason brackets for boys and girls hoops during a live online broadcast at 5 p.m.

"We're a little disappointed in the seeding," Hawks head coach Darryl Dickson said. "We had the third-best record in Division-III. I thought we deserved to host a game. But if you're going to win it all, you have to face all the teams."

Eleventh-seeded Central Valley will travel to Manteca today to face four-time defending Valley Oak League champion Sierra in the opening round of the D-III playoff tournament.
Tipoff slated for 7 p.m.

"We have nothing to lose," Dickson said. "Nobody expects us to win."

Sierra's amassed a 205-75 overall record, made two section finals appearances, captured five VOL titles and participated in the playoffs 10 times under head coach Scott Thomason's guidance since 2004-05.

"He's one of the best coaches in the section," Dickson said. "I got a lot of respect for the guy. He does an awesome job teaching. They do the little things right. Their best attribute is they play very good defense. We have a week to get ready. We look forward to the matchup. We're going to challenge them."

The Hawks will be led by Cal State Stanislaus commit Ryan Donnelly, and juniors Daevon Brown and Jaron Dickson.

Central Valley (21-6) and Sierra (20-6) enter this week's playoff tilt with a combined record of 41-12. "They have experience," Darryl Dickson said. "They've been to the section finals two out of the last three years. They know what to expect. We'd love to get to that level."