You get the sense that Valley Christian coach Brad Gunter would rather see the University of Kansas coming out of the opposing locker room than Victory Christian.

The Lions have lost three times this season (of their five total losses) to the Vikings from Carmichael, including the last time they took the court in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V semifinals.

Under the new state playoff format, the top four SJS teams in each division qualify for a spot in the state tournament field, and though it has to go on the road to do it, that means at least one more game for VCA. Gunter knows the field is strong, but he is just happy to see someone other than Victory Christian on the opposite bench.

“It will take our best game of the year to beat any of these teams in the NorCal playoffs, but I am really excited about it,” Gunter said. “Good thing is they won’t have Victory Christian on the front of their jerseys and that is a big relief.”

As for the team Ryan Cordell and company will match up with, the Lions are headed to City College of San Francisco to take on University High School. It is a team that Gunter has not seen and knows little about.

“I was about as clueless about University as you can imagine until this afternoon,” Gunter said. “I received the scouting report midday. I know that we have a size advantage and we will try to use it, but it looks like we will have to get it across the timeline first. They are an up and down pressing team that is well coached.”

That is not all bad news at Valley Christian, as they Lions also like to run the floor and jack up a lot of shots. For this contest, it seems their opponent will be helping get the tempo going.

“It looks like we will not have to push tempo for this one and just go,” Gunter said. “I have a feeling that this will be a high scoring affair. This is the style that we work on and want and I am very interested to see how we do against a quality opponent.”

University is a team that has played a quality schedule, which includes a win over the No. 3 seed in the D-V field, St. Joseph’s of Alameda. An overtime loss to the top NorCal seed, Branson, was the only thing standing between University and the North Coast Section final. The teams do share a common opponent in Stuart Hall, a team that VCA played competitively during the season that won University’s regular season league title. University lost two contests with Stuart Hall, but then got even by winning the rematch in the conference tournament .

“I am excited about the opportunity for our kids and don’t want them to just show up for the experience, but rather go out and try to get one,” Gunter said. “It does give our players a little comfort knowing that a common opponent has beaten them. Every win in this tournament is a huge deal and we would love to have a couple under our belt.”

The winner of Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game plays at No. 2 St. Francis of Watsonville (27-1), which could arguably be the best team in the tournament.

“They have played a schedule that is far above a normal Division V one and have been very successful,” Gunter said in describing St. Francis. “I would love to get the opportunity to test those waters.”

Gunter is hoping the teams from the Sac-Joaquin Section have success this year in order to earn some much-needed respect for the section. None of the teams from this area was seeded in the top four and thus all must play first round games in the 12-team bracket.

“I think that is too much credit to the Northern Section and not enough to the SJS,” Gunter said. “The only way to fix that for the future is for our section to go win some games now. I just feel bad for Victory that was worthy of a bye in the first round and instead they get a top team and contender in Head Royce in the first round.

“This is a great opportunity for us and we have yet to put four quarters of basketball together this season. We have to knock down shots and finish plays though. At this point of the season it is all about making plays and not just the system. If we can knock down shots and cut down on the turnovers, we have a chance at anybody.”