Boys
SECTION I
No. 2 Clayton Valley 55, No. 15 Lincoln-Stockton 42: Three days after a heartbreaking two-point loss to Salesian in the North Coast Section Open Division final, Clayton Valley was locked out of its NorCal opener at home against Lincoln.
The Ugly Eagles played defense from the get-go and took a 17-2 lead after the first quarter.
The visitors from Stockton eventually settled down but had to chase the board the entire game, which is not a good idea against a team coached by Frank Allocco Jr.
Cannon Simpson led Clayton Valley with 17 points and eight rebounds. The Ugly Eagles also got 12 points from Zion Grissom and Vince Ellis and 10 from Chris Berry.
Victory plans a rematch at home with Dougherty Valley on Thursday. The seventh-seeded Wildcats breezed past Destiny Christian-Sacramento 84-58 on their home court Tuesday.
When Clayton Valley played Dougherty Valley in the NCS Open semifinals last week, the home team won 55-50.
Clayton Valley now leads the rest of the bracket after No. 16 Jesuit-Carmichael defeated No. 1 Buchanan, meaning the Ugly Eagles won’t have to leave their home gym to advance to the state finals in Sacramento on March 13.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 9 The King’s Academy 85, No. 8 Marin Catholic 73: Having reached the Division III state finals just last season, TKA knows what it takes to win this time of year.
Yes, the Knights were moved up two levels this time, a huge jump for any program. But at least for one night, they were up to the challenge.
Playing on the road against Marin Catholic, the Sunnyvale private school found themselves in a battle right from the start as the teams combined for 51 points in the first quarter, which ended with the home team taking the lead 27-24.
Marin Catholic still led at halftime, 40-37, but the second half was a different story. TKA outscored the hosts 48-33 in the final 16 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
Xavier Barnett finished with 20 points and Adrian Barnett had 19 to lead the Knights. Claxton Ladine added 15 points, Boss Mhoon had 13 and Scotty Beamish Jr had 11 as TKA improved to 24-4.
There was even more good news for the Knights when they checked the scores. With top-ranked Buchanan losing at home to No. 16 Jesuit, TKA will have an unexpected home game on Thursday against Jesuit.
“We’re very excited about that,” TKA coach Cameron Bradford said in a text.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 5 Clovis North 86, No. 12 Bishop O’Dowd 77: O’Dowd’s magical season has come to an end.
The Dragons couldn’t stop McKae Amundsen, who scored 37 points and dished out eight assists to lead the home team to victory.
O’Dowd trailed by 7 after three quarters, but was unable to close the gap.
The Dragons had a resurgent season after being knocked out in the first round of the divisional playoffs last season as the Oakland school won the league and NCS Division I titles.
O’Dowd is expected to bring back star guard GJ Hill-Thomas and sharpshooter Calvin Lacsmana next season.
– Nathan Canilao
No. 6 Franklin 81, No. 11 Moreau Catholic 77, OT: The postseason can be very painful for teams that don’t improve. By any measure, Moreau Catholic had a great run – 23 wins and just three losses in the regular season and a berth in the NCS Open Division playoffs.
But the good vibes didn’t last.
The Mariners lost to De La Salle in overtime in the NCS Open, then fell to Marin Catholic in the Open in fifth place.
With a chance to start a new chapter on Tuesday, the Hayward private school lost in overtime to Franklin-Elk Grove to end the season at 23-6.
Brendan Williams came out swinging, finishing with 26 points and 20 rebounds for Moreau. Isaiah Clendinen added 18 points and Kareem Jackson Jr. he got 10.
Franklin got 24 points from Benjamin Sandy, 19 from Kwali Simmons and 15 from Aiden Rollins.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 7 Dougherty Valley 84, No. 10 Destiny Christian 58: Coach Mike Hansen picked up his first NorCal regional win as the Wildcats routed Sacramento’s Destiny Christian at home.
Rashod Cotton Jr. scored a career-high 30 points, and Dougherty Valley hit a school-record 15 3-pointers.
“Our defense was really good,” Hansen said. “They got some guys, but our defense played well. Then we started hitting shots.”
Dougherty Valley will play second-place Clayton Valley on Thursday.
– Nathan Canilao
SECTION II
No. 14 Clovis 69, No. 3 Granada 63: The Matadors were on the losing end of a major upset in the Division II bracket.
Livermore’s school season ends after falling to Clovis at home. The loss comes three days after Granada lost to Bishop O’Dowd in the NCS Division I final.
Granada revitalized its program with the return of head coach Quran Johnson Sr., who took time off to care for his newborn child. Granada won just eight games without Johnson on the bench.
The Matadors will graduate uber runners Damien Miles and Cordell Taylor, but returning star Brandon Hahn, dream guard Quaran Johnson Jr. and Ethan Mitchell for glue.
Clovis will make its second trip to the Bay Area on Thursday when it plays Oakland Tech.
– Nathan Canilao
No. 7 Amador Valley 62, No. 10 Serra 58: This East Bay Athletic League-West Catholic Athletic League matchup belonged to the Dons, who got 26 points from star guard Jaylen Smith.
“WCAL teams are like EBAL teams. I knew it was going to be a dogfight coming into this game,” Amador Valley coach Willis Gardner said. “Serra played well until the end. But I still think we can play better than we did tonight.”
Elijah Stanley added 12 points and San Jose State’s Cade Krueger had 11.
Amador Valley earned its spot in the playoffs after defeating Liberty in the third place game of NCS Division I. The Dons will now travel to No. 2 Sacramento on Thursday.
“We have to be disciplined and control the temperature,” Gardner said of Sacramento. “It’s going to be a hostile environment and they’re rolling right now.”
– Nathan Canilao
Girls
SECTION I
No. 15 Bishop O’Dowd 66, No. 2 Archbishop Riordan 56: In one of the upsets of the night – at least for the seeds – O’Dowd won in San Francisco behind 16 points from Jayla Stokes.
The Dragons have been a perennial power in NorCal under longtime coach Malik McCord, so the Oakland school may have been heavily invested.
O’Dowd (17-10) advanced to play at St. Francis ranked seventh in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Nylah Dyson led Riordan with 23 points. The Crusaders also got 10 points from Tallyah Nasol and Mafalda Fontan Rodriguez.
Riordan, the CCS Open runner-up, finished 18-9.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 5 Priory 40, No. 12 Manual 22: Defense dominated this first round game as Priory advanced to play Clayton Valley on Thursday.
Portola Valley Private School trailed Immanuel-Reedley 12-9 after the first quarter, then fought back the rest of the way.
Priory led 19-14 at halftime and 33-19 after three quarters. The Panthers held the visitors to eight points in the second half and 10 points in the final three quarters.
Great Daniels finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and Gabby Wickham added 11 points, four steals and four rebounds to lead Priory, which also got seven points, 11 rebounds and five steals from Jordyn Moss.
The lead improved to 22-6. Emmanuel finished 27-5.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 3 Piedmont 63, No. 14 Antelope 57: In a tight game from start to finish, Piedmont pulled ahead thanks to sophomore Andrea Martin, who scored more than half of the Highlanders’ points.
He finished with 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting and added nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals in a stellar performance for the home team.
Freshman Alexa Ba (11 points) was the only other Piedmont player to score in double figures.
The Highlanders (22-4) will play the sixth-ranked team in the Central East on Thursday. Antelope finished 25-6.
– Darren Sabedra
SECTION II
No. 4 Oakland Tech 67, No. 13 Moreau Catholic 52: It took a while for Tech to get going, but when it did, there was no stopping the Bulldogs.
Tech overcame an early double-digit deficit to defeat Moreau Catholic and advance to the second round.
Vanderbilt commit Jhai Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. UNLV’s Terri’A Russell bounced back after committing three fouls in the game’s first three minutes, scoring 19 of her 21 points in the second half while grabbing 12 rebounds.
Moreau led for most of the first half and held a 12-point lead. But when Tech returned Russell to the game to start the third quarter, the Bulldogs outscored the Mariners 23-4 to take a 15-point lead into the final quarter.
Tech will get to host another playoff game in the next round when it plays No. 12 Del Oro, which upset No. 5 Acalanes in Lafayette.
– Nathan Canilao
No. 8 Salesian 61, No. 9 Oak Ridge 57, OT: Fresh off winning the NCS Division II championship on Saturday, Salesian didn’t have a chance to advance to the NorCal regionals as Oak Ridge gave the Pride all it could handle.
But Salesian found a way to win in overtime to advance to play top-seeded McClatchy on Thursday.
Ezra Palec scored 22 points for Salesian. Emma Bryant added 10 points and Caileigh Edwards contributed nine as the Pride improved to 22-10.
– Darren Sabedra
BUZZER-BEATER
– The Willow Glen boys have never been disappointed in their first game since capturing the program’s first division title in 57 years. The CCS Division II champions, the NorCal D-III runner-up, beat No. 15 East Union 65-59 to set up Thursday’s quarterfinal at home against seventh-seeded Los Gatos.
– The opening round of the NorCals was brutal for the WCAL boys. The league went 0-6 on Tuesday, Mitty, Bellarmine, Valley Christian, Serra, St. Francis and Sacred Heart Cathedral are both watching their season end.
– The WCAL has two boys teams still alive, both in the Open Division. Riordan is the top seed for the Open and St. Ignatius came third.
– Valley Christian senior Bryant Clark scored 39 points in his final game at San Jose, a 65-58 home overtime loss to Woodcreek in the Division II bracket.
— Darren Sabedra
