De La Salle, Mitty square off in Open quarterfinals
More than three months after they scrimmaged against one another in preparation for the season and 2 1/2 months since they met at a tournament in the Sacramento area, De La Salle and Mitty will play in a CIF NorCal Open Division quarterfinal in San Jose tonight.
“We opened with them and hopefully we're not finishing with them,” Mitty coach Tim Kennedy said.
Both teams are coming off losses in the section playoffs, with De La Salle falling to Dougherty Valley 65-51 in the NCS Open final on Friday and Mitty being stunned at home by Serra on the final night of pool play in the CCS Open playoffs.
Kennedy said he thought his team had a shot for the NorCal Open even though the loss to Serra denied the Monarchs a spot in the CCS Open final.
He figured the odds of getting a home game were much steeper.
But that's what Mitty got, a game on its home court to determine which team will travel to play top-seeded Modesto Christian on Saturday night.
When Mitty played De La Salle at the Jesuit-Carmichael tournament on Dec. 9, the San Jose school won 62-52.
“It's going to be a battle,” Kennedy said.
BOYS: DOUGHERTY VALLEY COACH, FAMILY “FINALLY EXORCISED DEMON” >> Receiving the No. 2 seed in the Northern California Open Division regional — instead of No. 1 — hardly dampened Dougherty Valley coach Mike Hansen's spirits.
A basketball lifer, he spent Saturday morning having breakfast with his parents and brother, the thrill of the previous night's 6551 victory over De La Salle in the North Coast Section Open Division championship game fresh in everyone's minds.
Thirty-five years ago, Mike's father, Tom, nearly won an NCS title while coaching at Foothill, but lost in the final to Las Lomas after a big lead evaporated. Mike's brother, Tim, was the point guard on that Foothill team.
“My brother goes, `It almost feels like we finally exorcised the demon,'” Hansen said Sunday night. “His junior year, they were in the same game we were and lost. They were up 17 at the half and lose to Las Lomas in the NCS final. He was like, `I feel like we've been chasing this one since we lost that one.'
“Here we were at breakfast on Saturday morning finally celebrating one together.”
When Friday's game at Saint Mary's College ended, Hansen, who has been at Dougherty Valley since the school opened in 2007, hugged his father and thanked him.
“I got into this because of him,” he said.
Hansen thought his team had a “legit shot” at the No. 1 seed in the NorCal Open. The committee went back and forth for four days, CIF associate executive director Brian Seymour said, but ultimately gave the top seed to defending champion Modesto Christian.
The perennial power from the Central Valley has been red hot since opening the season with losses to heavyweights Coronado Henderson, Nevada, Notre Dame Sherman Oaks and Centennial Corona.
Modesto Christian (26-6) has won 10 in a row and rolled through the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I bracket, routing Jesuit Carmichael 79-53 in the final and Inderkum-Sacramento 72-50 in the semifinals.
DOUGHERTY VALLEY'S NEXT OPPONENT: “THE SOPHOMORE KID'S A PRO” >> With only five teams in the NorCal Open, Dougherty Valley has time to prepare for thirdseeded St. Joseph-Santa Maria, which will visit the San Ramon school in the regional semifinals Saturday night.
Good thing, too.
St. Joseph is no joke. The Knights are led by 6-foot-5, 200-pound sophomore wing Tounde Yessoufou, who averages 28.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.9 steals, 3.0 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
“They're loaded,” Hansen said. “The sophomore kid's a pro. He's the No. 1 recruit in the country in his class. I saw him at Modesto Christian last summer and I was with, at the time, my seventhgrader. I go, `Luke, see that kid right there, he's going to play in the NBA. I'll tell you that right now.'
“We'll have our hands full. But our sixth man we'll be fired up. We'll be there ready to roll.”
GIRLS: EARLY SEASON RESULT DETERMINES NO. 1 OPEN SEED >> The top seed in the NorCal Open was going to come down to Piedmont or Archbishop Mitty, the top two teams all season in this region.
The committee went with Piedmont (27-0) because, as Seymour said, head-to-head results are the trump card.
Piedmont beat Mitty 60-56 on Dec. 10.
“We're a very different team now,” said Mitty coach Sue Phillips, who did not have superstar junior Morgan Cheli available in the Piedmont game because of a foot injury.
Cheli is back now. Phillips added that she had no problem with being the No. 2 seed. Mitty will be at home Saturday night to face Clovis West, a team it beat in last season's Open semifinals 53-45.
“I'm elated we're hosting our next game, and I think we look great in our black uniforms, too,” Phillips said, referring to the dark jerseys Mitty would wear if it meets Piedmont in next week's NorCal final.
Piedmont and Mitty each spent the section playoffs drubbing teams by 20-plus points.
Mitty won the Central Coast Section Open Division final over Pinewood for the seventh time in eight years. Piedmont was stuck rolling through overmatched competition in the NCS Division IV bracket because — as noted many times — only teams from Divisions I through III were eligible for that section's Open Division.
Phillips and Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said their teams will not overlook the game in front of them. Piedmont will play Salesian or Folsom on Saturday. The NorCal final is on March 7. “You've got to look at the game that's right in front of you, and do the best you can with it,” Gardere said.
For Gardere, facing the region's top teams is something to be cherished.
His Division IV state title-winning squads in 2004 and 2005 were denied that opportunity as no Open Division existed at that time. Teams played in their enrollment-based division.
“You do wonder, how would we have done against this team or that team,” Gardere said. “Now, we don't have to wonder.”