Eagles earn No. 2 seed; Hawks on the road
A new post-season chapter begins Wednesday for the Elliot Christian and Liberty Ranch boys basketball teams.
On Sunday afternoon, the California Interscholastic Federation released its State Boys Basketball Championship brackets for Divisions I-VI and the Open Division on its Website. Elliot Christian, which beat Argonaut 83-53 to win the Sac-Joaquin Section D-V title at the University of the Pacific’s Spanos Center on Saturday, landed at No. 2 seed in Division V. The Eagles will host No. 15 Mt. Shasta of the Northern Section at The Jungle on Tokay High’s campus Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“I thought we’d be the No. 1 or 2 seed coming in,” said Elliot coach Jason Hitt, whose Eagles have earned their third consecutive trip to the NorCal tournament. “I think everyone is bracketed accordingly. There are a lot of good teams.
“...The Bay Area teams are really strong.”
Elliot (26-4) won its first-ever section title in boys basketball with its win over the Mustangs. Two weeks prior, the Eagles captured the Central California Athletic Alliance title with a perfect 14-0 record.
Now the focus shifts toward Mt. Shasta (19-7), which went 73 in the Shasta Cascade League. The Bears won their sectional playoff opener against Hamilton of Hamilton City, 64-54, but lost to Trinity of Weaverville 6141 in the quarterfinals.
Elliot and Mt. Shasta have one opponent in common — Brookside Christian. The Eagles swept the Knights in CCAA action. But the Knights, who are No. 11 in the same Nor-Cal division, knocked off the Bears 71-39 at the Lindhurst Tournament in Olivehurst on Dec. 30.
“Brookside is better than the
11th seed,” Hitt said.
The Eagles’ back court of four players are averaging double-digit scoring. Guard Jimmy Beltz leads the way at 19 points per game. He scored 26 points in the Eagles’ section title win over the Mustangs. Nathan Bond follows at 15.5, Jalen Valverde at 15.3 and Onkar Sidhu 11.1.
Valverde leads the team in rebounds at 7.3 per game, Sidhu 7.2, Bond 6.8 and forward Cody Doell at five.
Should Elliot win its Nor-Cal opener, it will play the No. 10 Redwood ChristianNo. 7 Envision Academy winner on Saturday. That game would be played at McNair High.
“I think these guys have their expectations high,” said Hitt after his Eagles won the section title on Saturday. “They want to go as far as they can.”
Liberty Ranch
As the No. 15 seed in D-IV, Liberty Ranch will journey to the Bay Area to face No. 2 Lick-Wilmerding of San Francisco. The Tigers play in the North Coast Section.
Liberty Ranch (22-8), which won backto-back Sierra Valley Conference titles, was eliminated from the section’s D-IV semifinals by West Campus of Sacramento, which posted a 79-64 win at The Jungle on March 1.
The second round holds a potential rematch between Liberty Ranch and West Campus with both teams in the same bracket. West Campus, the No. 7 seed, is hosting No. 10 Marin Catholic of Kentfield, also on Wednesday.
“We would love to have another chance to see what we can do,” said Liberty Ranch coach Josh Williams about West Campus. “I think we can present some different challenges. But we have to get past Lick-Wilmerding first.”
Lick-Wilmerding is 24-8, but went 3-5 in the Bay Counties League-West. In the North Coast Section D-IV playoffs, the Tigers played four games that ended with a 63-33 loss to St. Joseph Norte Dame in the section title game.
“I know they are in a tough league,” Williams said. “They are a very tough team. I know they ware well-coached, and play good defense. We’re going to have our hands our hands full.”
The one common opponent Liberty Ranch and Lick-Wilmerding is McKinleyville. The Hawks fell to McKinleyville 78-73 at the Cosumnes Oaks Tournament in Elk Grove on Dec. 16. Lick-Wilmerding eliminated McKinleyville 70-62 in the second round of the North Coast Section DIV playoffs.
This is the fourth time in the program’s history that Liberty Ranch has played in the Nor-Cal playoffs, and its third consecutive trip.
“I’ve been really proud of our program,” Williams said.
Liberty Ranch is led in scoring by freshman guard Jalen Patterson, who is averaging 17 points per game. He is followed by junior guard Chandler Garcia at 14.7, and forward Corey Potthoff at 14. Garcia and Potthoff were named the coMVPs of the SVC. Potthoff also is the leader in rebounding at 13 per game.