El Cerrito edges Campolindo 55-50
When El Cerrito and Campolindo-Moraga met Saturday, there wasn’t a lot riding on the game.
El Cerrito is virtually assured of the No. 1 seed in the North Coast Section Division II playoffs, and Campolindo has all but sewn up the No. 2 spot in Division III behind Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland.
Even so, both teams left everything on the court before host El Cerrito, ranked No. 3 by The Chronicle, overcame a three-point deficit after three quarters to post a 55-50 victory. The win is payback for a 67-63 loss to fourthranked Campolindo at the Modesto Christian Tournament in late December.
“It was definitely about pride for us. They had already beaten us once,” El Cerrito head coach Michael Booker said. “Not only that but it was a litmus test for us to see where we’re at. It shows we’re growing as a team.”
El Cerrito (23-3) jumped to a 15-6 firstquarter lead before Campolindo fought back more than once in a game that had 12 lead changes and five ties, the last at 44-44 with 5 minutes left on a basket by El Cerrito’s Tyrell Alcorn. The Gauchos’ senior led all scorers with 23 points.
Campolindo (21-3) had its last lead at 44-42 on a basket by 6-foot-7, 245-pound center Chris Hansen. And after falling behind 51-46, the Cougars closed to 51-50 with 16.4 seconds remaining before El Cerrito scored the last four points on free throws by Alcorn.
Hansen was hard to stop inside and finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Scott Chen added 10 points.
While no other El Cerrito player hit double figures, the Gauchos featured eight players who scored to only five for the Cougars. El Cerrito junior Sayeed Pridgett had nine points, five assists and four rebounds.
Campolindo played without junior forward Austin Clarke for what head coach Matt Watson said was a coach’s decision.
“Our post defense was lacking,” Booker said. “We had a plan to deal with Hansen, but he’s a load. Still, it’s a good win for us going into the playoffs”
El Cerrito will host St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda on Tuesday in the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division playoffs. Campolindo has two games remaining this week in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League, which has no playoffs.
St. Francis 80, Sacred
Heart Cathedral 65: Giuseppe Benedetti had 28 points as the No. 10 Lancers (19-3, 10-2 WCAL) beat the host Irish (12-10, 6-6), who got 18 points from David Parsons.
Mitty 48, Riordan 41: In San Jose, Ben Kone had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Cameron Korb and Nick LaBruna combined for 18, leading the No. 8 Monarchs (14-8, 8-4 WCAL) past the No. 16 Crusaders (14-8, 6-6), who got 11 points by Max Randall and 10 from Eddie Stansberry. A 14-6 run by Riordan tied the game at 31 heading into the fourth quarter. Serra 66, Bellarmine 40: Trevor Brown had 21 points as the No. 13 Padres (17-5, 9-3 WCAL) rolled past the visiting Bells (12-10, 5-7).)
GIRLS St. Mary’s-Stockton 103,
Bishop O’Dowd 74: Kat Tudor had 19 points, and Mi’Cole Cayton and Carlissa Shipp added 14 apiece as host Rams (26-1) defeated the No. 9 Dragons (17-8). ... It was the 20th straight win for the St. Mary’s, which is ranked fourth nationally by MaxPreps.com. In those 20 wins, St. Mary’s has scored at least 100 points five times and at least 90 nine times. … Bishop O’Dowd saw its 14game win streak end.