Plenty of good story lines in this round

With the CIF’s creation of the Open Division in 2013, the other basketball divisions are sometimes seen as afterthoughts and consolation titles.

Perhaps so in regard to national or state rankings, but to the participants and their fans, pursuing a state title of any type resonates no matter the stage.

And the celebrations at the end are equally hearty. Maybe even more so.

We’ll never forget the sonic boom created when San Ramon Valley-Danville upset the Ball brothers and Chino Hills in a Division 1 overtime final at Cal two years ago. The flood of tears. The endless embraces. First-year coach Brian Botteen holding up the trophy while honoring his own former SRV coach, John Raynor, who lost two state-final heartbreakers.

Every team has a story, many of them deep and rich. Here are some of the best I’ll be following starting Wednesday when Northern California action gets under way: Lick-Wilmerding boys: A third-place team in the Bay Counties League West, the Tigers got healthy, peaked late and swept through the league playoffs, beating previously Chronicle-ranked squads Stuart Hall and University to take the title.

For the North Coast Section playoffs, Lick earned only a sixth seed in Division 4, behind its BCL West rivals, but kept the momentum going with a quarterfinal win at fourthseeded Marin Catholic-Kentfield. Thirty-year head coach Eliot Smith called the 84-72 win Feb. 25 probably the best of his career. Chip Thompson ,a 5-foot-4 senior guard, scored a career-high 35.

Thompson hurt his foot in the game and told Smith that he couldn’t play in the semifinals at second-seed St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo. Top defender Royce Fong sustained a concussion and couldn’t suit up. Without two starters, the Tigers fell behind 22-5 and the rout appeared on.

“I just told the guys to forget the score, focus on playing and they made a nice comeback to cut it to 10 by halftime,” Smith said.

The Bruins upped the lead to 51-31 midway through the third. But then Lick caught fire, cut the deficit to 61-58 and sent the game into OT when Walter Lum (23 points) drilled a threepointer with 1.8 seconds left. Avi Leung made a steal and layup to with less than a minute left in OT to give Lick its first lead, before the Tigers sealed it with free throws to win 71-68.

“Now that was truly the greatest win I’ve ever been a part of,” Smith said.

Lick lost the title game to top-seeded St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda, 63-33, but it is the second seed behind Palma-Salinas in D4. Thompson is back and Fong is still questionable. “We’re just honored to be in this position,” Smith said. “Anything is possible.” Dublin boys: Tom Costello has won 193 games in 10 seasons, but this is the first year the Gaels have been among the Northern California elite. They just missed winning their first NCS title, falling 53-51 to De La Salle in Division 1. Dublin (28-4) didn’t get that elusive section crown but as the top seed in D1, it might get its first Northern California title. Palo Alto boys: Coach Peter Diepenbrock really wanted his team (23-4) to get a shot at the Central Coast Section Open Division. The Vikings didn’t get it, but instead won the most dramatic local section title game 66-63 over Los Gatos on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Spencer Rojahn. Palo Alto, the No. 9 D1 seed, travels to Merritt College-Oakland to face Oakland Section champ Fremont on Wednesday. Miramonte-Orinda girls: The defending Northern California Open-champion Matadors lost two-time Metro Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu and four other players to graduation. Without a 6-footer, they definitely don’t pass the eye test. But with a 27-3 record, the Matadors clearly know how to play the game, as they showed in an 84-44 NCS D2 title win over 24-win Montgomery-Santa Rosa. Miramonte, which has not won a state title, is the second seed in NorCal D2. Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle. He also is a national columnist for MaxPreps.com.