Tam on the rise heading into NorCals
While pandemonium and celebrations were occurring all around them, third-year Tamalpais-Mill Valley boys basketball coach Tim Morgan and his team gathered near the free-throw line Saturday at St. Mary’s College.
Heavily favored Moreau Catholic-Hayward had just beaten Morgan’s team 77-71 in the North Coast Section Division 2 championship game and he saw it as a teachable moment.
Morgan was calm and clear with his message and his players poised and attentive.
The Red-tailed Hawks (21-11) were a third-place team coming out of the Marin County Athletic League, seeded sixth in the tournament and, in most people’s estimation, lunch meat for the Mariners, who featured two of state’s top guards, Damari Milstead and Kyree Walker.
Milstead (32 points, nine rebounds) and Walker (18 points, 12 rebounds) were spot on, but so was Tam, particularly sharpshooting juniors Jack Duboff and Josh Love, who scored 21 points apiece, and 6-foot-1 senior Jordan Jackson (16 points).
The Hawks led late in the third quarter and were in striking distance right to the end.
When it was over, Morgan made sure they put the loss into perspective.
“I think we proved we’re an up-and-coming program who stood toe-to-toe with a legitimate Bay Area power,” Morgan said. “I wanted them to know I was proud of the fight and effort and their poise. This was definitely something to build upon.”
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the CIF state seeding committee didn’t see the game. Tamalpais drew the No. 9 seed in the Northern California D2 playoffs and will travel to eighth-seed Burbank-Sacramento (26-4), a team ranked among the Top 25 teams in Northern California all season by MaxPreps. An unexpected 63-56 Sac-Joaquin Section semifinal loss to Beyer-Modesto cost the Titans dearly.
They are led by 6-3 senior guards Keshawn Bruner (22.6 points, 7.7 rebounds per game) and Isiah Davis (19.1, 5.6).
Other NorCal notes heading into first-round play:
In D1, No. 10-seed Oakland Tech (26-4), which lost to Fremont in the Oakland Section final (Tech won three previous games over Fremont), travels to seventh-seeded Menlo-Atherton (22-7). Fremont (21-9) takes on Central Coast Section champ Palo Alto (23-4) at Merritt College. No. 14 Modesto Christian (22-7), not in the Open bracket for the first time in the division’s five seasons, travels to No. 3 James Logan-Union City (24-5).
Three boys games will be played at Kezar Pavilion, as D3 No. 4-seed Mission (30-1) plays San Marin-Novato (20-11) at 5:30 p.m. followed by a pair of D4 games, No. 8 University (26-4) against No. 9 Menlo SchoolAtherton (19-7) and fifth-seeded Stuart Hall (22-8) against No. 12 Half Moon Bay (21-8). St. Ignatius, the top D3 seed in the boys and girls brackets, hosts a doubleheader. The girls (18-9) play Sanger (19-13) at 6 p.m. followed by the boys (21-6) taking on Rio Americano-Sacramento (16-12) at 7:30.
San Francisco Section girls champion Lincoln (27-6) received the No. 13 seed in D1 and travels to No. 4 Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills (20-10).
The University boys were one of nine NCS schools that benefited from the CIF’s new push to have 16 teams in all NorCal brackets. The NCS normally is allotted four teams per division (outside of Open), but this season it placed five boys teams in D1, D4 and D5, six in D2, five girls teams in D2 and D4 and six girls teams in D5. Commissioner Gil Lemmon alerted schools by email Feb. 27 to apply even if they lost in quarterfinal rounds.