Salesian wins 4th NCS crown in a row
Stephen Pezzola recalled taking over the Salesian-Richmond girls basketball program nine years ago. Though the Salesian boys were competing for state titles every season, the girls were coming off three straight sub-.500 seasons.
Pezzola asked boys coach Bill Mellis, “If there is two minutes of practice time, how much do we get?” Pezzola said Mellis’ reply was “one,” with Pezzola adding that the programs have “split time and he’s been great ever since.”
The girls have been also. With a 50-46 win over Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa on Saturday at St. Mary’s College, the Pride captured their fourth consecutive North Coast Section title, this one at the Division 3 level. They’ve also won three Northern California crowns.
Angel Jackson, a 6-foot-5 junior, had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and Taisia Fleming scored six points in the fourth quarter, two after she stole the ball and scored on a spinning layup with 49 seconds left to help seal a highly competitive game.
Salesian (26-5) will likely be a No. 3 or 4 seed in the Northern California Open Division playoffs, to be announced Sunday.
Cardinal Newman (26-5), the 2016 Division 4 state champion, could end up in the Open Division or Division 1. The Cardinals got 19 points from Anya Choice and 12 from Avery Cargill. But after taking a 40-39 lead with 5:03 remaining, Cardinal Newman managed just three points until a three-pointer by Choice with 2.4 seconds left.
“Tough, tough win,” Pezzola said. “They made us work. They’re very well coached and do they battle. Our defensive pressure I think eventually made a difference.”
NORTH COAST SECTION Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland 75, Miramonte-Orinda 71: In the Division 2 final at St. Mary’s College, Jada Holland scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter as the secondseeded Dragons (19-10) won their 10th NCS title. ,
More NCS: In the Division 4 title game at Albany, top-seeded St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda (27-4) rolled to a 90-47 win over second-seeded Arcata (21-7). It was the fourth NCS crown for the Pilots. … In the Division 5 title game at Kezar Pavilion, top-seeded Urban (25-5) won 65-56 over second-seeded St. Bernard’s 65-56. It was Urban’s second title and first since 2004. CENTRAL COAST SECTION Valley Christian 69, Aragon-San Mateo 62: A power failure in the Division 2 championship forced the game to be moved at halftime from Independence-San Jose to Piedmont Hills-San Jose, where the top-seeded Warriors (13-14) — with Fallon Dexheiemr scoring 18 points and Nyah Willis adding 17 — beat the second-seeded Dons (14-6) to earn their fourth CCS crown.
More CCS play: In Division 1 play at Santa Clara University, sixth-seeded Silver Creek-San Jose (17-11) won 42-30 over top-seeded Menlo-Atherton (22-8) 42-30 to win its first CCS crown. … In the Division 3 finalf at Piedmont Hills, top-seeded South San Francisco won 66-50 over second-seeded Aptos (25-4). … In the Division 4 final at SCU, top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (16-10) won 55-35 over secondseeded Notre Dame-Belmont (14-12). OAKLAND SECTION Oakland High 67, KIPP King-San Lorenzo 34: Junior guard Morgan Dunbar scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats (21-7) to the section championship at Merritt College. Ogenna Udemezue led KIPP King (14-10) with 12 points.