Godfrey dominates, propels Branham to CCS Division I title
Branham center Quinn Godfrey brought more than height to Mission College on Saturday for the Central Coast Section Division I girls basketball championship game.
The 6-foot-4 UC Merced-bound senior also carried along determination and a whole lot of skills that Evergreen Valley and its high-scoring guard, Ryka Aprameyan, could not completely match.
Aprameyan tried, but there simply was too much of Godfrey at both ends of the floor for Evergreen Valley to defeat one of its league rivals for the third time this season.
Second-seeded Branham captured the section championship, dethroning last year's Division I winner 54-51 in a game that ended with Aprameyan's 3-point attempt in transition falling short at the buzzer.
Godfrey finished with 32 points, 19 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Incredible, yes, but that doesn't tell the whole story. She also disrupted countless shots near the rim that was the difference between smiles and sadness afterward.
“She's amazing,” Branham coach Nick Moreno said. “Since freshman year, she's been working every day. This year she knew that she had to step up and she was ready to do it.”
Aprameyan finished with 31 points.
Division I boys No. 2 Los Gatos 58, No. 1 Menlo-Atherton 54:
For all the X's and O's, for all the strategy, for all the back and forth and half-court sets and full-court presses, the Central Coast Section Division I boys basketball championship game came down to that tedious exercise most teams do every day at the end of practice. Shooting free throws.
Nothing flashy, nothing that makes the highlight reel. But there's nothing more important than making them with the game on the line.
Scotty Brennan stepped to the freethrow line with 13 seconds left in a tie game and knocked down a pair to give Los Gatos a two-point lead.
“Honestly, I took a deep breath and said, `Remember, I can shoot free throws, they're free points so I might as well take them,'” Brennan said. “And I was lucky enough to settle myself down.”
“He's such a tough kid,” Los Gatos coach Nick Ward said. “He's tough physically, tough mentally. He works so hard in football and in basketball. He's the guy you want at the line in that spot.”
After a Menlo-Atherton 3-point attempt rimmed out, Anthony Martin made two more from the line with 2.3 seconds left to provide the final margin for Los Gatos in a 58-54 victory and the second CCS boys basketball championship in school history Saturday at Santa Clara High.
Los Gatos (21-6) was 22 of 28 at the line for the game. Menlo-Atherton (20-7) was 12 of 23.
“We lost by four and we missed (11) free throws,” M-A coach Mike Molieri said. “That makes it tough to beat a team like that. That was the difference.”
Division II girls
No. 1Monta Vista 53, No. 3Christopher 47: Once a girls basketball power, the Matadors held off a late charge by Christopher to capture their first CCS title in 31 years.
Monta Vista (22-5) led 26-14 at the half and maintained that 12-point edge through the third quarter.
The Cougars (20-7) cut the margin to four points at 51-47 with less than a minute to go, but they had to foul to get the ball back, and Monta Vista sealed it at the line.
The winners hit six of 12 free throws in the fourth period, including two apiece by leading scorer Sophia Lu (17 points) and Vivian Ong.
Christopher had only three points on free throws for the entire game, and none in the fourth quarter. In addition to Lu's 17 points, Clara Fan scored 15 points and Carolyn Ruan had 11 for the Mats.
Christopher's leading scorer, Alyssa Lopez, had 15 points, all on 3-pointers.
Division II boys No. 1 Valley Christian 48, No. 2 Christopher 35:
Utilizing a balanced attack with no player scoring more than eight points, Valley Christian pulled away from Christopher in the second half to win the CCS Division II boys basketball championship with a 48-35 victory Saturday at Santa Clara High.
Valley Christian (13-14) moved out to a 27-22 lead at halftime after Christopher center Jaxen Robinson went to the bench with two fouls. The Warriors pulled away after the break, limiting Christopher to 13 second-half points.
Sophomore Bryant Clark scored eight points, Nate Kinsella and Tzahari Trevino had seven apiece while Jacob Annab and 6-9 freshman Teniola Bamisebi chipped in with six each.
Uriah Brown led Christopher (15-12) with 12 points. Robinson scored nine and Ebuka Okeke had seven.
Division III girls No. 5Notre Dame-San Jose 52, No. 2Mills 47, OT:
Radhika Garapaty couldn't hold back her emotions after the final buzzer sounded.
The Notre Dame-San Jose guard sat at the end of the bench, looked at the scoreboard and bawled her eyes out. They were tears of joy after she led the Regents to their biggest win in program history.
After almost losing a double-digit second-half lead, Notre Dame held on to win in overtime against Mills at Santa Clara High to capture the Division III title — the first section title in school history.
“Nobody ever thought we could do this,” Garapty said. “We were the underdogs the entire tournament and no one thought we would be here. This is such a young team and we could do this again next year.”
Garapaty finished with 22 points and guard Rio Funatsu had nine.
Division IV girls No. 1 Menlo School 49, No. 2 Half Moon Bay 33:
Menlo won its third consecutive Division IV championship as Arthi Abhyanker had a 16 points and six rebounds and Ruiqi Liu added 15 points, four rebounds and a block to lead the way over Half Moon Bay at Mission College.
The Knights also got nine points on three 3-pointers and eight rebounds from Summer Young and five assists from Karen Xin as they celebrated a 10th section championship in program history.
Menlo (18-9) led 22-6 after the first quarter and continued to roll from there.
Division IV boys No. 1 Carmel 57, No. 2 Menlo School 52:
Menlo was unable to protect a 49-40 advantage heading to the fourth quarter as Carmel staged a rally to win the Division IV title at Mission College.
Tate Cohen made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead Menlo (1611), which also got seven points each from Julian Brooks, Adam Karr, Sam Reznik and Aidan Stull. Reznik also had seven rebounds, and Brooks added six assists.