Moreau Catholic wins North Coast D2 title

A struggling Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland boys basketball team and Iniko McNeil were clawing and scratching their way back from a 15-point deficit.

But Amil Fields would simply not let Moreau Catholic-Hayward lose on Saturday night.

The 6-foot-5 senior forward swished a 3-pointer from the right corner with 45 seconds left, thwarting a big rally and lifting the Mariners to a 65-61 North Coast Section Division 2 championship win at Dublin High.

McNeil was held scoreless in the first half, but scored 13 in the second, including seven straight points down the stretch, including a driving layup with 52 seconds left, cutting Moreau’s advantage to 58-56.

Fields sat coolly in the corner and drained the 3-pointer, his fifth of the night, while finishing with a game-high 22 points, lifting second-seed Moreau (24-7) to its fourth NCS crown in the past six years.

Free throws by David Hector and Christoper Rendon-Ibarra (10 points) and another bucket from Fields helped clinch it. Leonard Turner scored 15 firsthalf points for the Mariners, who could be called up to the Northern California Open Division playoffs when pairings are announced Sunday.

Top-seed O’Dowd (22-7), the 18-time NCS champion, got 22 points from Monty Bowser.

Salesian-Richmond 64, Campolindo-Moraga 53: At St. Mary’s College, JoVon McClanahan and Jaden Lazo each scored 13 points and Shane Bell and Te’Jon Sawyer added 12 apiece as the topseeded Pride (31-0), ranked fifth nationally by MaxPreps, led wire to wire to take their third straight Division 3 title.

It was the fourth straight title overall for Salesian, which took leads of 17-9 and 34-20 after the first two quarters.

Tyler Brinkman added 10 points for the winners, who are likely to be the top seed in the Northern California Open Division tournament. Freshman Aidan Mahaney scored 23 points to lead the second-seeded Cougars (22-7). Carter Mahaney added 12 points and David Ahazie contributed 11 for Campolindo.

University 63, Stuart Hall 46: Charley Moore scored 20 points and Max Fried contributed 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists as the second-seeded Red Devils (23-9) — who lost to the top-seeded Knights (27-5) in three earlier meetings — prevailed at Kezar Pavilion to win the Division 5 title. Charlie Kennedy added 10 points fur University, which also won NCS titles in 2002, 1995 and 1991.

“The guys played great,” University coach Randy Bessolo said. “We trailed 15-9 and then it was all University.”

Cornerstone Christian 66, Jewish Community 53: In the Division 6 championship game, the top-seeded Cougars (31-2) downed the visiting Wolves (20-6) to win their first NCS crown.

CENTRAL COAST SECTION

Palo Alto 42, Piedmont Hills-San Jose 33: Anthony Yu scored eight straight points to close the third quarter as the host Vikings (18-9) beat the top-seeded Pirates (22-5) to win the Division 1 championship.

Mountain View 36, Leland San Jose 34: At Santa Clara High School, Will Dominguez had 12 points and Sam Tobin 10 as the third-seeded Spartans (23-4) outlasted the top-seeded Chargers (24-3), who got 10 points from Preston Weber.

Other games: Monterey (Division 3), Carmel (Division 4) and Eastside Prep-Palo Alto (Division 5) were other champions.

Max Preps senior writer Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle.