O’Dowd, Salesian seize section crowns

Sophomore Kennedy Johnson had the game of her life with 32 points and Jada Holland provided a late boost as Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland claimed the North Coast Section Division 2 championship Saturday at Dublin High.

Holland made four free throws and added a key steal in the final 10 seconds to secure the Dragons’ 64-59 victory, their second straight championship win over top-seeded Miramonte-Orinda. Bishop O’Dowd, the second seed, ended the Matadors’ 21-game winning streak.

Johnson, a 5-foot-10 post, scored 14 of her 32 in the third quarter, mostly around the basket. She also had a teamhigh 12 rebounds.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Rebecca Welsh (21 points) and Erin Tarasow (12 points) cut O’Dowd’s lead to 59-56 with a minute left. Following one free throw each by Bishop O’Dowd’s Omaya Bonner (11 points) and Miramonte’s Mia Mastrov, the Matadors stole the ball.

But a Mastrov jumper missed with 10 seconds left. After she was fouled, Holland swished two free throws to make it 62-57. Holland then stole the inbound pass, was fouled again, and swished two more foul shots to clinch it.

As in last season’s championship game, quickness and rebounding keyed the victory for Bishop O’Dowd (20-9).

Welsh, a 5-5 junior, made six three-pointers and kept the Matadors (27-3) close following an 18-6 run late in the second quarter that gave Bishop O’Dowd a 40-29 lead. Salesian-Richmond 58, St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda 54: At St. Mary’s College, USC-bound Angel Jackson had 14 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks and the top-seeded Pride (23-8) overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the Pilots (22-7) and win the NCS Division 3 title. With her team down 57-54 in the final 10 seconds, St. Joe’s Zhane Duckett (22 points), a 5-6 senior, beat a Salesian defender and stepped back to attempt a 3-pointer. The 6-5 Jackson tipped the ball, which went to teammate Daylee Dunn. Dunn’s ensuing free throw after she was fouled with 2.6 seconds left clinched Salesian’s third straight title. Anjel Galbraith, who had 13 points for the Pride, hit a 3-pointer to give her team a 52-51 lead with a minute left. Malia Mastora (18 points) followed with a layup to give the lead back to St. Joseph, but Makayla Edwards gave the Pride the lead for good with a corner 3-pointer with 45 seconds left. Salesian will likely be a second or third seed in the NorCal Open Division regionals. St. Joseph could be placed in the Division 1 field for the tournament.

CENTRAL COAST SECTION Sequoia-Redwood City 50, Palo Alto 34: Junior Talita Falepapalangi had 22 points as the Cherokees (25-4), the second seed, won the Central Coast Section Division 1 title by beating the top-seeded Vikings (22-4). It was Sequoia’s first CCS crown.

Other games: After four times finishing as the runner-up, second-seeded Aragon-San Mateo (17-12) won its first section crown with a 53-48 win over fourth-seeded Lynbrook-San Jose (22-5) in the Division 2 championship game at Santa Clara University . ... Other champions crowned were Aptos (Division 3), Seaside (Division 4) and Woodside Priory (Division 5).

OAKLAND SECTION Oakland 45, Oakland Tech 43: At Laney College, the Wildcats (25-5) defeated the Bulldogs (25-6) for the third time this season, this one for the Oakland Section crown. Oakland won the previous two games 69-57 and 52-51.

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