Mitty holds off Serra to claim WCAL crown

It was a long and arduous battle to get over the hump, but Mitty finally got there.

Junior guard Mason Ryan drilled a 3-pointer from the corner with 55 seconds left, giving the sixth-ranked Monarchs their first lead of the night, and the visitors held on for a 56-55 victory at No. 12 Serra to clinch the West Catholic Athletic League regularseason championship Friday night.

Mitty (17-6, 11-2) trailed 20-6 at the end of the first quarter, but gradually fought back behind the efforts of Devan Sapp (22 points), Marcus Greene (13 points) and Ryan, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

After Ryan’s 3-pointer made it 56-55, Serra missed two 3point attempts down the stretch. The Padres, who got 21 points and 17 rebounds from Cade Rees and 16 points from Parker McDonald, dropped to 17-5, 9-4. Both teams have one WCAL game remaining.

Antonio Abeyta added 11 points for Serra, which took its first-quarter lead behind eight points and 10 rebounds from Rees.

Mitty has fought back from deficits often this season, including an 11-point margin on Tuesday before beating Riordan 75-71. The Monarchs also trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter to Bellarmine 44-40. #9 James Logan-Union City 79, #10 Moreau CatholicHayward 69: Brahjon Thompson had 18 points and Malcolm Steadman 17 as the host Colts (20-5, 13-0) clinched the championship of the Mission Athletic Athletic League with a nearly wire-to-wire win over the Mariners (19-7, 11-2), who got 21 points from Maxwell Anderson. Logan, which got 12 points from Brett Thompson, trailed only twice and got a huge break from Moreau’s 13-for-28 performance at the foul line. David Hector added 17 points and D.J. Johnson 11 points and nine rebounds for the Mariners.

SATURDAY

#4 De La Salle-Concord at #3 Dublin: Following convincing wins on Thursday, the East Bay powers will collide with identical 23-3 records for the East Bay Athletic League playoff title. Tip-off is 7 p.m. Dublin, winner of the Valley Division, won 64-55 at De La Salle, the Mountain Division champion, on Jan. 26 in the only meeting between the teams. In that game, De La Salle’s Thomas Gregorios scored 27 points, but no one else scored in double figures for the Spartans.

“We have to have good closeouts on their shooters, control the defensive boards, move and share the ball and keep Gregorios out of the lane,” Dublin coach Tom Costello said.

Dublin, coming off a 73-58 win at Dougherty Valley-San Ramon on Thursday, has won three of the past four against DLS, which won 53-43 at home against California-San Ramon. Against Dougherty Valley, Robby Beasley had 16 points, Grant Manning 14 points and 13 rebounds and Anthony Roy 14 points.

GIRLS

#1 Mitty 80, St. Francis 26: Haley Jones went for 31 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, four blocks and four steals as the host Monarchs (22-2, 10-0) clinched the WCAL title. It was the 42nd consecutive WCAL victory for the team’s six seniors. Hunter Hernadez added 15 points and Ania McNicholas contributed six points, seven rebounds and five steals. St. Francis dropped to 13-9 and 2-7.