Sacred Heart Cathedral stuns top-seeded Mitty
Rather than put a team with a sparkling record in as the eighth seed in the Open Division boys basketball playoffs, the Central Coast Section placed a seventhplace West Catholic Athletic League squad, Sacred Heart Cathedral, in the field despite its 10-14 mark.
Throw out the records, especially when two WCAL squads converge, as the Irish showed once more with a 69-65 firstround shocker over Mitty — the league’s champion — on Friday at Piedmont Hills in San Jose. It was the first time a No. 8 seed defeated the top seed in the seven-year history of the Open Division.
Elijah Flowers had 17 points and Cedric Reed 15 for the Irish
(11-14), who led after every quarter and opened up a 14-point lead by the middle of the fourth quarter. After Reed fouled out, Mitty (17-8) made a comeback to cut it to 66-63 with 38 seconds left. But Ray John Jackson (13 points) hit two free throws with 27.7 seconds left that essentially put it away.
Mitty won the two regularseason games between the two squads. The Monarchs blasted SHC 82-54 in San Francisco on Jan. 23. That seemed to wake up the Irish, who played well down the stretch, even in defeats.
Kori McCoy added 12 points for the Irish, who next play Bellarmine in Wednesday’s semifinals.
All eight Open Division teams advance to the CIF Northern California regional playoffs. The four Open firstround losers play in consolation play Thursday.
Riordan 69, St. Francis 53: At Fremont-Sunnyvale, Bryce Monroe had 18 points, Justin Turner 15 and Chimae Ugbaja 12, leading the second-seeded Crusaders (18-7) to the wire-to-wire victory.
Bellarmine 57, St. Ignatius 54: At Piedmont Hills, Kiran Kruse had 16 points and Guinn Denker added 15 and the third-seeded Bells (19-6) survived despite missing two starters because of injury and having two others limited due to illness.
Menlo-Atherton 67, Serra 54: Nick Tripaldi scored 16 points and James Beckwith added 14 as the fourthseeded Bears spoiled the All-WCAL Open party with a victory at Fremont. Will Beasley added 11 points, Skylar Thomas 10 and Justin Anderson contributed eight points and eight rebounds for the Bears, who will play Riordan in Wednesday’s semifinal.
Mitty 83, Eastside Prep-East Palo Alto 48: Stanford-bound Haley Jones had 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, leading the top-seeded Monarchs (23-2) to the Open Division win at Christopher-Gilroy.
St. Ignatius 66, Menlo SchoolAtherton 50: At Gunn-Palo Alto, Maddie Ennis had 23 points and 12 rebounds as the fourth-seeded Wildcats (16-9) won going away.
Pinewood-Los Altos Hills 61, St. Francis 39: At Gunn, Yale-bound Klara Astrom had 20 points and Stanford-signee Hannah Jump contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Panthers (23-2).
Heritage-Brentwood 53: Abby Muse had 77, 29 San points Leandro and Jordan Sweeney contributed 14 as the host Patriots (25-3) moved into semifinal Division I play with a win over 10th-seed San Leandro (21-7). In other D1 play, 12th-seed Amador Valley stunned fourth-seed California-San Ramon 59-50 and third-seed San Ramon Valley-Danville defeated Mission San Jose Fremont, 78-71.
De La Salle-Concord 46, Amador Valley-Pleasanton 39: In Division 1 play, Tim Kostolansky had 13 points and Thomas Gregorios added 12, but it was a three-point play with 58 seconds left by freshman Noah Clifford that sealed the win for the Spartans (26-3). . … In other quarterfinal play, fourth-seed San Leandro (24-4) defeated College Park 78-66 and No. 2 Dublin (25-4) beat seventh-seed Dougherty Valley 78-50. … Third-seed James Logan-Union City (22-5) hosts sixth-seed Monte Vista-Danville (19-7) 7 p.m. Saturday.
Moreau Newark Catholic-Hayward Memorial 55: Max Anderson 58, had 19 points, David Hector 11 and Leonard Turner and Chris Rendon 10 apiece, as the host Mariners (22-7) prevailed in Division 2 play. … In other D2 play, top-seed Bishop O’DowdOakland (20-7) defeated BethelVallejo 74-52, 14th-seed Las LomasWalnut Creek (13-15) defeated 11thseed and host Tamalpais-Mill Valley 49-45 and fourth-seed Redwood Larkspur (23-7) beat fifth-seed San Lorenzo 58-51.
Salesian-Richmond 84, San MarinNovato 43: In D3 competition, Shane Bell had 19 points, and Jovon McClanahan and Tyler Brinkman added 13 points apiece as the host and topseeded Pride (29-0) took a 23-6 lead after the first quarter and cruised over San Marin, which got 35 points from sophomore Tyson Geraci. … Elsewhere, fifth-seed St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda (19-6) won at fourthseed Albany 37-29, second-seed Campolindo-Moraga (22-6) beat visiting and seventh-seed Piner 70-60, and third-seed and host St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo beat sixth-seed Miramonte-Orinda, 57-45.