No resting on laurels as NorCals beckon
There’s no rest for the trophyraisers. And new life for the despondent.
The state boys and girls basketball tournaments are upon us Tuesday with first-round Northern California regional play in five 16-team divisions. The top Open Division starts Wednesday, but there are just five teams in each.
First, here are the Bay Area section champions crowned Friday and Saturday.
San Francisco Section: Lincoln boys, Washington girls.
Oakland Section: Oakland Tech boys and girls.
Central Coast Section boys: Sacred Heart Cathedral (Open), Bellarmine (Division 1). St. Francis (D2), Monterey (D3), The King’s Academy (D4) and Priory (D5).
CCS girls: Mitty (Open), Evergreen Valley (D1), St. Francis (D2), Mills-Millbrae (D3), Menlo School-Atherton (D4) and Summit Shasta-Daly City (D5).
North Coast Section boys:
Dougherty Valley-San Ramon (Open), Clayton Valley-Concord (D1), Campolindo-Moraga (D2), Branson-Ross (D3), University (D4), Urban (D5) and San Francisco Waldorf (D6).
NCS girls: Salesian-Richmond (Open), Monte Vista-Danville (D1), Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (D2), Marin Catholic-Kentfield (D3), Piedmont (D4), University (D5) and Cornerstone Christian-Antioch (D6).
Among the top section story lines:
• The Sacred Heart Cathedral boys (17-11), a season after going 4-16, won the CCS’s highest division behind 24 points from football player RL Miller in a 64-59 win over fourth seed Serra. Under second-year coach Caesar Smith, the Irish won the program’s 12th section title after finishing tied for third in the WCAL.
• The dream season for the Dougherty Valley boys (27-3) continued when they pulled away late from De La Salle-Concord 65-51 at a packed St. Mary’s College. USF signee Ryan Beasley scored 21 points for the Wildcats, who won their first section title.
• Mitty’s girls (26-2) won their 31st CCS title behind freshman McKenna Woliczko, who finished with 22 points in a 74-51 Open Division win over Pinewood-Los Altos Hills. Earlier in the week, Woliczko, a 6-foot-2 post averaging 20.4 points and more than 10 rebounds per game, was the first ninth-grade girl to be named the WCAL’s MVP.
• Lincoln’s boys (26-3) defended their SFS crown with a 55-27 win over Lowell (25-6) at Kezar Pavilion. Quentin Kennedy had 20 points and Cortevious Taylor 18 for the Mustangs.
• The defending state Division I champion Salesian girls (25-4) won their seventh NCS title but first Open crown with a 59-55 victory over San Ramon Valley (26-4). Salesian got 19 points from Makiah Asidanya and 13 by Madalyn Kanazawa.
• Joey Kennedy had 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks and Cole Boake added a team-high 20 points and five assists in leading University (28-3) to a 67-59 win over defending NorCal D4 champion Justin-Siena-Napa (26-5) at Kezar.
Top story lines heading into NorCals:
• Piedmont (27-0), not Mitty, is the top girls Open seed, which makes sense because the Highlanders defeated the Monarchs 60-56 on Dec. 10. That was without five-star recruit Morgan Cheli (knee), but since Mitty has gone 20-1 and played a national schedule. Piedmont has terrific wins over Cardinal Newman (66-34), Salesian (69-63), Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (69-62) and Acalanes-Lafayette (66-51), but by NCS rules was forced to play in the Division 4 tournament. The Highlanders’ San Diego State-bound Trinity Zamora, out with a knee injury for more than a month, returned and had 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a 75-49 NCS title win over Branson on Saturday.
• Despite section losses, the De La Salle and Mitty boys (22-5) each earned Open Division bids and will meet in San Jose on Wednesday. The winner of that game plays at defending NorCal Open champion Modesto Christian, the top seed. On Saturday, second seed Dougherty Valley hosts Central Section juggernaut St. Joseph-Santa Maria, led by one of the top sophomores in the country, Tounde Yessoufou (28.2 points, 10.9 rebounds).
• The boys Division I field might be most interesting, with intriguing first-round matchups: No. 9 seed Granada-Livermore at No. 8 Sacred Heart Cathedral, No. 13 Campolindo at No. 4 Riordan, No. 14 University at No. 3 Jesuit-Carmichael, No. 11 Serra vs. No. 6 Salesian at Contra Costa College and No. 10 San Ramon Valley at No. 7 Clovis North.