Upsets abound as playoffs open
University boys basketball coach Randy Bessolo had an inclination that his team’s first-round Division 1 matchup at thirdseeded Jesuit-Carmichael would be epic.
But the 14th-seeded Red Devils’ 92-85 win Tuesday might well have been the program’s biggest ever. Largely because University, a coed school of 421 in the heart of San Francisco, is so small and Jesuit is an all-boys school of 1,000 — with a McDonald’s AllAmerican in Andrej Stojakovic, son of former NBA All-Star Peja.
Stojakovic, a 6-6 guard headed to Stanford, got his, with 25 points, and sharpshooter Kevin Haupt added 20 and 6foot-8 wing Cole Epperson added 15 for the Marauders (26-6).
But the Red Devils (29-3) just had too much of everything else, including 23 points from Luke Bradley (18 in the first half ), 21 from Cole Boake, 20 by Gus Parsons and 17 from Joey Kennedy.
Bessolo said his tiny school’s depth turned out to be the difference.
“Their first five are pretty good, but our depth was too much,” Bessolo said. “We played 11 guys and the ones who did not score much were flying around pressuring the ball.
“We came in averaging 77 points a game and they came in averaging 70. We knew it would be a fun game. To beat them on the road is special for a small school like ours. We have won some big games but none like this in an elimination game.”
Under Bessolo, the Red
Devils have been playing large for more than a decade. In his 18th season, Bessolo is 438-137 and has won three North Coast Section titles in the past four seasons, including the last two D4 crowns.
They’ve been so good for so long, the CIF has elevated them under its competitive equity model all the way to Division I. Last season, the Red Devils lost in the first round of the NorCal D2 tournament at West Catholic Athletic League power St. Francis.
Their next challenge comes Thursday against another traditional NorCal power in SalesianRichmond, a 48-33 firstround winner over Serra. The Pride (24-8), who got 15 points from Amari Johnson and 12 from Aaron Claytor, focus more on defense. The 7 p.m. game is being played at Contra Costa College-San Pablo.
The madness begins
There were massive upsets throughout the the state Tuesday, but particularly among the top three Northern California boys divisions, topped by No. 16 seeds Granite Bay (D2) and Carlmont (D3) beating No. 1 seeds Clayton ValleyConcord and Las LomasWalnut Creek, respectively. Eight No. 10 or higher seeds advanced in D1, 2 or 3, including No. 15 Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton taking down No. 2 Folsom 6362 in D1 thanks to 25 points from TJ O’Brien and a lastsecond make from Saam Norris.