Sacred Heart Prep a perfect 4-for-4 in Central Coast Section playoffs
Frank Rodriguez is a very busy man at the moment.
The assistant principal of athletics at Sacred Heart Prep spent the past couple of days bouncing around the Atherton campus as the Gators played host to a quartet of Central Coast Section playoff contests.
SHP prevailed in all four events, beginning with Friday night's 63-43 victory over Bellarmine in the brand-new boys basketball Open Division roundrobin format.
“It's been a crazy 24-hour period,” Rodriguez said. “Hosting all those games it was a real treat. To have all our kids play CCS games in front of our home crowds I think that was a really special opportunity for them. Fortunately, they all rose to the occasion.
“It's been hard for all of us these past couple of years with COVID, and it really felt like we were coming out things the right way. A lot of enthusiasm from not just our community, but all the communities that came.”
Saturday began with a soccer doubleheader.
While the boys took care of business with a 3-1 victory over Sobrato, it was the girls who stole the headlines with a comeback victory over Aptos.
Trailing 2-1 with under 10 minutes left, Sydney Adas tied it up off an assist from Molly Tinsley. Moments later, Meghan Sweeney struck the game-winner.
The nightcap was a 42-41 thriller in girls basketball that saw senior Yazmin Baroumond drain a floater in the lane with 16 seconds left for the win.
Next up for SHP
• Boys basketball (played Monday night): Open Division round-robin vs. St. Francis;
• Girls basketball (today): Division II quarterfinal at Atherton neighbor Menlo School, the No. 1 seed;
• Boys soccer (Wednesday): Division II semifinal at topseeded Hillsdale, which blanked Soquel 3-0;
• Girls soccer (Wednesday): Division II semifinal at topseeded Piedmont Hills, which prevailed in a 4-3 penalty-kick shootout over Palo Alto.
Looks as if Rodriguez will have to travel quite a bit the next few days.
“It's a lot of work to host, but for me being able to be at all four games and not having to pick to go to one game or another – even though CCS works with us all the time in trying to line up games so I can get there and our community can get there – we were very fortunate to celebrate all the teams and be around to support them. And I think that helped our kids' performance and they fed off of that.”
Overtime drama in girls soccer Open Division
For the second year in a row, Archbishop Mitty eliminated Woodside in overtime. The sixth-seeded Monarchs returned from the road with a 1-0 victory courtesy of a goal from senior Jenna Ordonez off an assist by junior Athena Tsakiris in the fourth minute of OT, while senior goalkeeper Riley McNair recorded the shutout. … The Monarchs will face a familiar rival in the semifinals, as West Catholic Athletic League champion St. Francis, the No. 2 seed, held off Leland 2-1. … In the highest-scoring tilt, No. 4 Leigh got a gamewinning goal from Mia Era in overtime to eliminate fifthseeded St. Ignatius 3-2. … Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Mountain View proved it's the team to beat after a 4-0 shutout of Burlingame that featured two goals and an assist by sophomore Karena Shah.
Busy night for SCVAL in DI
For a fourth time this winter, Palo Alto defeated Cupertino, 46-34. Both members of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division met once in the preseason, twice in league play and Saturday in the Division I playoffs.
Ryan Lykken sank four 3-pointers as the Vikings went on a 22-5 run in the second quarter to claim control. Lykken finished with 16 points. Paly's Lucas Black added six points, eight rebounds and five assists. … Los Altos, which finished one game behind Paly in the standings, also advanced into the DI quarterfinals after a 61-51 victory over Independence. … The SCVAL El Camino co-champions weren't so lucky, with Los Gatos falling 47-43 to Silver Creek, while Fremont was bounced by Salinas, 52-44.
Hat trick offsets upset bid in boys soccer
Branham senior Ian Hutt notched a hat trick in the Open Division as the top-seeded Bruins avoided an upset in a 3-1 overtime victory over Serra. Next up is a semifinal against No. 5 Bellarmine, which prevailed 3-2 over Burlingame. … On the opposite side of the bracket, second-seeded Watsonville also advanced in overtime, 2-0, against LincolnSan Jose. No. 3 seed St. Francis didn't need extra time to win by the same score against Santa Clara.