San Ramon Valley girls win after 3-pointer comes a fraction too late
When Allie Cummins banked in an improbable 3-point shot as the clock struck zero, it touched off a Carondelet celebration while San Ramon Valley contemplated the possibility of overtime.
There was an excruciating two-minute wait as three officials huddled at midcourt and eventually ruled the ball had yet to leave the shooter's hands, giving the Wolves a 57-54 home victory Thursday night in the NorCal Division I girls regionals.
Visual evidence in the form of cell phone video indicated the correct call was made — the ball had yet to leave Cummins' hands when the clock struck zero.
“I was so nervous, ready for any answer,” San Ramon Valley point guard Sierra Chambers said. “All I knew is whatever they chose, we were just going to have to fight through it.”
Chambers scored a teamhigh 23 points on a night where the Wolves had to fight through a lot. Chambers, according to SRV (283) coach John Cristiano, was playing with the flu and a fever. Sophia Bowes, a junior post, had one leg wrapped with a quad injury and the other with a calf issue. She buried four free throws in the final 19 seconds that ended up being the difference in the game.
“These girls fought through it and played a great game against a team, against one of the best coaches, and they pulled it out,” Cristiano said. “What a great way to continue on in the state tournament and win a game like this.”
Cummins, who finished her Carondelet (23-8) career with more than 1,000 points and will probably always remember the three she didn't get on her final shot, led all scorers with 25 points and was 10-for-10 from the foul line. Jamie Kent added 18 despite battling foul trouble.
Third-seeded San Ramon
Valley now faces second-seeded Oakland Tech tonight.
Cristiano said his eyes were locked on an official who waved off the shot initially and was confident it would be ruled late. Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak, to his credit, displayed class and perspective in the aftermath.
“I know it was close,” Sopak said. “I told the kids, whatever they call, just maintain your composure either way, right? It's tough enough for those refs. You've got to live by what they say. Without video replay, whether you're right or wrong, it's going to be somewhat of a guess.”
Said Cristiano: “It's a tough call for the officials, to say `no shot' like that. But they did the right thing and it was the right call.”
— Jerry McDonald
Division I boys
SAN RAMON VALLEY TOPS
SACRED HEART PREP IN OT >> As double-digit seeds, both San Ramon Valley and Sacred Heart Prep went on the road Tuesday for the first round of the Northern California Division I regional and beat higher seeds to set up a quarterfinal two days later in Danville.
Thursday night, the 15th seed Sacred Heart Prep got off to a quick start against the home team. But the game evolved into a battle of physical wills and was eventually
decided in overtime.
San Ramon Valley, the 10th seed, scored the first six points of the extra period and held on for a 59-57 victory.
The Wolves know the drill.
They will have no time to cherish the fruits of their latest win, which followed a victory at defending Division I champion Clovis North in the opening round.
SRV (26-7) advanced to the semifinals tonight against sixth-seeded Salesian, which moved on with a win over No. 14 seed University-San Francisco.
The semifinal will be a rematch of Salesian's rout of SRV in the first round of the North Coast Section Open Division playoffs two weeks ago.
SRV had to scratch and claw against Sacred Heart Prep (20-8) to get a second shot at Salesian.
— Darren Sabedra
Division I girls
OAKLAND TECH GIRLS RUN PAST PINEWOOD >> After winning the 2022 Division III state championship last March, Oakland Tech's girls basketball coach Leroy Hurt sat in the winner's press conference and told the room, “We're a D-I school, we should be with the D-I teams.”
Tech had just won its second Division III title in four years, and the Bulldogs had also made it to a Division
II final in 2020, which was canceled because of the pandemic.
On Thursday night, Hurt's girls showed the state that their confidence was warranted.
Now the No. 2 seed in NorCal's Division I, Tech breezed by perennial title contender Pinewood 63-37 in the quarterfinal, and allowed only 12 points in the second half.
Erin Sellers and Jada Williams each scored 11 for Tech (27-5), Jala Williams scored 10 points, and Taliyah Logwood scored eight. For Pinewood (17-12), Ava Uhrich scored 18 points and made four three-pointers.
Tonight, Tech will face San Ramon Valley. a team it beat 70-45 in January.
— Joseph Dycus
Division I boys
GRANADA BOUNCES NO.
1 SEED CLOVIS WEST >> Granada coach Quaran Johnson had a message for his team Thursday night before its game with Clovis West, the No. 1 seed in NorCal Division I.
“I told the team not to look at the number in front of their name,” Johnson said.
The advice couldn't have been more perfect as the ninth-seeded and visiting Matadors surprised Clovis West 70-62 in overtime. Andrew McKeever, Granada's 7-footer who is bound for Saint Mary's, scored 27 points.
“An overtime thriller once again,” Johnson said. “We grinded it out. Feels dang good.”
Granada (24-10) definitely wasn't intimidated by Clovis West and its glossy 30-3 record coming in. The Matadors scored the game's first 10 points, then hit the home team with a seven-point run to start the overtime. Regulation ended with the teams tied 55-55.
Kevin Grant scored 16 points for Granada and Tyler Harris added 11 for the winning team.