NCS basketball playoffs: Alameda boys hold Redwood to one point in the fourth quarter, advance to the semifinals.
Boys: Defense lifts Alameda into semifinals
Alameda knew what to do when it grabbed the lead in the second half of its North Coast Section Division II quarterfinal Saturday night at Redwood.
It had to keep standout Jake Vasquez from taking charge.
So Alameda coach Miles Tarver dialed up a “box-and-one” defense that worked better than anyone could have imagined.
The visitors held second-seeded Redwood to one point in the fourth quarter, turning a three-point deficit after three periods into a 44-32 triumph.
Instead of a somber trip home, seventh-seeded Alameda will now get ready for a semifinal game on Wednesday night at third-seeded Las Lomas, a winner over Montgomery on Saturday.
“It did work,” Tarver said of the late-game defense. “It seemed like it kind of caught ’em off guard. They kind of passed the ball around and when they couldn’t get it to their main guy who play-makes — No. 12 (Vasquez) — it was like a hot potato.”
Redwood can be an intimidating place for visitors, given that the home student section is set up behind one of the baskets.
Saturday, the gym wasn’t all that imposing.
“I don’t know if it was because of the holiday weekend or what,” Tarver said. “But the group I saw when they played Branson multiple times — people looking like it was Cameron Stadium at Duke — that was non-existent tonight. We’ll take it.”
Gabe Garcia scored 14 points and point guard Jackson Yep added 10 to lead Alameda. The Hornets also got solid contributions off the bench from Tariq Grant (two 3-pointers in the first half) and Zion Moore (big plays down the stretch).
“The scoring was pretty spread out,” Tarver said. “It was a well-rounded effort.”
Girls: Coaching change hasn’t stopped Moreau
Moreau Catholic advanced to the semifinals of the NCS Division II playoffs, cruising at home past a familiar foe, Newark Memorial, 74-27. The Mariners had already beaten Newark twice in league play, so the result wasn’t unexpected.
What was unexpected: Moreau had a coaching change in January, with assistant principal Toni West taking over after the school parted ways with the previous coach for reasons not made public.
The Mariners will bring an eight-game winning streak into their semifinal Wednesday night at home against third-seeded Miramonte.
West gives all the credit to the players.
“They could have chosen to just throw the season away,” she said. “But instead they dug in.”
In the victory on Saturday, Madeline Bader and Madison Thomas each finished with 17 points and Dymonique Maxie had 16. The Mariners also played strong defense.
Now they are two wins from a third consecutive section championship. Moreau captured Division III titles in 2020 and last season. The NCS did not hold playoffs in 2021 because of the pandemic.
What makes Moreau so good?
“I’ve only been part of the team for about a month,” West said. “But being an assistant principal and watching them for four years, I really believe the strength is the foundation that the coaching staff put in place and then the (players’) chemistry together is actually really fun to watch. They just know where the other person is supposed to be. They communicate really well.”
Boys: Las Lomas finds a way to advance
Las Lomas didn’t play its style Saturday night at home against Montgomery but met the one objective at this time of the season.
“We survived,” coach Sly Hunter said after a 67-60 victory. “We found a way to get the job done tonight. Our guys were scrappy. Their guys were scrappy. It was a very physical game.
“We can play physical, but the pace wasn’t as fast as I would like. We’re not the best half-court team. We like to score in transition.”
Hunter credited Montgomery, adding that the sixth-seeded Santa Rosa school is well-coached.
“It was a battle for us,” Hunter said.
As usual, Jake Davis, Jack Halpin and Mike Wood led the Knights.
Girls: Miramonte’s Karena Eberts leads playoff push
Miramonte junior Karena Eberts has been a prolific scorer since Day 1.
She has averaged at least 10 points per game in her first three varsity seasons and is scoring 17.8 points per contest in 2022-23.
When the Matadors need a big performance, as they did in Saturday’s 54-46 NCS Division II quarterfinal win over Redwood, the 6-foot-2 forward has stepped up.
She scored a game-high 24 points against Redwood.
But on the night Eberts surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career, it was her newfound leadership qualities, not her shotmaking, that had coach Vince Wirthman raving.
“She’s our captain, and she’s really taken over the team,” Wirthman said. “She’s just the heart and soul of the whole team, and gives everything she has every night.”
On a squad with a seven-player rotation, Eberts is often asked to play big minutes. She has responded by scoring in double figures in all but one game and is also averaging 12.3 rebounds per game.
“She’s kind of a quiet kid in general, but when she’s on the court, she’s telling people what to do, really running the team out there,” the coach said. “She’s a coach on the floor.”
Aside from Eberts’ 24 points, Courtney Scheingart scored 12 points, and her sister Katherine Scheingart scored all eight of her points in the second half to help No. 3 seed Miramonte stay ahead late.
“We kept trying to pull away, and we couldn’t get away from them,” Wirthman said. “It was just a typical tournament game where you just want to survive and advance. It was a grind of a game, that’s for sure.”
Girls: O’Dowd content in Division II
The way in which Bishop O’Dowd has breezed through the first two rounds of the NCS Division II playoffs makes one wonder: Should the Dragons have been selected for the Open Division?
Longtime coach Malik McCord says no.
“We haven’t beaten an Open team all year,” he said after top-seeded O’Dowd rolled past No. 8 seed Ukiah 58-23 on Saturday. “It made sense. Had we beaten an Open team, we should have been in the Open. But we lost to Acalanes, we lost to Cardinal Newman. We’re at where we need to be.”
Because of injuries, O’Dowd started three freshmen Saturday. Two of them, Lizzy Quinteros and Devin Cosgriff, were the Dragons’ leading scorers. Cosgriff had 15 points and Quinteros finished with 11.
The game was played with a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“The girls played well,” McCord said.
Girls: Piedmont’s Trinity Zamora working her way back
Thanks to an NCS bylaw that only allows Divisions I through III teams to be placed into the elite Open Division, undefeated Piedmont is stuck playing overmatched competition in Division IV.
After receiving a first-round bye, the top-seeded Highlanders defeated Lick-Wilmerding 81-29 on Saturday. Natalia Martinez had 25 points and five assists, and Eva Levingston and Perseas Gioukaris combined for 24 points and 22 rebounds.
But if there is an advantage to having an eight-day layoff and a slate of mismatches on the schedule, it’s that star senior forward Trinity Zamora will able to play her way back into game shape.
The San Diego State commit missed almost a month because of a knee injury she suffered against Bishop O’Dowd on Jan. 18.
Zamora returned for the regular season finale against Berkeley on Feb. 10, and her coach said the team does not want her to do too much too fast.
“She says she feels good and healthy, but I don’t know if she is 80 or 90 percent healthy, or 95 percent,” Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said. “But she’s been cleared by the trainer, and she’s working around the clock.”
Saturday, Zamora had 10 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in limited minutes. Every available player on Piedmont’s roster played.
“There were opportunities for everyone to get some court time, so we tried to take advantage of that,” Gardere said.
Piedmont will play host to No. 5 McKinnleyville in the semifinals on Wednesday.