CIF NorCal playoffs: Top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep upset by No. 13 Clovis North

Sacred Heart Prep denied a second trip to a NorCal final in front of a raucous home crowd.

ATHERTON – In front of a boisterous student body which filled the stands at intermission in its best attire prior to Saturday night’s winter formal, the Sacred Heart Prep boys basketball team nearly erased a double-digit halftime deficit in the CIF NorCal Division I semifinals.

But the comeback bid by the top-seeded Gators never fully materialized, as No. 13 Clovis West pulled off its third consecutive upset on the road, 64-58.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get the win for (our fans),” said SHP senior Aidan Braccia, who finished with a team-high 22 points. “That’s always been a big piece for myself, just that the way to repay them is to win and win and win, and we weren’t able to do that tonight. But I’ll look back and that was awesome. The atmosphere all year from the students has been incredible.”

Half of the gym looked empty at tip-off, yet that didn’t appear to bother SHP (25-5) as it jumped out to an early 15-4 lead midway through the first quarter.

But Clovis North (21-11), which deployed a full-court press for most of the game, never wavered. The Broncos kept pressuring the ball and ended the second quarter on a 19-3 run that flipped the script as the host Gators went into the locker room trailing 38-27.

“I think when you get to this level of play it just shows how important it is for everybody to be hitting on all cylinders,” SHP coach Tony Martinelli said. “And tonight I thought we started well, but once Clovis got the lead on us it just felt like everyone at times reverted back to bad habits here and there and we could never grab that lead again.”

He added: “We had it set up for us to get another home game for a NorCal final, so seeing that slip through your fingers, especially for those seniors who put so much into it, that’s the toughest part.”

The refs delayed the third-quarter tip-off as a steady stream of teenagers in dresses and suits inundated the stands, with administrators opening a back door for stragglers to take their places during breaks in the action.

Braccia, who is bound for Belmont University in Nashville, scored the last seven points of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 46-43 with eight minutes left as the students screamed with euphoric joy.

“All of a sudden it felt like a raucous environment,” Martinelli said. “And every time we scored you could feel that and it brought a little more energy to us. That was a big key and I wish we could’ve rewarded them by getting over the top, because it would’ve made for a real fun night.”

In the fourth quarter, Clovis North turned to point guard Connor Amundsen, a 5-foot-10 sophomore and the coach’s son.

He accounted for 15 of the team’s 18 points down the stretch while going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line to ice the game.

“He kind of held it together and actually killed a couple of their streaks,” Broncos coach Tony Amundsen said of his son, who delivered a game-high 27 points. “Got big buckets when we needed them and held his composure.”

Clovis North also eliminated No. 4 Miramonte and No. 5 Folsom this week and will next travel to San Franciso for Tuesday night’s title game at No. 3 St. Ignatius (23-7), which prevailed on the road 69-67 against No. 2 Inderkum of Sacramento.

“We say we’ll play wherever they put us,” Amundsen said.

This marks the end of the road for Braccia and Emmer Nichols, both four-year varsity members.

After the coaches left the postgame locker room, the players held a brief meeting to share grateful memories about the journey, not the abrupt and untimely finish – one win shy of the program’s second appearance in a NorCal final.

SHP was the Division IV runner-up in 2012.

“We’ve seen the program grow, whether it be from the sideline or on the court,” Braccia said of himself and Nichols. “And it’s really, really honoring to see the point that it’s got to. I owe almost all of that to the guys that are in the locker room and to the coaching staff. It wouldn’t have been possible without them.”

He added: “And at the end of the day, those are my brothers in there and I’m going to stay close to them for the rest of my life.”

Not in the mood to celebrate, would the Gators attend the winter formal?

“I think we’re going to go,” Braccia said. “At Sacred Heart Prep we pride ourselves on community, and as they were there for us, we’ll be there for them.”

Photos: Clovis North 64, Sacred Heart Prep 58