High school basketball playoffs: Riordan boys, San Ramon Valley, St. Ignatius girls among Wednesday’s winners
Riordan boys, SI girls advance to CCS Open Division title game. SRV punches its ticket to NCS Open final.
Central Coast Section
Open Division boys
No. 1 Archbishop Riordan 65, No. 4 Serra 49: Riordan completed its sweep of Pool A by winning its first home game of the postseason. The Crusaders had to play on the road for two games because of a fight against Inderkum last year. Zion Sensley led Riordan with 18 points, Andrew Hilman had 15 and Jasir Rencher threw in 10. Ryan Pettis led Serra with 21 points and Andrew Mcdowell had 16 points as the Padres were able to hang with Riordan until the fourth quarter. The San Francisco school will play Archbishop Mitty for the third time in the Open title game at Santa Clara University on Friday.
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 65, No. 3 St. Ignatius 59: Caeden Hutcherson scored 23 points and Gavin Ripp and Tyler Jones each added 13 as Mitty started strong and then had to make plays down the stretch to beat visiting St. Ignatius and advance to the CCS Open Division title game. Darren Sabedra has the recap from San Jose here.
Open Division girls
No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 86, No. 4 Pinewood 58: Mitty prevailed on its home court behind 26 points from sophomore sensation McKenna Woliczko and 19 points from senior Elana Weisman. The Monarchs, winners of Pool A, will play Pool B winner St. Ignatius for the championship on Friday night at Santa Clara University. Darren Sabedra has the game story here.
No. 6 St. Ignatius 59, No. 7 Los Gatos 32: St. Ignatius finished undefeated in Pool B with its victory at home over Los Gatos, clinching a spot in the CCS Open Division final on Friday night against top-seeded Archbishop Mitty at Santa Clara University. In two league games between the teams this season, Mitty has won 74-40 and 80-36. Sophia Sanchez led SI with 13 points as the Wildcats improved to 17-9. Ashley Childers had 11 points for Los Gatos, which fell to 23-4.
North Coast Section
Open Division boys
No. 1 Salesian 60, No. 4 San Ramon Valley 45: Salesian showed no signs of rust after going 11 days in between games. The Pride jumped out to a 12-0 lead early, and after weathering an SRV rally, displayed championship-level defense to advance to the title game. Joseph Dycus was at Contra Costa College in San Pablo and has the full story here.
No. 2 De La Salle 62, No. 3 Branson 54: Alec Blair scored 24 points and eight in the fourth quarter to lead De La Salle past Branson. Nathan Canilao was at De La Salle and has the full story here.
Open Division girls
No. 1 San Ramon Valley 72, No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd 52: The Wolves got a huge performance from forward Avery Knapp (21 points) as the top seed cruised past O’Dowd. SRV will play No. 2 Cardinal Newman on Saturday at Dublin High. Point guard Sierra Chambers scored 14, Tera Chen also put in 14 points, and Sofia Bowes scored 11 and played top-tier defense. Amanda Kerner scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter for SRV (28-1). Jayla Stokes led O’Dowd (19-6) with 15 points.
Division II boys
No. 1 Montgomery 56, No. 4 Moreau Catholic 51: Moreau, playing on the road in Santa Rosa, built an eight-point halftime cushion against top-seeded Montgomery. But the home team rallied in the second half, taking advantage of a brutally rough night at the foul line by the visitors. Moreau coach Frank Knight said fans in the Montgomery student section wore Burger King crowns, in reference to a comment Knight made last weekend about wanting to come to Santa Rosa and “take the crown from the king,” the Mariners missed 17 foul shots. Dominic Walker and Spencer Shonnard scored 10 points each for Moreau, which finished 21-8. Montgomery (28-3) advances to the title game on Saturday against Benicia at Rancho Cotate.
No. 6 Benicia 69, No. 10 St. Patrick-St. Vincent 52: Benicia had control of the game the whole way through as the Panthers ended SPSV’s Cinderella run to advance to the NCS Division II finals where they’ll face No. 1 seed Montgomery. Junior Ayden Thompson had a game-high 16 points for Benicia. Jackdan Eyike had 13 points and Dominick Dennis chipped in 10 points in the win. Christian Trusclair had 13 points and Deuce Walker had 12 for SPSV in the loss.
Division II girls
No. 1 Redwood 47, No. 4 Moreau Catholic 41: Moreau fell behind 17-3 after one quarter and that was the difference as the season came to a close for the Mariners. Madeline Bader (13 points) and Elisa Ortega (12 points) scored in double figures for Moreau, which finished 18-11. Redwood (23-8) will play sixth-seeded Northgate for the title on Friday night at Dominican University.
No. 6 Northgate 41, No. 2 Montgomery 37: Down by eight late in the third quarter, Northgate showed its resilience by rallying past host Mongtomery to punch its ticket to the Division II final against top seed Redwood. Amelia Schrag, whose game-winner took down Miramonte in the previous round, led Northgate with 18 points. Samantha Myhr scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers to provide some scoring balance for Northgate. The Walnut Creek school will play Redwood at Dominican University on Friday night.
Division IV girls
No. 1 St. Patrick-St. Vincent 57, No. 4 Arcata 49: Marissa Elizalde scored 31 points to lead SPSV past Arcata. The Bruins went down 37-33 at halftime, but outscored Arcata 16-4 in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Aiani Prater and Arianna Aguilar each had 11 in the win. Mae Wolford had 18 points for Arcata in the loss.