Boys Open Division storylines
Riordan, De La Salle, and Salesian can sleep at night knowing that they won’t have to face the greatest scorer in the history of California High School basketball in the NorCal playoffs. For the entire season, there was uncertainty whether or not St. Joseph-Santa Maria, led by California’s all-time leading scorer Tounde Yessoufou, would be placed in the NorCal or SoCal regionals. Two years ago, the Knights were placed in the NorCal Open Division playoffs where they ran through NorCal powerhouses Dougherty Valley and Modesto Christian to get to the state championship game. Last season, St. Joseph was put in the south where it fell to Roosevelt-Eastvale in the SoCal Open semifinals. Sunday’s CIF seeding meeting put the Knights back in SoCal for this year and the foreseeable future. “We just felt that the area that they are coming from, it makes more sense for them to play in the south than it does to play in the north,” CIF associate executive director Brian Seymour told the Bay Area News Group. … Now, the field is more open than what previously thought. Riordan is the top seed with De La Salle as the No. 2 and Salesian at No. 4. Riordan (27-1) has been dominant all year. The Crusaders have absolutely demolished everyone in the West Catholic Athletic League and won the CCS title by 26 points over St. Ignatius. Riordan will have a bye into the NorCal semifinals and will play the winner of Salesian and Modesto Christian. … De La Salle is playing its best basketball, but Oklahoma commit Alec Blair suffered a scary right ankle sprain during Saturday’s NCS championship game. The Spartans will have some time to get him right as they received a bye and won’t play until they host No. 3 Folsom on Saturday in the NorCal semifinals. … Salesian is the reigning NorCal Open Division champion, and though the Pride suffered a blowout loss to De La Salle on Saturday in the NCS Open Division championship, the Richmond school cannot be counted out. Carlton Perrilliat, Elias Obenyah and co. still have one of the deepest teams in the bracket and have athleticism that matches teams in SoCal. Head coach Bill Mellis will look to get his team back to the Open Division state championship game, but will need to get past No. 5 Modesto Chrsitian. These two teams played earlier this year at the NorCal Ultimate Challenge at San Leandro High where Salesian left with a comfortable 80-70 win.
– Nathan Canilao
Girls Open Division storylines
Top seeded Archbishop Mitty is aiming for a fifth consecutive NorCal Open title, and a sixth in 10 appearances since the Open’s inception in 2013. A Mitty championship victory is no virtual guarantee, unlike the past few years. The Monarchs have been without superstar forward McKenna Woliczko since early January, when she tore her right ACL. As Pinewood showed in a close 59-51 loss in the CCS Open Division title game, Mitty is beatable. Of course, the Monarchs are still the top seed for a reason. Hall of Fame coach Sue Phillips has adjusted her scheme to fit her new and more athletic personnel. Phillips said, “I thought we were tested down the stretch.” Ze’Ni Patterson is a terrific three-level scorer, guard Tiera McCarthy overwhelmed Pinewood with her burst, and center Maliyah Hunter showed off range and shot-blocking in Woliczko’s absence. … San Ramon Valley was given the No. 3 seed after demolishing Acalanes 76-43 in the NCS Open title game. Despite not rostering a single senior and graduating every starter from last year’s team, the Wolves are even more formidable than last season. Guard Ella Gunderson and forward Alyssa Rudd headline a group that starts four players who are all capable of scoring 20 points in a game if required. Rudd said, “It’s going to be some great competition, and we’re excited for it. We’re ready to play some really tough teams.” … Rudd is 100 percent correct about that, because SRV’s first opponent is a sixth-seeded Pinewood team that very well could have been two spots higher after outplaying Mitty for most of the Open Division final. Pinewood, led by longtime coach and shooting guru Doc Scheppler, was the last non-Mitty team to win the Open, going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. High-volume shooters such as Vallory Kuelker, Jolyn Ding and Katherine Garr make the Panthers one of the most unpredictable teams in the bracket. If Pinewood is hitting its long-range shots, the Los Altos Hills school is almost unbeatable. … The winner of Pinewood and SRV will have to travel to No. 2 Clovis West. The Central Valley power is 32-0 and even better than the team that made it to the NorCal final last season. Clovis West represented the South and won the state Open title over Mitty in 2017. … Which Acalanes team will show up when the No. 4 seeded Dons play host to No. 5 McClatchy in the Lafayette school’s first-ever NorCal Open appearance? The team that scored 80-plus points at will with an up-tempo offense led by senior stars KK Lacanlale and Dulci Vail? Or the squad that looked overwhelmed by San Ramon Valley on Saturday? Coach Margaret Gartner said, “What happens after this will show our character.” … Should Acalanes rebound and take down McClatchy, they’ll have to face top-seeded Mitty.
– Joseph Dycus
Boys luck of the draw
Dougherty Valley breezed through the competition during the NCS Division I playoffs and were rewarded well by the CIF. The Wildcats were given the No. 6 seed, ahead of No. 14 Liberty and No. 16 California – two teams that were in the NCS Open Division. Seymour explained the decision to put Dougherty Valley above those teams, saying “Once Dougherty Valley played extremely well in Division I, and Cal high and Liberty were early exits out of the NCS Open, the North Coast Section saw that and said, ‘Hey, you know what, this is an opportunity to go ahead and put a team that’s playing really well right now up above.’” The San Ramon School will host NCS Division II champion Moreau Catholic. Dougherty Valley beat the Mariners 70-49 at the NorCal Ultimate Challenge without star Jalen Stokes. … Valley Christian was also given a favorable seed despite dropping two of three games in the CCS Open Division playoffs. The Warriors were placed in Division II and given the No. 4 seed, where they will host No. 13 Oakland. Should VC win on Tuesday, it will play either Destiny Christian – a team that is 1-4 against Bay Area teams – or Menlo-Atherton, a school VC has split the season series with but most recently defeated by 14 in the CCS Open Division playoffs. … The King’s Academy, fresh off its thrilling win over Carmel in the CCS Division IV title game, was awarded the top seed in the NorCal Division III bracket. The Knights will have home court advantage if they could get all the way to the NorCal finals. If seeds hold, TKA will see Sacramento’s Christian Brothers High in the regional finals.
– Nathan Canilao
Girls luck of the draw
In a situation reminiscent of the Athenian boys last season, Summit Shasta of Daly City lost to Castilleja 43-32 in CCS Division V, but ended up benefiting NorCal. While Castilleja got a low seed in D-IV, Summit Shasta was granted the No. 1 seed in Division V. … Perennial Open Division participant Folsom (26-4) somehow avoided the Open buzzsaw and got the top seed in Division I. … Salesian, a traditional East Bay powerhouse that was led by the Sawyer sisters Janiya and Jamia – was placed in the NCS Open Division, but ended up the No. 6 seed in NorCal D-II. With high-scoring guard Vanessa Parilla helping form a three-headed attack at guard, the Pride has more talent than most in that bracket. … Half Moon Bay lost in the CCS Division IV semifinals, but ended up making regionals as an at-large team. After playing strong competition in the PAL Bay Division, the Zoe Lemoge-led Cougars were seeded second in NorCal Division IV. … Rather than be heavily penalized for its 33-point loss to San Ramon Valley in the NCS Open final, Acalanes was given the No. 4 seed in the NorCal Open bracket and will play host to No. 5 McClatchy. CIF executive director Brian Seymour spoke about this to the Bay Area News Group in an interview on Sunday evening.
– Joseph Dycus
Boys and girls: Short end of the stick
Winning your section doesn’t always guarantee a great seed. Bishop O’Dowd, which many believed was worthy of a NCS Open slot, won the D-I girls bracket instead. While Open participant Salesian was placed in D-II, Malik McCord’s Dragons will have to go on the road as a No. 11 seed in D-I. … Los Gatos was the top seed in CCS Division I girls and captured the section crown over Menlo-Atherton, but the Cats were still seeded just No. 12 down in Division II. … Castilleja beat Summit Shasta to win CCS, but there is no question which team got the better draw in regionals. Castilleja is the No. 13 seed in Division IV, but at least they’ll have high-scoring guard Antonia Vlahos (20PPG) leading the attack. … Pinewood gave Mitty everything it could handle – outscoring the San Jose powerhouse 44-32 over the final three quarters – in the CCS Open Division title game. But that wasn’t enough to sway the CIF to put sixth seed Pinewood over No. 5 seed McClatchy or fourth-seeded Acalanes in the NorCal Open Division. Scheppler’s band of gunners will have to go on the road to No. 3 SRV as the No. 6 seed on Wednesday. … On the boys side, California was given the final spot in the Division I bracket. After shocking De La Salle on its home floor, Cal struggled in the NCS Open Division playoffs, losing to San Ramon Valley and Liberty by at least 16 points or more. The Grizzlies are still waiting to see if star Dane Wallace will return to the floor after he didn’t play against Liberty on Wednesday. The San Ramon school will travel to top seeded Inderkum on Tuesday. … In Division III, Sacred Heart Prep will travel as the No. 15 seed to No. 2 Christian Brothers. The 119-mile trek from Atherton to Sacramento will be a roughly two-hour trip for SHP. The Gators were given an at-large bid from the CCS after falling to TKA in the section semifinals.
– Joseph Dycus and Nathan Canilao
Buzzer beaters
Oakland Tech’s first round game against Redwood will feature a battle of two of the top point guards in the Bay Area. Tech’s Ardarius Grayson will matchup with Cal-bound Redwood point guard Semetri Carr. Both players take pride in playing well in the clutch. … After winning the NCS Division V title, Alhambra will host West Valley in its first round matchup. The small public school from Martinez has its eyes set on a championship run after winning an unlikely section title on Friday over International-San Francisco. … If seeds hold in Division II, Milpitas will have home court advantage up until the NorCal finals. The Trojans were given the No. 2 seed after an impressive CCS Open Division run that saw them beat Bellarmine and Serra. … After playing in D-II last season, the Oakland Tech girls are back in Division I, this time as a No. 8 seed. Few teams have a frontcourt with the size and skill of Tech’s twin towers in Terri’A Russell and Jhai Johnson. If there’s any team that could go on a run, it’s the Bulldogs, led by coach Leroy Hurt. … Carondelet came within a buzzer-beater of winning NCS Division I last season, and now the Concord private school is seeded third in D-I. Coach Kelly Sopak has two high-level scorers in Sophia Ross and Layla Dixon leading the Cougars. … Saint Mary’s-Berkeley won the NCS Division III girls title over Dougherty Valley, but will not participate in regionals. CIF’s Seymour said the school let the NCS know that the Panthers would not be in NorCal last week. Coach Tannea Nelson told this news organization that most of her players had scheduling conflicts and would not be able to participate.
– Joseph Dycus and Nathan Canilao
