BOYS DIVISION IV STATE FINAL: PRIORY VS. FRESNO CHRISTIAN
Records: Priory 25-6, Fresno Christian 30-6
Tipoff: Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, noon
Storylines: Size will be the name of the game if Priory is able to pull off a run all the way to the Division IV state championship.
The Portola Valley-based Panthers boast a supersized front line led by 6-foot-8 Mate Palotai and 6-6 Teddy Xanthopoulos. They’re the only skyscrapers on the roster, but the rest of the Priory team doesn’t lack size either.
The Panthers have nine other players listed on their roster as 6-foot or taller: 6-1 Kasten Eggers, 6-2 Noah Gallon, 6-1 Charlie Conn, 6-0 Michael Hildebrandt, 6-1 Lincoln Bernard, 6-0 Balazs Nyikos, 6-0 Aidan Ji, 6-1 Max Grudin and 6-1 Caden Harris.
In keeping with its prodigious size across the board, Priory is balanced offensively. Palotai leads the way with 15.1 points, but Gerrodette (13.3), Xanthopoulos (13.0) and Nyikos (10.9) all average in double figures.
Eggers (8.6), Hildebrandt (8.1) and Gallon (7.8) provide consistent scoring punch as well.
Priory defeated Natomas (66-65), Berkeley (69-48) and Santa Cruz (60-48) in the NorCal championship bracket to chart its course to the state capital. The Panthers finished third in the West Bay Athletic League during the regular season with a league record of 7-3, trailing NorCal Division III champion The King’s Academy (9-1) and Sacred Heart Prep (8-2), which lost in the Division III first round.
The Panthers handed TKA its lone loss in league play, a 68-65 defeat on Feb. 4 in Portola Valley. Priory won the CCS Division V championship, its sixth D-V section crown since 2015 under coach David Moseley.
The Panthers had not won a section title prior to that year but had been a runner-up five times. The NorCal title was Priory’s first in school history.
The Panthers previously had made a regional final one other time, losing in the D-V title game in 2019. Thus, a potential state title this year would also be a first.
– Christian Babcock