Boys basketball
Open Division
No. 2 Archbishop Riordan 69, No. 3 Clovis North 57: Visiting Clovis North kept it close for a half, but host Riordan had too much firepower for the visitors to keep under control for a full game. Riordan led 29-26 at halftime, but then outscored Clovis North 24-9 in the third quarter to take control of the semifinal Riordan will play top-seeded Salesian for the NorCal Open crown on Tuesday at Contra Costa College. Zion Sensley led the team in scoring with 20 points, and Andrew Hilman and Jasir Rencher also had solid games. Riordan won its 16th game in a row, improving to 25-4. – Joseph Dycus
No. 1 Salesian 64, No. 6 Modesto Christian 52: Salesian Displayed its trademark team defense and strength-in-numbers offense as it secured the program’s first Open Division victory in six appearances in that playoff bracket. Joseph Dycus was in San Pablo and has the full story here.
Division I
No. 2 San Ramon Valley 52, No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 49: San Ramon Valley spotted visiting Mitty 13 points to start the game … and came back anyways. Nathan Canilao was in Danville and has the full story on the thrilling semifinal here.
No. 4 Granada 70, No. 1 Clovis West 53: Granada traveled 147 miles and came away with the dominant upset win over top-seeded Clovis West. The Matadors took a 12-point lead at halftime and led by as much as 24 points in the second half. Cortevious Taylor led Granada with 22 points and NaVaughn Long had 16. Lennon Lomba scored 14 points and Spencer Langowski chipped in 10 in the win. Granada will play San Ramon Valley in the NorCal finals on Tuesday at Dublin High. It will be the fourth matchup between the two teams. – Nathan Canilao
Division II
No. 2 Oakland Tech 70, No. 6 Del Oro 55: Oakland Tech guard ArDarius Grayson went off for Oakland Tech, scoring a game-high 31 points and scoring 24 of those in the second half. Saddiq Alarbesh also made three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as he scored 12 points overall. Asher Kramer put in 11 points and Xan Meyer-Plettner scored 10. After Oakland defeated Bellarmine in San Jose, Tech (28-5) wil lface its rival in the D-II championship. Unlike last season, when the teams played at Laney College, the Bulldogs will get to host Oakland on Broadway Ave. – Joseph Dycus
No. 9 Oakland 57, No. 5 Bellarmine 54: Oakland figured out Bellarmine’s zone defense to keep its dream of a state title defense alive on Saturday night. Glenn Reeves was in San Jose and has the full story here.
Division III
No. 1 Santa Cruz 57, No. 4 Ygnacio Valley 40: After taking a 14-8 lead to end the first quarter, Ygnacio Valley never found its groove again. Top-seeded Santa Cruz only allowed 26 points in the next three quarters as the Cardinals put on a defensive masterclass against Ygnacio Valley’s high-scoring offense. Antonio Kellogg Jr. led the Wolves with 15 points and Loyal Morris added nine points. Santa Cruz will play Fresno-based school Bullard in the regional finals. – Nathan Canilao
Division IV
No. 4 Union Mine 68, No. 8 Palo Alto 66: With under a minute to play, Palo Alto held a four-point lead on the road over Union Mine-El Dorado Hills and had possession of the ball in this NorCal Division IV semifinal. From there, it went downhill for the visitors. Nate Sweet stole the ball with 35 seconds to play and drove for an and-1 three-point play that trimmed the margin to one. Palo Alto then missed two free throws and Sweet made both of his after drawing a foul, giving Union Mine the lead. The Sac-Joaquin Section school, which trailed Palo Alto by 15 points at halftime, advanced to play host to 14th-seeded Monterey in a regional final on Tuesday. Jorell Clark scored 29 points to lead Palo Alto, which also got 12 points from Riley Yuen. Ethan Gines (26 points), Sweet (23 points) and Isaac Zmerzlikar (13 points) were Union Mine’s top scorers. Palo Alto finished 20-9. Union Mine improved to 31-3. – Darren Sabedra
Division V
No. 1 Athenian 60, No. 4 International 57: The Owls almost blew a seven-point lead with 3:40 to go in the fourth quarter, but found a way to get it done down the stretch as Athenian moves on to the NorCal finals where it will play No. 2 San Domenico. Surya Devasenapathy scored a game-high 25 points for Athenian. Teni Salako added 11 points and Evan Lucas scored 10 points in the win. Will Savill-Welch had 21 points for International. – Nathan Canilao
Girls basketball
Open Division
No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 82, No. 5 Folsom 71: McDonald’s All-American and UConn commit Morgan Cheli returned after missing several weeks with a leg injury, and the nation’s No. 1 team needed her dominant second-half performance to get past a talented Folsom team. Darren Sabedra was in San Jose and has the full story here.
Division I
No. 2 Bishop O’Dowd 58, No. 3 Oak Ridge 50: Savannah Jones scored 19 points and Devin Cosgriff added 13 points to lead Bishop O’Dowd past Oak Ridge and into the NorCal final. The Dragons also got nine points from Nyah Greenwood and eight points from Jayla Stokes as they improved to 23-6. Oak Ridge finished 26-8. — Darren Sabedra
No. 5 Carondelet 62, No. 16 McClatchy 54: Carondelet’s Lehigh-bound point guard Keshia Vitalicio showed McClatchy why she’s set to play Division I college basketball later this year. The senior buried eight consecutive free throws in the clutch to end McClatchy’s Cinderella run. Jerry MacDonald was in Concord and has the full story here.
Related Articles
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Oakland ends Bellarmine’s run and sets up NorCal D-II title rematch with rival Oakland Tech
Carondelet’s Vitalicio dominates McClatchy in overtime to advance to title game
How selfless Salesian got over NorCal Open hump: ‘We didn’t feel the pressure’
NorCal basketball: Mitty’s McDonald’s All-American returns just in time, helps Monarchs advance
Division II
No. 3 Pleasant Valley-Chico 64, No. 10 Oakland Tech 62: It finally happened: the Bulldogs lost their first playoff game since 2018. Tech led 62-58 with 24 seconds remaining, but Pleasant Valley scored four quick points, and then Aj Gambol made a fallaway game-winner on the baseline at the buzzer to seal the Pleasant Valley victory. Oakland Tech had won state tiles in three of the past five seasons, the two non-championship seasons being cut short due to the pandemic. Oakland Tech finished the season 13-17. – Joseph Dycus
Division V
No. 7 Crystal Springs Uplands 53, No. 6 Trinity-Weaverville 45: Crystal Springs built a nine-point halftime cushion, stretched the advantage to 11 after three quarters and went on to win this regional semifinal over host Trinity. Maile Bateman scored 22 points and Jemma Lacap added 14 points for Crystal Springs, which will play to No. 13 seed Oakland for the regional title on Tuesday. — Darren Sabedra
No. 13 Oakland 57, No. 9 Woodland Christian 40: Daijha Teague scored a game-high 16 points to lead Oakland past Woodland Christian and into the NorCal finals where it will face No. 7 Crystal Springs Upland. The Wildcats led by as much as 20 in the fourth quarter. Tyliana Velasquez had 10 points and Ojiugo Egeonu chipped in nine for Oakland. Siena Sorbello scored 13 points for Woodland Christian. – Nathan Canilao