NorCal Roundup: Aaron Gordon's final home game a Mitty success

The final home game for Aaron Gordon at Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) ended like the previous 37. With a victory.

The nation's No. 5 recruit had 17 points and 17 rebounds, according to the San Jose Mercury News, in a 58-54 CIF Northern California Open Division semifinal final game over a game and superb Modesto Christian (Modesto) squad.

A three-point basket by Connor Peterson (16 points), 13 points from Brandon Farrell and two blocks down the stretch by the uncommitted Gordon preserved the win for the Monarchs (28-5), who now face Sheldon (Sacramento) in an Open Division final Saturday at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. Sheldon defeated top-seed Salesian 63-59 in overtime.

Modesto Christian (29-4) fought back from a 14-point deficit behind the stellar play of UOP-bound T.J. Wallace, who cut the lead to 52-51 before Peterson made his big three-pointer off a feed from Gordon. Mitty is the two-time defending state Division II champion but was pulled up to the Open Division because of so much success. The Monarchs opened the season No. 14 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings.

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Division I
Deer Valley (Antioch) 54, Bellarmine (San Jose) 52: Kendall Smith had 17 points including an acrobatic driving layup with 12 seconds left to give the top-seeded Wolverines (26-5) the win. According to the Alameda News Group, Smith made a steal following his basket, was fouled with four seconds left but Danny Schatzman's last-second attempt failed the Deer Valley survived. Jackson Gion led Bellarmine (21-10) with 19 points and Grant Vermeer added 13. McDonald's All-American and 6-10 center Marcus Lee had just 12 points but was plagued with foul trouble.

Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 68, De La Salle (Concord) 51: According to the Sacramento Bee, Malik Thames scored 31 points as Pleasant Grove (26-5) went wire-to-wire to defeat the five-time NorCal champions. De La Salle (26-5) eliminated Pleasant Grove last season. ... The Eagles shot 52 percent from the floor, including 10 of 13 by Thames. ... Cole Nordquist had 14 and Matthew Hayes 13 for the winners, who scored 31 points more than De La Salle allowed on average during the season. ... Arizona-bound Elliott Pitts led De La Salle with 17 points.

Division II
Dublin 81, Sacramento 76: Jamir Andrews had 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists according to the Alameda News Group in a thrilling win over Sacramento (26-7). ... Jo Jo McGlaston added 15 of his 16 points in the second half for Dublin (26-6), the top seed, and Cameron Moses added 14 points and five steals. ... Aaron Cameron led Sacramento with 19 points, freshman Devin Young added 14 and James Hadnot 10.

College Park (Pleasant Hill) 86, St. Francis (Mountain View) 82: According to the San Jose Mercury News, Mikey Eggleton had 24 points, Steven Daily 11 and Seb Flores hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left lifting the 10th-seeded Falcons (25-5) to their third straight road victory. ... Khalil Johnson had 20 points and Michael Lauck 19 for the host Lancers (14-17).

Division III
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 55, Drake (San Anselmo) 46: According to the Marin Independent-Journal, host and top seed Sacred Heart Cathedral (20-11) made 10 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away in a hard-fought victory. ... Drake was forced into 15 first-half turnovers. ... Khalil James led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points for the Irish, while David Parsons had 11 and DeOndre Otis 10. Brandon Kenilvort led Drake (26-7) with 12 points.

Campolindo (Moraga) 69, Enterprise (Redding) 52: According to the Redding Record-Searchlight, The Cougars (22-8) made the long haul to Redding worthwhile as Andrew Zolitakis scored a team-high 19 points and led a key 12-3 run in the second quarter. Like College Park, Campolindo won three straight games on the road to reach the NorCal finals. ... Kaelan Crisosto scored a game-high 22 points for Enterprise (25-4).

Division IV
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 48, Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 47: Geru Mabrey fumbled an inbounds pass, retrieved it, dribbled three-quarters court and drilled a 16-footer at the buzzer to give the second-seeded and host Crusaders (20-11) the dramatic Division IV semifinal win. .... Riordan will play top seed Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa in the title game Saturday at American Canyon High. ... Chiefy Ugbaja had 18 points and 9-for-12 shooting, a game-high 11 rebounds and two big blocks for Riordan. ... Marin Catholic (25-9) fought back from a nine-point third-quarter deficit behind 13 points from Charlie Duysen and 10 each by Colton Hanley and Patrick Conroy


Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) 57, Soquel 51: The top-seeded Cardinals (31-3) got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Corey Hammell to move into Saturday's championship against Riordan. ... Cody Valcarcel had 15 points for Soquel, according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat.

Division V
St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) 44, Branson (Ross) 41: According to ANG, Temidayo Yussuf had 16 points and Justin Brown 11 as host and top-seed St. Joseph (24-11) held on to beat the tough Bulls (20-13), who got 12 points by Colin Joyce. 

Capital Christian (Sacramento) 66, University (San Francisco) 50: According to the Sacramento Bee, Nifae Lealao, Jr. had 21 points and Trey Belton 15 to carry the Cougars (26-4) past University (25-9).

GIRLS

Open Division
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 50, St. Mary's (Berkeley) 40: McDonald's All-American and Duke Bound 6-4 post Oderah Chidom had 17 points and eight rebounds, according the ANG, to help O'Dowd (30-4), ranked fifth nationally, hold off the Panthers (29-5), who got 16 points from Gabby Green.

St. Mary's (Stockton) 75, Carondelet (Concord) 70: At Delta College in Stockton, Brijanee Moore had 20 points and Charise Holloway 18 as the second-seeded Rams (30-3) moved into the finals against Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland (28-3), a 50-40 winner over St. Mary's-Berkeley (29-5). ... Carondelet's Natalie Romeo was held to 15 points and Amy Harioka added 14.

Division I
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 51, Heritage (Brentwood) 50: In a game of runs, the visiting Trojans (28-4) got 23 points from Ali Bettencourt and 13 from Lauren Liebert in a thrilling victory over third-seed Heritage (26-6), which got 22 points by St. Mary's College-bound Sabrina Engelstad and 14 from Erin Asher. ... Oak Ridge made seven of eight from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

Berkeley 54, Gunn (Palo Alto) 46: Look who is back in the finals? The 12th-seeded Yellowjackets (21-11) who got 27 points from Rachel Howard and 12 by Desire Finnie. Gunn was led by 15 points from Claire Klausner.

Division III
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 59, Campolindo (Moraga) 40
St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 63, Enterprise 47
Host and top Division III seed Sacred Heart Cathedral (24-6) outscored fifth-seed Campolindo 14-0 in the second quarter to win going away. ... Ge'anna Summers-luaulu had 19 points and Briannah Smith 10 for the Irish, who play archrival St. Ignatius for the title Saturday at American Canyon High. ... Laura Hickey had 14 points and Ashley Ewing 10 for Campolindo (25-6). ... For St. Ignatius (21-10), Quinci Mann had 21 points and Sydney Raggio added 12. ... This will be the fifth time St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral will meet, with the Irish winning the previous four.

Division IV
Salesian (Richmond) 61, Menlo (Atherton) 54:  Mariya Moore had 28 points, 17 rebounds, 13 steals and five assists leading the top Division IV seed (28-7) to a hard-fought victory at St. Mary's College. ... Moore, one of the nation's top juniors, put it away by converting eight free throws in the fourth quarter. ...Kian McNair had 11 and 6-4 junior Zoe Correal did a nice job defending Menlo's USC-bound 6-5 center Drew Edelman (22 points, 15 rebounds). ... Kaelen Dunn had 14 and Maddie Price 11 for Menlo (22-10), which was outscored 8-3, 9-2 and 9-0 to end the first three quarters. Salesian will play Piedmont (22-9), a 31-28 winner over Bradshaw Christian.

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Division V
Eastside College Prep (East Palo Alto) 44, International 22: Eastside (23-8) doubled up on International (30-5) and now takes on four-time state champion Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) (23-7), a 37-30 winner over top-seed Valley Christian-Dublin (31-3).

Information gathered from superb reports from the Contra Costa Times, Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, Marin Independent-Journal, Redding Searchlight and San Jose Mercury News.