NorCal finals from Sleep Train: Mitty, Gordon take out Sheldon

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The experts were right. One special athlete even of Aaron Gordon's stature couldn’t possibly beat a team as talented and deep as  Sheldon (Sacramento).

Gordon, the McDonald’s All-American and two-time Metro Player of the Year, was as good as he’s ever been with 29 points, 22 rebounds and stellar defense on Washington-bound sharpshooter Darin Johnson.

But it was his Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) teammates who raised their game significantly in a thorough and complete 70-50 victory over Sheldon in the CIF Northern California Open Division final at Sleep Train Arena on Saturday night.

Mitty will play two-time defending Division I champion Mater Dei-Santa Ana in next week’s finals.

"I think we're starting to peak," said Gordon, a high-flying 6-foot-8 senior and the nation's No. 5 recruit. "That was a good one."

The Monarchs (28-5) raced to a 7-0 lead on a layup by Brandon Abajelo, a jumper from Davis Messer and a three-pointer by Connor Peterson and they never trailed from there in a shockingly lopsided win over the defending Division I NorCal champion and a team that eliminated top seed Salesian-Richmond on Tuesday.

"After Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove defeated Deer Valley-Antioch in the Division I finals, Mitty helped the Bay Area gain a measure of strength with a thorough and complete win.

Peterson had 11 points and Brandon Farrell 10 points and seven rebounds. Abajelo punctuated the win with an acrobatic falling-out-of-bounds 18-foot swish at the third quarter buzzer.

That gave Mitty, the two-time defending Division II state champion, a 46-31 lead heading into the fourth and Sheldon (27-6) never threatened.

"You never expect to beat a team like Sheldon by 20 points," Mitty coach Tim Kennedy said. "But we executed our game plan and they had a very hard time knocking down shots."

Gordon, who had 33 points and 20 rebounds in the state title win on the same court last year, was even more spectacular Saturday because the team he faced and the defense he played on Johnson, a 6-4 shooting guard who torched Salesian for 24 on Tuesday.

Johnson finished with six points and no field goals on Saturday.

"I always want to take our opponent's best player," Gordon said. "I feel like at the high school level I can guard 1-5. I take a lot of pride in my defense."

Gordon made an array of putbacks and floaters and punctuated things with a vicious, high-flying dunk late in the third quarter.

"He's had so many amazing games and put up such incredible numbers I can't keep up with them," Kennedy said. "I always say he plays best when the lights shine the brightest and this was an awfully big stage. I could say all sorts of things about him but ultimately the best thing is he just won't let us lose."

Antonio Lewis led Sheldon with 13 points but no one else scored in double figures.

"I thought this was our best game of the year defensively," Kennedy said. "We committed to a plan and stuck to it. We slowed down their transition which was our No. 1 goal. ... This was a good one."

Mitty 70, Sheldon 50

SHELDON (27-6)
Johnson 0-8 6-10 6, Williams 3-6 1-1 7, Allen 2-10 4-6 8, Lewis 5-13 2-2 13, Manning 1-6 3-4 5, Haney 1-1 0-0 3, Bradley 1-2 0-0 2, Greene 2-3 1-3 6. Totals 15-49 17-27 50.
MITTY (28-5)
Peterson 1-5 8-9 11, Abejelo 2-7 0-0 4, Davis 2-4 0-0 5, Farrell 5-11 0-2 10, Gordon 14-24 1-4 29, McAndrews 0-1 0-0 0, Paul 1-2 1-2 4, Young 0-0 1-2 1, Aguilar 0-0 2-2 2, Gray 0-0 2-2 2, Monroe 0-1 0-0 0, Serra 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-57 15-23 70.

Sheldon  9  14   8  19  — 50
Mitty      17  12 17  24 — 70
3-point goals: Lewis, Haney, Green, Peterson, Messer, Paul. Rebounds: Sheldon 33 (Lewis 9), Mitty 40 (Gordon 22). Assists: Sheldon 2, Mitty 7. Turnovers: Sheldon 15, Mitty 16. Fouled out: Allen, Johnson. Division I
Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 73, Deer Valley (Antioch) 60

Matthew Hayes had 20 points, Malik Thames 17 and Colfax Nordquist 16 as the second-seeded Eagles (27-6) made 27 of 28 free throws en route to their first NorCal title over the top-seeded Wolverines.

Deer Valley (26-6) made just 2 of 11 free throws and got 17 points from hobbled point guard and UNLV-bound Kendall Smith and 10 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks from Kentucky-bound Marcus Lee.

Smith sprained his ankle in a NorCal semifinal win over Bellarmine on Tuesday and said he was only about 60 percent.

No matter. Pleasant Grove did a superb job defending Lee, especially Marquese Chriss (10 points) and Matthew Smrekar. Lee, a 6-10 McDonald's All-American, took only nine shots and was 0-for-5 from the line.

The 6-1 Smrekar did most of the physical work while giving away nine inches in height and probably closer to two feet in wing span.

"I was excited about the opportunity to guard him," Smrekar said. "I definitely tried to embrace it."

Pleasant Grove coach John DePonte embraced all of his players after this one. It was an emotional and impressive victory. They needed to be nearly perfect from the line and in almost all phases of the game considering Deer Valley's vast talent, especially in Smith and Lee, who many have earmarked for the game's highest level.

"Perseverance is a great word to describe this team," DePonte said. "Resilient. They never lost sight of what they had to do. I can't express how proud of them I am." 

The same sentiment was echoed by Thames, a 6-2 point guard who seemed to make the biggest plays when Pleasant Grove needed most. He had five rebounds, made all seven of his foul shots and ran the offensive expertly. Despite heavy pressure, the Eagles had just 13 turnovers.

"I think this was definitely one of our best games and everyone played great," Thames said. "I'm very proud of our team."

Deer Valley fought back from a 13-point deficit to tie it at 40-40, but Pleasant Grove outscored the Wolverines 33-20 the rest of the way.

Much of that was at the foul line where Nordquist hit all 10 of his foul shots and added a team high 12 rebounds as the Eagles actually outrebounded Deer Valley 46-40.

Deer Valley coach Lechet Phillips said Smith wanted to play with the limited mobility and called him a "good soldier" for his effort. He entered the game with a 22.5 scoring average and the fact he managed 17 was pretty remarkable. He made 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 9 on three-pointers but finished with six turnovers and just one assist.

"He tried to get through it," Phillips said. "He tried to play through."

Said Smith: "I was limited. It was hard to move side to side. But God is still good. I feel blessed for us to even be in this position. We didn't get the win, but there will be better days."

Pleasant Grove 73, Deer Valley 60

PLEASANT GROVE (27-6)
Thames 5-12 7-7 17, Hayes 7-17 4-4 20, Nordquist 3-14 10-10 16, Smrekar 6 0-0 6, Chriss 3-8 4-5 10, Watson 1-2 0-0 2, Fitzgerald 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 22-59 27-28 73.

DEER VALLEY (26-6)
Robinson 2-5 0-0 4, Nzuzi Webster 4-12 0-0 10, Nsimba Webster 1-4 0-0 3, Smith 7-20 1-3 17, Lee 5-9 0-5 10, Emran 0-2 0-0 0, Brown 3-5 1-3 7, Goins 3-11 0-0 9. Totals 25-68 2-11 60.

Pleasant Grove  13  23  12  25  - 73
Deer Valley        14  13  20  13  - 60

3-point goals: Hayes 2, Nzuzi Webster 2, Nsimba Webster, Smith 2, Goins 3. Rebounds: Pleasant Grove 46 (Nordquist 12), Deer Valley 40 (Lee 16). Assists: Pleasant Grove 6, Deer Valley 6. Turnovers: Pleasant Grove 13, Deer Valley 18.  Division II
College Park (Pleasant Hill) 93, Dublin 90 (OT)

College Park coach Craig Battle told Peter Schoemann all year long. "If you're missing, just keep shooting."

The 6-2 senior missed nine consecutive three-pointers but he made the one that counted, a 20-foot shot from the wing that bounced off the front of the rim straight up and into the hoop with 6.8 seconds left in overtime to break a 90-90 tie and give the 11th-seeded Falcons (26-5) the improbable title over top-seeded Dublin (27-6).

In the highest scoring game in North Region history, College Park squandered a 13-point fourth-quarter lead, fell behind by four twice in overtime and somehow regained energy behind 23 points from Sebastian Flores, 22 by Mikey Eggleton, 16 from A.J. Newell and 15 by Joe DeMers to win their first title NorCal title.

Schoemann, 1-for-11 from the floor, had just four. His heroic shot and status was as unlikely as College Park's championship run. It only made the NorCal playoffs because Newark Memorial was called up to the Open Division.

The Falcons then won three straight road games to get to Sleep Train.

"I was shooting short the whole game so I wasn't sure if it was going in," Schoemann said. "I had my head down during a timeout and coach told me to keep my head up and keep shooting. He gave me the confidence to shoot it." .

Utah State-signee JoJo McGlaston had a NorCal Division II title game record 35 points and 14 rebounds for Dublin, which held a 64-38 rebound edge but committed 26 turnovers and made just 22 of 43 free throws.

Cameron Moses had 18, Eric Nielsen 12 and Jamir Andrews and Spencer Hollie 11 each for Dublin.

Hollie made a driving runner in the lane with 1.2 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 83-83 while being fouled. He missed the free throw, however, sending the game in overtime.

Dublin took its first lead the first two minutes of the game 87-83 on a follow shot by McGlaston and two free throws by Andrews, but 3-pointers by Jack Corey and Newell helped College Park tie it before Schoemann's heroics.

"I have nothing but positive things to say about this game," Dublin coach Tom Costello said. "It was a great high school game. We had every reason to pack it in at times. ... We were a free throw and a friendly bounce from going to the state championship."

College Park 93, Dublin 90

COLLEGE PARK (26-5)
Flores 9-11 4-6 23, Daily 2-5 0-0 4, Newell 6-12 1-3 16, Eggleton 5-14 10-13 22, Mitchell 1-4 1-4 3, Schoemann 1-11 1-6 4, Corey 2-5 1-5 6, DeMers 5-10 3-4 15. Totals 31-72 21-41 93.

DUBLIN (27-6)
Moses 6-14 6-12 18, Andrews 3-13 4-7 11, McGlaston 13-24 8-12 35, Nielsen 6-11 0-4 12, Saavedra 0-2 0-0 0, Redmon 1-4 3-4 2, Vsoske 0-0 1-2 1, Hollie 4-5 3-6 11. Totals 33-73 22-43 90.

College Park 16  24  15  28  10 — 93
Dublin            13 18  19  36   7  — 90

3-point goals: College Park 10-31 (Newell 3, Eggleton 2, DeMers 2, Flores, Schoemann, Corey), Dublin 2-18 (Andrews, McGlaston). Rebounds: College Park 38 (Corey 8), Dublin 64 (Nielsen 17). Assists: College Park 5 (Flores 3), Dublin 9 (Andrews 4). Turnovers: College Park 16, Dublin 26.  GIRLS

Open Division
Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 58, St. Mary's (Stockton) 50

The Rams (31-3), who lost to O'Dowd by 21 earlier in the year, led 33-28 at halftime, but the Dragons' size eventually wore them down in a superbly-played finals.

McDonald's All-American and Duke-bound Oderah Chidom had 17 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore guard Asia Thomas added 16 points for the Dragons (29-3), who sent on a 14-3 run starting late in the third to take control. O'Dowd, which committed 31 turnovers, outrebounded St. Mary's 52-23 and now face Windward-Los Angeles, ranked No. 2, in next week's finals.

"It was a hard fought game and I knew it would be a much closer score than the last time," O'Dowd coach Malik McCord said. "They (his girls) showed their heart tonight and didn't buckle under the pressure. We still have another week to complete our goal."

Breanna Brown, who played just 15 minutes due to foul trouble, had 10 points for the winners, while teammate and San Diego State-bound point guard Ariell Bostic had seven assists.

Freshman Kat Tudor had 14 points and Onome Jemerigbe 11 for St. Mary's (31-3), which went on a 20-11 run in the second quarter to take the halftime lead.

"St. Mary's wanted it more than us the first half," McCord said. "We weren't very aggressive and St. Mary's won the 50-50 balls."

The Rams were outscored 30-17 in the second half.

After a 3-pointer by Tudor and two free throws from Briannee Moore gave St. Mary's a 44-42 with 1:30 left in the third, Alexandra Kalmbach made a free throw and Thomas drilled O'Dowd's only three-pointer of the game to give her team a 46-44 lead with 15.6 seconds left in the quarter.

Thomas scored 11 of her 16 points in the third quarter. O'Dowd would never trail again as Chidom, a 6-4 post, scored consecutive layups to start the fourth quarter. Though his team came up short, St. Mary's coach Tom Gonsalves was more than pleased with his team's effort.

"When you face such a height advantage you have to work around so many obstacles," he said "I was so impressed with my team. I really think our girls deserved to win that game."

O'Dowd came into the game No. 8 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings and St. Mary's was No. 15.

Bishop O'Dowd 58, St. Mary's 50

ST. MARY'S (31-3)
Jemerigbe 4-8 3-4 11, Tudor 3-14 5-7 14, Moore 2-8 5-7 9, Coleman 0-4 6-8 6, Holloway 3-13 0-0 6, Shipp 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 2-3 0-2 4. 14-51 19-28 50.

BISHOP O'DOWD (29-3)
Thomas 6-11 3-4 16, Bostick 3-9 2-5 8, Brown 3-5 4-5 10, Chidom 7-11 3-4 17, Waters 2-6 0-1 4, Kalmbach 0-1 1-2 1, Robertson 1-8 0-0 2. Totals 22-51 13-21 58. 

St. Mary's            13  20  11  6  — 50
Bishop O'Dowd   17  11  18 12 — 58

3-point shooting: St. Mary's 3-20 (Tudor 3), Bishop O'Dowd 1-5 (Thomas). Rebounds: St. Mary's 23 (Moore 4), Bishop O'Dowd 52 (Chidom 12, Waters 12). Assists: St. Mary's 1, Bishop O'Dowd 11 (Bostick 7). Turnovers: St. Mary's 16, Bishop O'Dowd 31.

Division I
Berkeley 56, Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 45

Berkeley fell behind 8-0 before zooming on an 18-1 run en route to their record 12th NorCal championship.

USF-bound Rachel Howard had 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, Desire Finnie added 14 and Jaimonie Welch Coleman 10 for 12th seed Berkeley (22-11), which led 31-15 at halftime. The Yellowjackets now face a very familiar opponent in Long Beach Poly in next week's state title game.

Howard, not known for her long-range game, drilled three of four three-point attempts. She also had nine rebounds as did Gariana Youngblood while Finnie added eight. Berkeley held a 44-40 edge on the boards, but it was ball-handling that proved decisive.

Berkeley committed just nine turnovers to 21 for Oak Ridge in a rematch of the 2010 NorCal title game won by Oak Ridge. Berkeley played in its record 16th NorCal title game but never as the 12th seed. Most years they are the top seed.

But because the team was ravaged by graduation last season, had no girls taller than 6-feet tall and it was defeated handily in the North Coast Section semifinals by Heritage (65-40), the Yellowjackets were one of the tournament's lowest seeds.

"Ecstatic," Berkeley coach Cheryl Draper said about winning the championship. "Many didn't believe we'd win five games this season. But hard work paved the way. I'm overwhelmed."

So was Howard, who didn't turn the ball over in 30 minutes of play.

"I love being the underdog," Howard said. "That makes this more special."

Asked what she thought when her team fell behind quickly 8-0.

"OK, let's go," Howard said. "This is not a big deal."

Not for Howard, a four-year player for Berkeley, who was making her sixth appearance at Sleep Train Arena. It showed as she had no problem connecting at a place not normally conducive to good shooting.

"I like it here," she said. "It's like a second home."

Oak Ridge (28-5) did a splendid job of battling back int he second half, outscoring Berkeley 30-25. It had big games from Ali Bettencourt (17 points) and Michelle Barkley (10 points, 14 rebounds).

"The girls responded in the second half and gave it everything they had," Oak Ridge coach Steve White said.

White went deep into his bench, using 12 girls, including senior Lauren Liebert, who had overcome two ACL tears in her career and drilled a three-pointer in the second half.

In a very touching moment in player interviews, Liebert described the moment of actually getting back on the court and making a three-pointer in a NBA arena.

"Just being able to play again has been my dream," Liebert said. "Nothing could top that."

Berkeley 56, Oak Ridge 45

BERKELEY (22-11)
Eskridge 2-6 0-0 4, Finnie 6-14 2-5 14, Howard 9-16 2-4 23, Youngblood 0-5 2-4 2, Welch-Coleman 4-10 2-3 10, Brandon 1-3 0-0 2, Franklin 0-3 1-4 1, Jane 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 9-20 56.

OAK RIDGE (28-5)
Bettencourt 4-15 7-10 17, Hoffman 2-10 0-0 5, Dow 1-2 0-0 2, Stigerts 0-1 0-0 0, Derksen 0-1 0-0 0, Drossos 2-3 0-0 4, Barkley 3-5 4-6 10, Liebert 1-3 0-0 3, Flores 1-3 0-0 2, Peters 1-4 0-0 2, Anderson 0-4 0-4 0. Totals 15-51 11-20 45.

Berkeley     18  13  12  13  — 56
Oak Ridge   9     6  10  20  — 45

3-point shooting: Berkeley 3-6 (Howard 3), Oak Ridge 4-17 (Bettencourt 2, Hoffman, Liebert). Rebounds: Berkeley 44 (Howard 9, Youngblood 9), Oak Ridge 40 (Barkley 14). Assists: Berkeley 6 (Welch-Coleman 5), Oak Ridge 2. Turnovers: Berkeley 9, Oak Ridge 21.

Division II
St. Francis (Mountain View) 44, Lynbrook (San Jose) 19

Shelbi Aimonetti had to do something to quiet down her coach.

The 5-8 senior guard was virtually in tears on the bench as four-time state championship coach Brian Harrigan, in no uncertain terms, was challenging her to play harder and better. She had just six points in the third and was 2-for-11 from the field.

His last words before he inserted her back into the game: "I have faith in you. You need to have faith in you too."

Aimonetti went in and drilled three straight shots, finished with a game-high 15 points as the top-seeded Lancers (24-8) won their first NorCal title and the seventh for Harrigan.

"I knew I was going to keep hearing from him if I didn't make one," Aimonetti said. "I tried to keep my emotions and snap back and get in focus."

Once she made the first one: "I felt a whole lot better."

The 19 points allowed was the lowest in North Region history - the previous low was 22. Jennifer Lucian added 12 points and Kate Hoey added six points and 11 rebounds for the Lancers, who finished third in the West Catholic Athletic League.

Harrigan led Sacred Heart Cathedral to six NorCal and four state titles before stepping aside after the 2009 season.

His 2007-08 team went 33-0 and won a mythical national championship. This was his second season for the Lancers.

Sooner than he expected? "I'm not very patience," he said. "But I couldn't be prouder of a group of young women. ... Hey we scored 27 points in a half. That might be a season high."

The staple of Harrigan's teams have been defense and the Lancers allowed Lynbrook into 7-of-35 from the floor (20 percent), forced 19 turnovers and held a 36-24 edge on the boards.

Sara Dyslin had seven points and nine rebounds for Lynbrook.

St. Francis 44, Lynbrook 19

LYNBROOK (25-6)
Fong 0-2 0-0 0, Hudepohl 2-4 0-0 4, Song 1-5 0-0 3, Dyslin 3-8 1-2 7, Yuan 0-3 3-6 3, Cheng 0-4 0-0 0, Huang 1-9 0-2 2. Totals 7-35 4-10 19.

ST. FRANCIS (24-8)
Aimonetti 6-14 0-0 15, Abdelkader 3-4 0-0 7, Johnson 0-5 0-2 0, Hoey 3-8 0-0 6, Lucian 6-11 0-2 12, McGuire 2-3 0-0 4, Hinojosa 0-1 0-0 0, Mondave 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 0-4 44.

Lynbrook     2  8   4   5  — 19
St. Francis 11 6  10  17 — 44

3-point goals: Lynbrook 1-10 (Song), St. Francis 4-12 (Aimonetti 3, Abdelkader). Rebounds: Lynbrook 24 (Dyslin), St. Francis 36 (Hoey 11). Assists: Lynbrook 1, St. Francis 4. Turnovers: Lynbrook 19, St. Francis 13. See NorCal ROUNDUP from Divisions III, IV and V from American Canyon High School.