St. Mary's boys wins 30th game, second straight (D-II) title; De La Salle claims seventh D-I crown; Trotter leads Campolindo to D-III championship; Carondelet (D-II), Miramonte (D-III), Justin-Siena (D-IV) girls claim crowns; Branson sweeps titles
Recap of all North Coast Section title games
By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
OAKLAND, Calif. – The thrill of playing at an NBA site normally backfires on most high school teams.
St. Mary’s (Berkeley), the state’s No. 12 team, instead fired on all cylinders in a resounding and entertaining 88-59 North Coast Section Division IV championship victory over league rival Kennedy (Richmond) at Oracle Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Dominique Lee, a high-flying 6-foot-4 sophomore, had 21 points and the Brew Brothers, Will and Chris, a pair of lightning rod 6-3 guards, added 14 points apiece as the Panthers shot a blistering 61 percent from the field while improving to 30-1.
It was the fourth straight win for St. Mary’s over Kennedy (26-5), which got 23 points from Jonathan Williams and 17 by Gerard Markham.
“We loved coming here and entertaining the fans,” Chris Brew said. “It might have been more difficult to get up for this game in a smaller gym with not many fans. But we came out, corrected all our mistakes and probably played our best game of the year.”
That’s for sure.
The Brew brothers, who have both committed to UC Santa Barbara, had several nifty passes leading to fastbreak dunks. Chris Brew and Lee had high-flying dunks and Will Brew added a spectacular 360-spin move in the air for a fastbreak hoop in the fourth quarter.
“We played for the entire four quarters,” St. Mary’s coach Manny Nodar said. “That’s exactly what we’ve been looking for.”
Kennedy coach Michael Booker, who’s done a terrific job both on and off the floor with the Eagles, was looking for more defense from his team.
A lot more defense.
After St. Mary’s closed the first quarter with a nine-point run to take a 22-8 lead, Kennedy seemed to lose all focus on the defensive end.
The Eagles, who had closed the margins in the previous three meetings from 15 to 8 to 4, had no answer for the Panthers’ numerous weapons, which also included Lee’s twin brother Demetrius Lee (10 points) and Marcus Semien and Justin Shields, who added eight points apiece.
“For us everything starts with defense, but tonight it was terrible, terrible, terrible,” Booker said. “It looked like a lay-up drill out there.”
St. Mary’s dominance on the boards had a lot to do with its ability to run the break. Once in transition, the Panthers are hard to stop.
“We want to be quick but not hurry,” Nodar said. “And we can’t get out unless we get the rebound. We did an excellent job of that tonight.”
Nodar wasn’t concerned that his team would come in lackadaisical after beating Kennedy three straight times.
“If it was a younger team without the veterans that we had, I might have worried about it,” he said. “But these guys have been through the wars.”
St. Mary’s 88, Kennedy 59
Kennedy 8 15 18 18 - 59
St. Mary’s 22 19 22 25 – 88
KENNEDY (26-4): Marvin Boadu 3 0-1 6, Robert Weathersby 1 0-0 2, Tervon Adams 1 0-0 2, Jamal Alzanbaai 1 0-0 2, Chuck Jacobs 2 0-0 5, Gerard Markham 3 10-12 17, Jonathan Williams 9 5-8 23, Larron Peterson 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 15-21 59.
ST. MARY’S (30-1): Neal Sampson 1 0-0 2, Aalim Moor 3 1-2 7, Demetrius Lee 5 0-0 10, Chris Head 0 1-2 1, Chris Brew 4 5-8 14, Will Brew 5 1-3 14, Marcus Semien 4 0-0 8, Mark Bennett 1 1-2 3, Dominique Lee 8 5-9 21, Justin Shields 3 0-0 8. Totals 34 14-26 88.
3-point goals: Jacobs, Markham, C. Brew, W. Brew, Shields 2.
De La Salle 53, Newark Memorial 52
At Oracle, De La Salle coach Frank Allocco was complaining much of the second half about the foul discrepancy. Turned out it worked in the Spartans’ favor in a hard-fought victory that gave De La Salle its seventh crown in 10 years.
A long 3-pointer by E.J. Farris knocked a seven-point lead to 53-52 with 40 seconds left, but with just two team fouls Newark Memorial had too many fouls to give to get to the bonus.
The Newark coaching staff opted to gamble and hope that the Cougars would get the ball back with five seconds to go. Inexplicably, they accidentally fouled with one second on the shot clock. The Spartans (26-3) ran out the clock from there to hold on to the victory.
Jose Rivera hit four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points and John McArthur added 10 of his 14 points in the first half for the top-seeded Spartans, who led by double digits twice in the game.
Farris led Newark Memorial with 17 points and Bobby McCall 12, all on 3-pointers. There were 16 3-pointers in all, nine by De La Salle.
De La Salle 53, Newark Memorial 52
Newark Memorial 8 18 14 12 - 52
De La Salle 12 16 13 12 – 53
NEWARK MEMORIAL (25-6): Sankey 4 2-3 10, Farris 6-22 17, Jones 2 4-4 8, McCall 4 0-0 12, Ezeofar 2 1-2 5. Totals 18 9-11 52.
DE LA SALLE (26-3): Smith 2 2-2 6, Martellaro 2 0-0 6, Powers 2 0-1 6, Levesque 1 0-0 2, Rivera 5 2-2 16, Estrada 1 0-0 3, McArthur 4 6-6 14. Totals 19 10-11 53.
3-point goals: McCall 4, Farris 3, Rivera 4, Martellaro 2, Powers 2, Estrada.
DIVISION II
Las Lomas 51, Hayward 50
At Oracle, Blake Turner put back a miss by high-scoring guard Brian Stafford with 3.2 seconds left lifting Las Lomas, a third-place team from a maligned league, to its second NCS crown.
“I was getting a little frustrated because I hadn’t had any shots since the first quarter,” Turner told the Contra Costa Times. “But I made it when it counted.”
He had just six points and seven rebounds for the game, but his last shot proved decisive. A 40-foot heavy by Davion Berry just missed giving third-seed Las Lomas its first NCS crown since 1988.
Stafford led all scorers with 20 points while teammate Pat Evans contributed 15. Top-seeded Hayward (22-7), which didn’t take its first lead until the last play of the third quarter, was led by Jabreel Nasir with 17 points and Berry with 16.
Las Lomas 51, Hayward 50
Las Lomas 20 13 9 9 – 51
Hayward 15 14 15 6 – 50
LAS LOMAS (18-11): Stafford 7 4-8 20, Klinck 2 2-2 6, Evans 5 5-5 15, Turner 3 0-1 6, Cabral 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 11-16 51.
HAYWARD (22-7): Berry 6 2-4 16, Nasir 7 0-0 17, Taylor 2 0-0 4, Martin 3 2-4 8. Totals 20 4-8 50.
3-point goals: Stafford 2, Nasir 3, Berry 2, Brandon.
DIVISION III
Campolindo-Moraga 69, Dublin 51
Before 4,500 fans jammed into McKeon Pavilion at St. Mary’s College, Dublin made up 24 points from last time but couldn’t make up for 6-9 senior Jack Trotter who had 33 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks as top seed Campolindo (22-7) won its sixth NCS crown, third in Div. III the last four years.
Chris Dyer added 14 points for Campolindo, which defeated Dublin 91-49 in league play on Jan. 22.
In that game, the Cougars made 10 of their first 12 three-point attempts and had 14 overall. On Saturday, they made seven more, including four by Dyer.
Utilizing his vast size advantage down low – Dublin had no one taller than 6-3 - and a new high-low offense, Trotter made 15 of 20 shots, mostly on dunks and layups.
Dublin (23-7), making its first NCS finals appearance, got 13 points by K.J. Scott and 10 from Tim Scott.
“We have a big match-up problems with these guys,” Dublin coach Tom Costello said. “So you have to pick your poison. Tonight that poison (Trotter) was awfully potent.”
Said Trotter, whose team started the year 2-3: "We knew after how well we shot last time they'd have to defend outside so coach put in some new high-low offense that worked pretty well. ... We knew we were better than our record early but it definitely gave us motivation to get better."
Said Campolindo coach Chris Whirlow: "The beauty is two months ago I was telling our guys we'd be lucky to finish in the top four of league and make the playoffs. I wasn't even saying it for motivation. I meant it. But in my seven years this is the easiest team to coach. They just got better and better and I've just got to sit back and watch."
Campolindo 69, Dublin 51
Dublin 13 11 13 14 - 51
Campolindo 25 10 23 11 - 69
DUBLIN (23-7): Tyler Murphy 1 0-0 2, K.J. Scott 4 3-4 13, Tim Scott 4 2-2 10, Tyler Worthley 1 0-0 3, Brent McHone 4 1-1 9, Garrett Bettis 0 2-2 2, Nick Cohee 2 0-0 4, Johnny Warlich 2 0-0 4, Jordan Inouye 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 8-9 51.
CAMPOLINDO (22-7): Jack Trotter 15 3-5 33, Chris Dyer 5 0-2 14, Will Shields 2 0-0 6, Mile Macy 1 0-0 3, Adam Mancebo 3 2-2 8, Brian Sanders 1 0-0 3, Bryan Reinke 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 5-9 69.
3-point goals: K. Scott 2, Worthley, Dyer 4, Shields 2, Macy, Sanders.
DIVISION V
Branson (Ross) 45, Lick-Wilmerding (San Francisco) 33
At College of Marin, the two-time defending champion put a stranglehold on high-scoring Lick senior Marcus Wells, who managed just 12 points, and got a combined 30 points from Ryan McGuigan and Oliver McNally in a wire-to-wire victory.
It was the fifth straight NCS crown for Branson (28-3), which got career win No. 624 for coach Jonas Honick.
Andrew Ahn had 16 points for Lick (24-8), which had just three players score.
GIRLSDIVISION I
Berkeley 62, Deer Valley (Antioch) 45
At Oracle, Airaka Warren, a 5-11 transfer from Piedmont, scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half after the second-seeded Yellowjackets (26-3) trailed by as many as 11 in the first.
It was the 18th NCS title for Berkeley and 11th in the last 13 years. With the score tied at 40, Warren scored on a putback with 4:31 left, then scored 10 more down the stretch as top-seeded Wolverines (25-4) scored just five of the game’s final 27 points.
Emily Allard scored a game-high 24 points for Deer Valley, which has been without leading scorer and rebounder Ashley Ellis, a 6-4 post headed to Kansas, for three weeks due to grade problems. She’s out for the season.
Jazmine Perkins added 19 points and Camilia Rosen 10 for Berkeley, which outscored Deer Valley 45-19 in the second half.
Berkeley 62, Deer Valley 45
Berkeley 5 12 18 27 – 62
Deer Valley 9 17 10 9 - 45
BERKELEY (26-3): Rosen 5 0-0 10, Culberson 2 1-4 5, Warren 9 3-6 21, Perkins 5 9-10 19, Morgan 2 0-0 5, Brosher 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 13-20 62.
DEER VALLEY (25-4): Saindon 2 2-6 6, Allard 11 4-4 26, Mixon 2 0-0 4, Azlin 3 3-5 9. Totals 18 9-15 45.
3-point goals: Morgan.
DIVISION II
Carondelet (Concord) 56, Northgate (Walnut Creek) 43
At Oracle, 6-1 freshman Erica Payne looked like a seasoned prep veteran with 21 points and sophomore shooting sensation Ricky Radanovich added 13 as top seed Carondelet (26-3) won its fifth NCS crown in six years with a convincing second-half performance.
Tied 23-23 at halftime, Carondelet started the second half with an 11-0 run, started and ended with 3-pointers from Radanovich, and the Cougars were never really threatened. Erica Payne, Erin Boettcher and Leah Payne added buckets in the run.
Second-seed Northgate (25-3), which had lost only two Division III top seed Miramonte (Orinda), got 15 points from Kendra Hessel and 13 by Kaley Blodgett. The Broncos were hurt badly by a foot injury to sophomore point guard Cortney Hamilton, who didn't play the second half.
Carondelet, the 2005 state champion, also got a superb defensive game by 5-10 sophomore Morgan Fitterer, who held Northgate leading scorer Kelly Peterson to just three points. Peterson came in averaging 18.2 points per game.
“Energy,” said Radanovich when asked about the second-half surge. “We knew they didn’t play a lot of subs so we just tried to run them out of the gym.”
Asked about playing in the bright lights of Oracle, Radanovich said. “It was definitely something to overcome in warm-ups when we had that deer-in-the-headlights look. But we settled down when we needed to.”
Carondelet coach Margaret Gartner said the Cougars, who starts a freshman and two sophomores, said her squad has improved immensely since the start of the season.
“We had nine different starters down in the San Diego (tournament) earlier this year,” Gartner said. “We’ve come a long way.”
Asked to compare this team with the state championship team, Gartner said: “I think this team is a little deeper. If someone is a little off, we always have someone else to pick up the slack.”
Leah Payne, a 5-9 senior point guard and older sister of Erica, was on the 2005 state title team. She said she was proud of her sister.
“She played a huge role tonight,” Leah Payne said. “She’s played a big role all season.”
Said Garnter of Erica Paye: “She played like a senior. We kept going to her and it seemed like no one on Northgate could guard her.”
Said Erica Payne: “We knew it was going to be a tough game because they play like we do.”
Luckily for the Cougars, no one quite played like Erica Payne.
Carondelet 56, Northgate 43
Carondelet 11 12 20 13 – 56
Northgate 10 13 12 8 – 43
NORTHGATE (25-3): Cortney Hamilton 1 3-6 6, Kelly Peterson 1 1-2 3, Kaley Blodgett 5 0-1 13, Tess Soper 2 1-3 6, Kendra Hessel 5 4-6 15. Totals 14 9-17 43.
CARONDELET (26-3): Ricky Radanovich 5 1-2 13, Erica Payne 9 3-5 21, Morgan Fitterer 2 0-1 4, Alyssa Levesque 1 0-2 2, Leah Payne 2 1-2 5, Erin Boettcher 3 1-2 7, Taylor Vigil 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 6-14 56.
3-point goals: Blodgett 3, Hamilton, Soper, Hessel, Radanovich 2.
DIVISION III
Miramonte-Orinda 61, Hercules 53
At St. Mary’s College, the frantic style of Hercules and superb athleticism and skill of backcourt duo of freshman Brittany Boyd and Courtney Oliver would have folded any opponent in two.
The Titans (24-5) slashed an 11-point deficit to 51-49 and the team understandably was excited: flailing fists, jumping up and down and exalting teammates.
But Miramonte has been through the wars. They jogged back to coach Darrell Hirashima and looked as concerned as DMV employees ready to give another exam.
“I didn’t see any fear in their eyes,” Hirashima said. “They’ve played a lot of big games in the past. They have a lot of confidence and faith in one another.”
It helps to have senior guards like Katie Batlin and Ashlee Burns, a pair of fourth-year starters, who scored 20 and 15 points respectively, leading the top-seeded Matadors (26-3) to victory.
Miramonte showed its greatest calm at the line, hitting 19 of 22 free throws to hold off the second-seeded Titans, who got 19 points by Boyd and 11 from Oliver.
Batlin, a 5-11 guard who has signed to St. Mary’s, made all 14 of her free throws, including eight in the final 6:05. Burns made just five field goals but all were 3-pointers before she fouled out.
Boyd scored 12 in the fourth quarter when Hercules cut an 11-point deficit to 51-49. But Stephanie Golden (nine points) scored on an assist from Batlin (7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals), who then made two free throws with 24.1 seconds left to help Miramonte seal it.
“I don’t normally like going to the free throw line,” Batlin said. “There’s too many eyes on me. Too much attention. But for some reason tonight I was OK with it. I’ve never made 14 in a row before.”
It was the 19th straight win for Miramonte, which won its second straight and third NCS title in four years.
Though Batlin and Burns, who has signed to Cal Poly, led the charge once more they Matadors definitely got great contributions all around.
Golden made three buckets in the first quarter before getting into foul trouble. Chelsey Christensen made four straight free throws down the stretch and did a superb job down low, especially with Golden in foul trouble.
Katie Reid also made three key jumpers, two in the third quarter when Hercules made a key run. And Katie Evans also hit a pair of clutch jumpers, the second a 3-pointer that gave Miramonte a 46-36 lead with 5:30 left.
That’s when Hercules caught fire, scoring 10 of the next 13, starting with 3-pointers from Kiara Lewis and Boyd, who finished the run with a tough fastbreak layup with 2:51 to close to 49-46.
Batlin then took over, hitting two free throws before Boyd sliced through the lane for another deuce. Batlin then made a circus shot to make it 53-48 and after a Hercules free throw, she made a nice feed to Golden for another hoop.
Batlin then made four free throws and Christensen two in the final 24.1 seconds.
It was the second straight year Miramonte beat Hercules in the NCS finals. The Matadors also ended Hercules’ season in 2005 with a first-round NCS win.
“We knew they were coming in take it to us,” Batlin said. “We knew they’d press and make steals and score layups, but they were making shots from all over the place. I’m proud of our team for staying tough.”
Miramonte 61, Hercules 53
Hercules 10 10 14 19 – 53
Miramonte 13 17 11 20 – 61
HERCULES (24-5): Chalese Davis 2 2-4 6, Rebecca VanKuyk 3 0-1 6, Mariah Davis 4 0-1 8, Brittany Boyd 6 5-11 19, Courtney Oliver 5 0-0 11, Kiara Lewis 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 7-17 53.
MIRAMONTE (26-3): Stephanie Golden 4 1-2 9, Chelsey Chirstensen 1 4-6 6, Ashlee Burns 5 0-0 15, Katie Batlin 3 14-14 20, Katie Evans 2 0-0 5, Katie Reid 3 0-0 6. Totals 18 19-22 61.
3-point goals: Boyd 2, Lewis, Oliver, Burns 5, Evans. Fouled out: Burns, C. Davis, M. Davis.
DIVISION IV
Justin-Siena (Napa) 60, St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo) 52
At Oracle Arena, Vicky Deely, a bruising and agile 6-foot senior forward, scored 12 of her game-high 23 points in the decisive third-quarter, when the Braves (27-2) went on a 21-8 run to break a 27-27 halftime tie en route to their first NCS championship.
The UC-Davis-bound Deely, who averages 22.2 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, punctuated the victory with a determined driving lay-up up and three-point play as the shot clock was winding down with 41.4 seconds left.
St. Patrick, the defending NCS and NorCal champion, had knocked down an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to 57-52 with 1:08 to play on a 3-pointer by Olivia Reed before Deely sealed it. She also had a game-high nine rebounds.
“There were no lanes opened the first half but one kind of opened up then,” Deely said. “I saw an opportunity and was just happy it went in. This was a great win for our program.”
Jessica Futo added 12 points, Courtney Pardini 11 and point guard Britney Hyatt seven points and eight assists for the top-seeded Braves, who won previous Sac-Joaquin Section crowns in 1984, 1985 and 1996.
Alex Cowling, a 5-10 senior headed for Loyola-Marymount, scored nine of her team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter for St. Patrick (24-5), which got 11 points by Taylor Rojas.
The Bruins got their vaunted full-court press going in the fourth quarter but with two starters fouled out they ran out of steam.
Justin-Siena, which beat St. Patrick 70-59 on Jan. 21 in the Martin Luther King Classic, a 14-2 run early in the third quarter started and finished with 3-pointers from Futo, set up by five assists from Hyatt and keyed by six points by Deely.
That gave the Braves a 41-31 lead and they were in control from there.
St. Patrick had won 11 straight since its last loss to the Braves, including an impressive 72-49 semifinal win at second-seed Moreau Catholic (Hayward).
“We always talk about how key the first three minutes of the game and second half, but we failed to match Justin-Siena’s intensity,” St. Patrick coach Rodney Faucett. “That and we missed some easy shots.
“Justin-Siena is a great team. Hopefully we’ll see them again. I’ll say this, it’s hard to beat a good team three times.”
Justin-Siena coach Mike Boles said there were no special halftime adjustments that keyed his team’s third-quarter surge.
“We looked at the white board and our goals before the game and just focused on getting back to fundamentals,” he said.
Justin-Siena 60, St. Patrick 52
Justin-Siena 15 12 21 12 – 60
St. Patrick 14 13 8 17 – 52
ST. PATRICK (24-5): Alex Cowling 7 6-9 20, Jameiz Terrell 3 0-2 7, Taylor Rojas 4 0-0 11, Olivia Reed 3 0-1 8, Rechel Carter 2 2-6 6. Totals 19 8-18 52.
JUSTIN-SIENA (27-2): Britney Hyatt 1 5-6 7, Courtney Pardini 3 2-3 11, Kyleigh McAhren 2 0-0 4, Vicky Deely 6 10-12 23, Jessica Futo 5 0-0 12, Rachelle Whitehead 1 1-2 3. Totals 18 19-23 60.
3-point goals: Pardini 3, Deely, Futo 2, Rojas 3, Terrell, Reed 2. Fouled out: Terrell, Moore.
DIVISION V
Branson 64, Head-Royce (Oakland) 29
At College of Marin, top-seed Branson (25-7), the defending state champion, won its third straight title behind 23 points and nine rebounds from Rachel Bilney and 14 points and six assists by Sam Bilney.
It was the first start for Sam Bilney since she tore her ACL just before the season.
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
