Nationally ranked Berkeley vs. Carondelet features stellar guard showdown; No. 3 St. Mary's (Stockton) tangles with dangerous Del Oro.
The statistics for
Carondelet (Concord, Calif.) do-everything junior guard
Hannah Huffman were read out loud following a 77-66 CIF Northern California regional semifinal win over St. Francis-Sacramento: 34 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and five assists.
"Wow, those are
Brittany Boyd numbers," a reporter quipped.
Hannah Huffman is likely head to
either Notre Dame or UCLA.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Without hesitation, Huffman snapped back: "No, those are Hannah Huffman numbers."
The fiery and well-spoken 4.2 standout caught the third-person reference and possible locker-room material and said: "Wait, don't print that."
Too late. Huffman's intuitive response not only revealed her competitive zeal but was utterly appropriate.
The third-year 5-foot-9 starter doesn't back down from anyone. Not even
Berkeley's multi-talented Boyd, a 5-8 senior point guard headed to Cal.
The two dominating forces go head-to-head when their nationally-ranked teams face off in Saturday's 6 p.m. D1 championship game at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.
Berkeley is 30-1 and ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps.com and Carondelet (28-4) is No. 14. Berkeley has won two of three previous meetings.
Brittany Boyd is headed to Cal.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Boyd averages 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and – according to coaches – 9.4 steals a game. Berkeley head coach Cheryl Draper, who has coached 30 years, stands strong by the steals numbers.
"She's had 20 double-doubles and all of them have been points and steals," she said. "Brittany is just one-of-a-kind off-the-ball defender. She's the best point guard I've ever coached and probably the most competitive. She'll do whatever it takes to win."
Ditto for Huffman, who was moved into the post to utilize her strength and leaping ability. She's quick to the basket, fantastic in the open floor, an excellent 3-point shooter and sports a legitimate pull-up jumper – a rarity in the girls game.
She causes fits because she's such a match-up problem. After the season she'll likely pick either UCLA or Notre Dame to play for in 2012-13.
"Put a big girl on her and she'll drive right past her," MaxPreps basketball editor and Campolindo-Moraga coach Clay Kallam said. "Put a smaller player on her and she'll post her up."
Boyd, a gym rat, is a sheer creator. She relies on quickness, strength and decision-making. When she's hitting her outside shot: "She's just about impossible to guard," Kallam said.
Hannah Huffman is a pure pull-up jump shooter, but Berkeley has jumpers who can cause problems.
Photo by Dennis Lee
Draper will use a combination of 6-1 San Diego State-bound
Chairese Culberson, 5-10 freshman
Desire Finniey or 5-5 junior
Elisha Davis on Huffman, who averages team bests 15.8 points, 3.6 assists and 3.5 steals and is second in rebounds (7.1).
"Incredibly unselfish," Carondelet coach Margaret Gartner said of Huffman. "Could score much more if she wanted."
Gartner will throw a plethora of guards at Boyd and possibly even Huffman with the game winding down. Considering the three previous games were decided by a combined seven points, that could very well be the case.
Brittany Boyd is the most competitive
player Linda Draper has coached.
Photo by Dennis Lee
"Wouldn't that be something," Draper said.
Of course, both teams have a load of other weapons.
Berkeley has a pair of San Diego State-bound forwards in Culberson, who had a game-high 19 points and hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and rugged 6-1 senior Khristina Hunter, who made the go-ahead basket with 17 seconds to play, and outside threat Elisha Davis.
Carondelet counters with 6-2 Stanford-bound post
Erica Payne (14 points per game, nine rebounds, 4 blocks), 5-8 freshman guard
Natalie Romeo 3-point bomber
Melissa Russi and spunky 5-4 point guard
Portia Velasco who is befitting of her first name.
CIF Northern California playoffs
Championships
Divisions 1-3 at Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento
Divisions 4-5 at Folsom High School
DIVISION I
No.
1 Berkeley (30-1) vs. No. 2 Carondelet-Concord (28-4), 6 p.m. –
Three tremendous previous games between the two teams this season deserves a
fourth. Predicted score: Carondelet 52, Berkeley 51. A Payne putback wins it.
DIVISION II
No.
1 St. Mary's (Stockton) (27-2) vs. No. 3 Del Oro (Loomis) (27-4), 2 p.m. –
Outside shooting teams have trouble in this arena but No. 6 nationally St. Mary's always seems to prevail. Somehow we sense senior-oriented and highly-poised Del Oro avenges five-point
loss in section final. Del Oro 65, St. Mary's 64.
DIVISION III
No.
1 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) (24-7) vs. No. 2 Sacramento (28-5), 10 a.m. –
O’Dowd has the size, athletes and point guard but Sacramento has played at
Power Balance plenty. Sacramento in a squeaker. Sacramento 50, Bishop O'Dowd 48.
DIVISION IV
No.
1 St. Mary's (Albany) (29-4) vs. No. 2 Modesto Christian (25-8), 5 p.m. –
Defending champ St. Mary’s might have the best Bay Area shot at winning a state
crown. St. Mary’s by single digits. St. Mary's 64, Modesto Christian 55.
DIVISION V
No.
1 Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) (26-5) vs. No. 3 St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) (25-4), 1
p.m. – St. Joseph has 6-4 Carmen Lockhart but defending champion
Pinewood has vast experience and reigning San Francisco Chronicle Player of the Year Hailie Eackles. Pinewood
53, St. Joseph 47.
