Bay Area Saturday Section roundup: Bishop O'Dowd wins one for the girls

MORAGA, Calif. — In a game that was rough-and-tumble, the Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) boys basketball team later showed a soft and compassionate heart.

After Ivan Rabb scored 29 points and grabbed 14 points and Paris Austin added 18 points in an 89-69 North Coast Section Division III title-game winner over El Cerrito, the Dragons (26-4) gave their championship medals to members of the O'Dowd girls team.

The girls, the defending CIF State Open Division champions, were barred from the NCS tournament for playing one too many games. The boys team wore T-shirts to honor the girls, who sat right behind the O'Dowd bench.

O'Dowd boys coach Lou Richie said the medal exchange after was spontaneous and heart-felt.

"It's for them," Austin said. "When they got DQ'd it hurt all of us. But it also motivated us. We're out there to defend their title."

The boys have won three straight, four of five and 16 NCS titles overall and now will undoubtedly be the top Northern California Open Division seed.

El Cerrito, which got 16 points each from Tyrell Alcorn and Sayeed Pridgett, along with 11 by Anthony Sullen, made it close for a half but then couldn't hold down the 6-foot-10 Rabb, who finished things off with a couple of dunks of all-oop passes.

He also fouled out three of the Gauchos, who were whistled for 33 fouls to 16 for O'Dowd. The Dragons made 31 of 49 free throws, including 13-for-21 by Rabb, while El Cerrito was 12 of 24.

"It's tough enough to beat a team like that without having to beat the officials too," El Cerrito coach Michael Booker. "At least give us a fighting chance."

El Cerrito (28-4), which trailed just 40-38 at halftime, will now wait to hear if remains in D3 or moved up to the Open Division. "Based on that result, we should stay in D3."

Richie said the Dragons played one of their worst halves of the season — "Certainly, El Cerrito had something to do with it," he said — but after an inspiring halftime speech from assistant Mike Bannister, they scored 49 points in the second half.

Glue player Shane Farley had 12 points and reserves Desmond Chatman and Franklin Longrus played key minutes and combined for 13 points.

"We responded to Mike's challenge," Richie said. 

More NCS boys: In D2 finals at St. Mary's, Joey Frenchwood (24 points) made two free throws with 11.2 seconds left to clinch a thoroughly entertaining 74-70 victory for top-seed Newark Memorial (Newark) over Concord (22-8), which got 19 points by Siaan Rojas, 18 from Spencer Clark and 14 from Dru Solis. Michael Pickney scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter for Newark (23-7), which fought back from a 52-46 deficit to win its third straight title. Teammates Damien Banford and Matthew Thomas had 11 apiece... In D4 at Dublin, top-seed Moreau Catholic (Hayward) (24-6) won its first NCS title with a 73-68 win over Salesian (Richmond) (20-14) as Brandon Lawrence scored 21 points, Damari Milstead 19 and Oscar Frayer 12. Jonathan Galloway had 15 points and seven blocks, Bernard Ward added 13 and Marquel Johnson 12 for Salesian. ... In D5 at Albany High School, Jade' Smith made two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to lift St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) (27-5) to a 49-48 win over Branson (Ross) (25-6), which fought back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to go up 48-47 on a 3-point by Henry Feinberg. Marcus Harris missed a 3-pointer for St. Joseph, Smith rebounded and fired up a desperation shot. The referees conferred to determined whether the whistle came after or before the final buzzer. After a long conference, they put 0.2 seconds on the clock. Smith sank the two free throws and Branson didn't even get a shot off. John Broderick led Branson with 18 points including 13 in the second half. Temidayo Yussuf had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists for St. Joseph, which won its fourth straight and 14th overall NCS title.

NCS girls: In D2 at St. Mary's College, Christina Chenault had a career-high 22 points, Nebraska-bound Natalie Romeo 21 and Makenzie Cast, as top-seed Carondelet (Concord) (27-3) scored a season high en route to a 100-48 win over Clayton Valley Charter (Concord.) (23-7), which got 16 points by Kayla Taylor and 15 from Sarah Williams. Carondelet, which won its sixth NCS title in seven years and 10th in 12, averaged 91 points in four NCS wins. ... Senior Breanna Alford had 21 points and Megan Reid 14 as top-seed Miramonte (Orinda) (28-1) rolled to a 94-42 D4 win over Encinal-Alameda (21-7), making its first NCS finals' appearance. Miramonte, which beat won its semifinal game 97-21, would have preferred to play five-time defending champion Bishop O'Dowd. "I was disappointed because they beat us the last three years and I really think this year we could have got them," Alford said. "But we made the most of it and we played as a team throughout the playoffs. We're ready for the Open Division." Miramonte took a an 87-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter when a running clock, by rule, was implemented. Destiny Kelly had 10 points, all in the second half, for Encinal. ... Miramonte coach Kelly Sopak also wished O'Dowd was in the tournament, but was looking forward to playing in the Open Division. "We're excited to playing for an ultimate state championship," he said. "We'll never know if we'll ever have a team this good again and now we'll get the ultimate test." ... Asked about if the title was at all tainted because of O'Dowd's absence, Sopak said: "That's not our deal. We earned to be here and we did it. We took a pact before the tournament to not talk or think about the O'Dowd situation. We did a fantastic job of focusing and stepping up every quarter, every game." It was Miramonte's sixth NCS title and first since 2008. ... In D4 at Dublin, second-seed Saint Mary's (Albany) (26-7) defeated top seed Salesian (Richmond) (27-6) for the first time in four tries, 65-57, behind 22 points from Cal-bound Mikayla Cowling. Ma'Ane Mosley added 20 points for St. Mary's, Taylor Berry had 13 and Cal-bound Gabby Green, recovering from a shoulder injury added 10. The Panthers, who won their fifth NCS title in six years, held Louisville-bound Mariya Moore to 17 points. Kian McNair had a team-high 19 for Salesian. Both teams are almost assuredly headed to the Open Division. Moore did manage eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals. ... In D5 at Albany, Shayna Mehta had 26 points and Natalie Kelly 16 as fourth-seed International (San Francisco) (18-10) won its first NCS title with a 51-41 win over sixth-seed St. Vincent (25-9).

Central Coast Section

Unlike the rest of the CCS divisions, a loss in the Division II finals meant the end of the line.

Thanks to West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year Trevor Dunbar, Arash Poorsina and Tristan Wentworth, St. Ignatius (San Francisco) (22-6) is moving to the Northern California Division II playoffs following a 42-41 win over St. Francis (Mountain View) (16-13) in the CCS D2 finals at Santa Clara University Saturday night.

St. Francis led for 29 of 32 minutes, including a 37-30 advantage early in the fourth quarter. But St. Ignatius point guard Dunbar, with six points and two big assists to Poorsina in the period, rallied his team.

Wentworth’s layin with 1:42 remaining gave the Wildcats a 42-41 lead, their first since the opening basket of the game. St. Francis had three possessions to reply but the St. Ignatius defense held them.

Dunbar led St. Ignatius with 14 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Poorsina added 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Brian Garrett paced St. Francis with 12 points. Eric Morgan added 11 points and 8 rebounds.

More CCS boys: In D1 at Independence High School, Amador Nazarov had 12 points, leading fourth-seed Bellarmine (San Jose) (12-16) to a 43-41 win over Menlo-Atherton (18-9), which got eight points from Marcus Guegler. ... In D3 at Santa Clara University, Aragon-San Mateo (20-9) won its third CCS title and first since 1994 with a 61-55 win over Valley Christian (9-20). ... At Independence-San Jose, Andrew Daschbach had 17 points, Mason Randall 15 and Corbin Koch 11 as Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) (20-7) scored a 48-37 D4 title win over No. 6 Harker (San Jose) (18-9), which got 14 points by Nicholas Nguyen. It was SHP's sixth CCS title and fourth in five years.

CCS girls: In D1 at Independence, Alyssa Springs had 21 points lifting North Salinas (25-2) to 39-38 win over top-seed Gunn (Palo Alto) (10-8), which missed a possible go-ahead bucket from short range with three seconds left. Meghan Mahoney had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Gunn. ... In D2 girls at Santa Clara University, senior center Sara Dyslin scored 16 of her game-high 22 points after halftime to give Lynbrook (San Jose) (19-8) their first CCS title since 1990 with a 40-34 triumph over defending champ and top seed St. Francis (Mountain View) (16-12), which got 11 points from Samantha D'Costa. ... In D3 at Santa Clara, Valley Christian (San Jose) (15-13) won its fourth CCS title with a 48-27 win over Soquel (18-9). ...  In D4 at Independence, Sam Erisman had 17 points and Hannah Paye 13 as top Menlo (Atherton) (18-11) won its second straight D4 title with a 49-40 win over fifth-seed Castilleja (Palo Alto) (20-10), which got 13 points from Ellie Chen and 11 by Paige Vermeer.