Live! CIF Northern California basketball finals

Bishop O'Dowd boys, Salesian girls win Open titles; Monte Vista, Folsom, Drake, Moreau and St. Joseph are other male victors. Surprise Pleasant Grove girls, Mitty, Modesto Christian, Justin-Siena and Pinewood also victorious.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens
By
Mar 22, 2014, 12:00am

Pleasant Grove celebrates its first Northern California title with a 51-42 win over 12-time champion Berkeley at Sleep Train Arena.
Pleasant Grove celebrates its first Northern California title with a 51-42 win over 12-time champion Berkeley at Sleep Train Arena.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Division I Girls
Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 51, Berkeley 42
Brittany Nguyen had 14 points and Aaliyah Pena added 13 as the 11th-seeded Eagles completed their unlikely run to their first Northern California championship, fittingly against the queens of Northern California basketball.

Brittany Nguyen, Pleasant Grove
Brittany Nguyen, Pleasant Grove
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Pleasant Grove (25-9), which won three road games over lower seeds to get here, withstood every Berkeley rally and closed the game on a 20-9 run behind the inside play of the 6-1 Pena and outside work from Nguyen. The Eagles limited Berkeley, a 12-time NorCal champion, to just 17 of 65 shooting.

Desire Finnie had 16 points and Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman 13 for the Yellowjackets (24-9), who made just 17 of 65 shots (26 percent).

It was a monumental victory for the Eagles, who didn't even win a league title this year and has never won a SJS section crown or even played for a section crown. This was Berkeley's 17th NorCal final.

"It's not really sunk in," Pleasant Grove coach James McKeever said. "I've bought a lot of tickets coming to this game and section title games. To beat a team with a storied history like Berkeley is pretty special."

Said Pena: "I think this just shows if you set your mind to something, you can accomplish anything."

With nine freshman, Berkeley was a surprise finalist itself, but seemed to have found its step in a NorCal semifinal win at Deer Valley-Antioch, which beat the Yellowjackets in the NCS finals.

Aaliyah Pena, Pleasant Grove
Aaliyah Pena, Pleasant Grove
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
When Berkeley jumped to a 10-5 lead and seemed to control tempo, Pleasant Grove seemed to be in for a long day. But the Eagles are smart and poised and they kept chipping away. In the meantime, the Yellowjackets kept missing. They were 9 of 32 from the floor, but still maintained an 18-15 halftime lead.

Nguyen opened the third quarter and the Eagles were on their way to a 11-2 run to take a 26-20 lead. Berkeley took the shot and when it tied it early in the fourth, most thought Pleasant Grove would fold.

But three road, all in the Bay Area, each 100-mile trips, toughened up the Eagles. A 3-pointer by Patricia Castrence put them up 48-39 and just about clinched it. Castrence and Kim Schmelz each had nine points for the Eagles.

"We said coming into the other three games no one gave us a chance and no one did today," McKeever said. "They've grown up a lot."

Pleasant Grove now plays Canyon Springs in the state finals. Berkeley coach Cheryl Draper said she was happy for Pleasant Grove and proud of her team's season.

"We had a lot of doubters we'd even get her," She said. "But today we just couldn't put the ball in the basket. Some of it was the tight rims. Most of it was being over-anxious. But give Pleasant Grove credit. They deserved it."



Next page: D2 girls — Mitty goes long range to beat McNair 

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