At American Canyon High SchoolBOYS
Division III
Drake (San Anselmo) 54, Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 49
Jasper Verduin scored 23 points to help lead the ninth-seeded Pirates (26-7) over the Crusaders (19-12). “They were pressing, I was deep, my teammates found me and I was able to finish,” Verduin said of his three key fourth quarter baskets to help Drake pull the game out. “That's about it.”
Verduin said normally, the Pirates like to be pressed, but Riordan gave them more trouble than they would have liked.
“They had a very good press,” he said. “It was a very high intensity, they were up in us all of the time. They forced a lot of turnovers and that's what got them back in the game.”
The key statistic, besides the final score, was that Drake committed 10 turnovers in the third quarter and none in the fourth quarter.
“Our guys fought and fought to the end,” Crusaders coach Rich Buckner said. “I knew we would catch up to them in the third and the fourth quarters, but when you're only playing seven or eight guys, we expend a lot of energy and once we tied it up, I could see in my guys' eyes they were kind of tired. We're not a team that's built to play catch-up.”
Riordan led early, but gave up 19 consecutive points over the end of the first and most of the second quarter, to fall behind 27-12. The Crusaders came back to tie the score at 31-31 and the game stayed close until the last two minutes. A one-handed scoop shot by Sam Dines made it 49-45 and that gave the Pirates breathing room.
Jesse Hunt added 13 points for the winners. Jiday Ugbaja and Chiefy Ugbaja each scored 21 points for Riordan, but the Crusaders lack of depth caught up with them.
Division IV
Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 61, Salesian 52Moreau Catholic (27-6), the top seed, used good balance to build a 40-21 lead in the third quarter. Salesian did fight back, cutting the deficit to five points in the final minute but didn't have enough left in the tank. Terrell Brown hit four consecutive free throws late for the Mariners to help seal the win.
Brandon Lawrence and
Damari Milstead had 15 points apiece for Moreau Catholic.
Oscar Frayer had 11 points and nine rebounds but was sidelined with foul trouble for much of the first half.
Jonathan Galloway had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Salesian and was especially effective in the second half when the Pride was fighting to get back into the game.
The Pride got off to a quick start, taking a 12-7 lead after the first quarter and getting Frayer in foul trouble with three fouls before the end of the first quarter.
“I thought we played well, especially in the second half,” Mariners coach Frank Knight said. “This game was won by our sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth players.”
Terrell Brown, Ryan Regner, Tyler Klingenbeck and Alex Johnson came off of the bench for Moreau Catholic. It appeared that once Knight emptied his bench, the Mariners pressure defense got better. Salesian ended up committing 21 turnovers.
The Pride is now 3-3 in CIF Division 4 Northern Regional finals.
Division V
St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) 54, Central Catholic (Modesto) 42At American Canyon, St. Joseph's coach Don Lippi didn't want his team to forget last season's 47-46 state title game loss to Horizon-San Diego on a 30-footer at the buzzer.
So he put a picture of that final, crushing moment that resulted in his players sprawling on the floor in disappointment on his gym wall.
Message received. Saturday the Pilots took another step toward their goal of a state title with a satisfying victory.
"We have a picture of that shot in our gym," Lippi said of the Horizon loss. "It's in a case and it shows our (emotion) when that shot went in. Some people said it was abusive of me to do that because every time you walk in the gym you see it. But for me, it's why I coached so hard this year."
St. Joe's used an 18-point run to end the first half to take a 29-13 lead to get past Central Catholic.
The Pilots also had a big edge on the boards (45-27) behind the play of center
Temidayo Yussuf (16 points, nine rebounds) and
Lamont Banks (seven points, 10 rebounds). Point guard
Esteban Lovato, who didn't play in an earlier loss this season to Central Catholic, chipped in 16 points.
Joe Hamilton led Central Catholic with 19 points.
The NorCal title was St. Joe's (30-5) fourth consecutive and 10th overall. This was the first NorCal title game for Central Catholic (27-7).
GIRLS
Division III
Modesto Christian (Modesto) 58, Enterprise (Redding) 56
Stephanie Moore had 18 points, Lexi Tubbs 13 and Jasmine Hampton 12 as second seed Modesto Christian (26-8) fought back from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to stun top seed Enterprise.
Moore made the go-ahead shot with more than a minute to play to go up 57-56 and Tubbs made one of two free throws with less than 10 seconds to play. Enterprise, which got 23 points from Kamira Sanders, 16 by Rachel Martin and 10 from Jordan Kimbrough, finished 28-3.
It was Modesto Christian's third NorCal title while Enterprise was playing in its first championship game.
Division IV
Justin-Siena (Napa) 47, Arcata 26
The Braves (29-6) jumped all over the Tigers (26-5), turning what was supposed to be a tight game into a boat race.
Haley Cremen scored a game-high 15 points and
Sadie Irvine added 12 for Justin-Siena, which lost to Arcata 49-45 in January.
This time, the Braves didn't allow a single Tiger to score in double-figures.
Lauren McCoy led the way with nine points.
Justin-Siena earned its second berth in a state championship game and first since 1985. The Braves are now 2-2 in regional finals. Arcata was making its first appearance in a regional final.
Division V
Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) 61, Brookside Christian (Stockton) 38Gabi Bade had 16 points,
Marissa Hing 12 and
Akayla Hackson 10 for second-seeded Pinewood (29-3) which led wire-to-wire against the taller top seed.
Even five-time Pinewood state championship coach Doc Scheppler was impressed with his team’s convincing victory. Pinewood, which held a 45-37 edge on the boards and made nine 3-pointers, trailed only 2-0.
A pair of 9-0 runs keyed the win , which was Pinewood’s eighth NorCal title and vaults them into next week’s state finals against La Jolla Country Day.
Lauren Rabena led the Knights (28-5) with 12 points and
Ariana Vaughn added 10.
“One of the finest basketball performances in the annals of Pinewood basketball history,” Scheppler quipped. “Seriously, great game.”
