Northern California basketball finals have redemptive feel

Payback will largely be the theme for Saturday's CIF Northern California playoff championship games at two venues as eight of the 12 games will be rematches from earlier in the season. There are 14 Bay Area teams still alive. Here are capsules on each game.

At Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento

BOYS
Open Division
No. 1 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) (27-4) vs. No. 2 Capital Christian (Sacramento) (28-3), 8 p.m. : A rematch of an 86-60 O'Dowd victory Jan. 20 at Haas Pavilion. … O'Dowd, led by one of country's top juniors, 6-foot-10 Ivan Rabb, and point guard Paris Austin, is No. 15 nationally in the MaxPreps computer rankings. … Capital Christian, with strong guard play and 6-8 Michigan-bound D.J. Wilson, has won 13 straight since O'Dowd loss by an average score of 78-46. … O'Dowd has won 22 straight by similar scores. … The Dragons is 7-3 in NorCal title games and Capital Christian is 0-2.

Division I
No. 1 Monte Vista (Danville) (30-1) vs. No. 3 Freedom (Oakley) (26-6), 4 p.m.: Monte Vista, ranked as high as 25th nationally, has beat Freedom twice, including 57-41 two weeks ago in North Coast Section title game. … Senior-dominated Monte Vista team led by 6-8 Spencer Rust and 6-3 SG Trevor John. … Freedom is led by 6-5 Elliot Smith, 5-10 Rodney Pope and 6-2 Joe Mixon, one of nation's top running backs. … Both teams are looking for a first NorCal title. Monte lost its only appearance in 2009.

Division II
No. 1 Folsom (31-2) vs. No. 3 Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) (16-17), noon: Rematch of Folsom 79-62 victory in Sac-Joaquin Section finals. … Consumnes is 32-1 on the court, forfeiting 16 wins due to using ineligible player. … Jaaron Stallworth led Cosumnes in a semifinal win with 20 points, but they have at least five potential double-digit scorers, including Alex Van Dyke. … Folsom is led by one of the top sophomore guards in the state, Jordan Ford, who had 17 of his 25 in the fourth quarter in the semifinal win over Serra. He also made the game-winning shot. … Folsom won its only NorCal final appearances way back in 1985. …. This is Consumnes Oaks' first title game.

GIRLS
Open Division
No. 4 Salesian (Richmond) (29-6) vs. No. 6 Miramonte (Orinda) (30-1), 6 p.m.: A rematch of 74-56 Salesian win at Marin Catholic-Kentfield on Jan. 20. … Great individual matchup between Louisville-bound Mariya Moore, of Salesian, and one of the nation's top sophomores Sabrina Ionescu, who has combined for 66 points in monumental road wins over nationally-ranked St. Mary's-Stockton and Carondelet-Concord. … How Salesian handles Miramonte pressure will decide this one. … Both teams are nationally ranked. … Salesian has won both its tries in the NorCal title while Miramonte is 1-3.

Division I
No. 4 Berkeley (24-8) vs. No. 11 Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) (24-9), 2 p.m.: Berkeley ended Pleasant Grove's 2011-12 season with 51-36 home NorCal win. … Pleasant Grove won three straight road games against the No. 6, 3 and 7 seeds. … Berkeley is peaking behind UOP-commit and 5-11 forward Desire Finnie. … This is Berkeley's 17th NorCal title game and it leads all teams with 12 wins. … Pleasant Grove is making its first title-game appearance.

Division II
No. 1 Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) (19-11) vs. No. 2 McNair (Stockton) (28-4), 10 a.m.: A rigorous schedule and some rest have finally paid dividends for nine-time NorCal champion Mitty, which is led by UCLA-bound Kelli Hayes, the co-WCAL Player of the Year. … McNair has tough outside-inside tandem of 5-6 Tiara Tucker (15.6 ppg) and 6-4 Oklahoma State-bound Mandy Coleman (17.4 ppg, 13.5 rpg). … Mitty is making its record 18th NorCal final appearance. The Monarchs have nine wins. …. McNair makes its initial title-game appearance.

At American Canyon HS, American Canyon

BOYS
Division III
No. 9 Drake (San Anselmo) (25-7) vs. No. 3 Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) (21-9), 8 p.m.: Rematch of early December Riordan 51-50 win. … Most of Riordan's offense comes from 6-5 forward Chiefy Ugbaja (15.9 ppg) and 5-11 PG Jiday Ugbaja (18.7). … Jesse Hunt a 6-6 forward, leads Drake at 17.8 ppg but he has combined for 63 his last two games. … Both teams have multiple players who can score in double figures. ... Riordan is 3-1 in NorCal title play and Drake is 2-1.

Division IV
No. 1 Moreau Catholic (Hayward) (26-6) vs. No. 2 Salesian (23-14), 2 p.m.: Rematch of Moreau's 73-68 win in NCS finals two weeks ago, breaking Salesian's three-year title run. … Both teams quick and deep, especially Moreau which got 21 points from Brandon Lawrence in the previous game. He had 25 in double-OT semifinal win on Tuesday. … Salesian led by 6-10 Irvine-signee Jonathan Galloway and host of guards, including long-range shooter Bernard Ward. … Salesian is 3-2 in NorCal title play while Moreau makes its first appearance.

Division V
No. 1 Central Catholic (Modesto) (27-6) vs. No. 2 St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) (29-5), noon: Rematch of a Central Catholic 68-52 win in December. … Long Beach State-signee Temidayo Yussuf, a 6-7, 245-pound power forward, was in foul trouble throughout and fouled out for St. Joseph in that game. … Central Catholic led by 6-6 Jordan Boddie. … St. Joseph is the three-time defending NorCal champion and has won nine overall, which leads all schools. … This is Central Catholic's first NorCal title game.

GIRLS
Division III
No. 1 Enterprise (Redding) (28-2) vs. No. 2 Modesto Christian (Modesto) (25-8), 6 p.m.: Enterprise goes for its first NorCal title and Modesto Christian (2-1) its third. … Modesto Christian is led by Lexi Tubbs, who hit five 3-pointers and had 20 points in a semifinal win. … Nicole Warwick and Stephanie Moore are other key players. … Rachel Martin and Kamira Sanders lead Enterprise.

Division IV
No. 5 Justin-Siena (Napa) (28-6) vs. No. 2 Arcata (26-4), 4 p.m.: Rematch of an Arcata 49-45 win on Jan. 20 at Marin Catholic. … Justin-Siena is 1-3 in NorCal finals appearances while Arcata is playing in its first. … Sadie Irvine and 28 points and Haley Cremen 27 in Justin-Siena's 81-67 semifinal win over favored Scotts Valley. … Abby Puzz had 21 points and five 3-pointers in Arcata's semifinal win.

Division V
No. 1 Brookside Christian (Stockton) (28-4) vs. No. 2 Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) (28-3), 10 a.m.: The state's top ranked D5 teams battle for state's top prize. … Pinewood, behind longtime coach Doc Scheppler, have won seven NorCal and four state titles with largely same formula: speed, defense and 3-point shooting. … Leeana Badeand Marissa Hing combined for 31 in semifinal win. … Brookside, which is 1-0 in NorCal final play, has a big size advantage, led by 6-1 Ra'Kyra Gabriel and 5-11 Ariana Vaughn.