NorCal Open roundup: Modesto Christian upsets Bishop O'Dowd

The Sac-Joaquin Section has laid a pretty legitimate claim as a better football region than the San Francisco Bay Area.

But boys basketball? Unheard of.

On Friday, the SJS eliminated a pair of local teams in the Northern California Open Division, sending third-seed Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) and fifth seed Serra (San Mateo) down to season-ending defeats.

Sixth-seed Modesto Christian (Modesto) (29-3) had a great defensive concept and came into Chabot College in Hayward to defeat Bishop O'Dowd 57-42 as T J Wallace and Raymond Bowles had 14 points apiece.

CIF State boys basketball brackets

Co-coached by former Cal guard Richard Midgley, Modesto Christian did a superior job slowing down 6-foot-10 Ivan Rabb, considered the top sophomore in the country, holding him to 12 points and seven rebounds.

Michael Perri led O'Dowd (26-4) with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Dragons were coming off its second highest scoring output of the year in an 89-78 win over El Cerrito. The loss snapped an O'Dowd 18-game win streak.

Sheldon (Sacramento) (26-5), the defending Division I champion, was upset with its No. 4 seed and played like it in a 71-50 home win over Serra (25-6), which got 25 points from Henry Caruso.

D'Erryl Williams, Darin Johnson and Ryan Manning, all Division I players, combined for 50 for Sheldon, which has a showdown with top-seed Salesian-Richmond on Tuesday. Salesian beat Sheldon 69-60 at Albany High on Feb. 2.

Girls
St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 63, Miramonte (Orinda) 62 — Despite a near triple-double from super freshman Sabrina Ionescu (19 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals), the seventh seeded Matadors (27-3) dropped a heart-breaker at Delta College in Stockton. … Miramonte closed with a 9-2 run but Ionescu missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2.6 seconds left and second-seed St. Mary's (30-2) secured the rebound and victory. … Breanna Alford added 12 points for Miramonte, while Kat Tudor led St. Mary's with 19 points.

CIF State girls basketball brackets

Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) 55, Brookside-Stockton 30 — At Chabot College-Hayward, the top-seeded Dragons (27-3) got 15 points from Duke-bound Oderah Chidom to easily defeat the defending Division V champions, which got 11 points from Halie Schumacher. Brookside Christian, which lost by 31 earlier in the year to O'Dowd, finished 26-5. … Chidom also added 13 rebounds and Virginia Tech-bound Breanna Brown contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds. … O'Dowd will play St. Mary's-Berkeley in a semifinal game Tuesday, most likely at Chabot College.

St. Mary's (Albany, Calif.) 43, Sacramento 31 — Cal-bound Mikayla Cowling had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five steals and Gabby Green contributed 14 points, eight rebounds, eight steals and three blocks as No. 4 seed and host St. Mary's (29-4) won this defensive struggle with No. 5 Sacramento (27-5). … Trailing 9-8 after one quarter, St. Mary's went on a 14-0 run to take control. … Sacramento (27-5) had three girls with six points, including Ayanna Edwards who added nine rebounds and eight blocks.