By Richard Paolinelli
MaxPreps.com
The Central Coast Section basketball playoffs get underway this week with the Serra High boys team beginning its drive for a fourth-straight Division II section championship.
Unfortunately for the Padres, Archbishop Mitty is also in the Division II field this year and Serra has lost three games this year to the Monarchs.
Mitty (22-5, 12-2) defeated Serra, 63-46, Friday in the semifinals of the West Catholic Athletic League tournament to complete the season sweep, before moving on to defeat Riordan, 59-45, in the tournament championship game.
Unless Mitty suffers an unlikely upset, Serra (16-10, 9-5) will have to figure out a way to end its three-game losing streak against the Monarchs in order to extend a three-year winning streak in the section tournament.
Mitty has won all three games by an average of nearly 15 points, with a 10-point win on Feb. 10 being the narrowest margin of victory.
The Padres run at title number four gets underway Wednesday.
Girls Basketball
Mills High powered its way (24-4, 10-1) to a co-championship in the Peninsula Athletic League's Central Division this year and carried its momentum through the league tournament over the weekend.
The Vikings dispatched Burlingame, 54-44, Friday before capturing the tournament crown Saturday with an easy 43-25 win over South Division champion Menlo-Atherton.
Boys Soccer
Burlingame High came into the Division II section playoffs as the second-ranked team.
Somebody forgot to tell that to Gonzales High.
The 16th-seeded Spartans (13-3-3) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to ties Burlingame at 4-4 before going on to upset the Panthers on penalty kicks, 6-5, in the opening round match on Wednesday.
Penalty kick wins seem to be becoming a habit for the Mission Trail Athletic League's runner-up. Gonzales went on to defeat Pajaro Valley 3-2 on penalty kicks in the second round on Saturday. Gonzales will move on to face Soquel, who defeated Terra Nova 2-0 in the second round, in Wednesday's semifinals.
In the other half of the Division II bracket, No. 15 Palo Alto is coming off of consecutive 1-0 wins over top-seeded Santa Cruz and Branham and will face St. Francis on Wednesday in the semifinals. Both matches will be played at Milpitas High.
The Division I semifinals will also be played at Milpitas Wednesday afternoon with No. 1 seeded Lincoln, who defeated Alisal and Santa Clara last week, facing No. 4 Gilroy, who defeated Mt. Pleasant and Woodside in its first two postseason matches, in the first match.
In the second match, No. 2 Bellarmine, winners over Salinas and Evergreen Valley last week, will battle Watsonville, who downed Menlo-Atherton in the opening round before upsetting No. 3 Los Gatos 1-0 on Saturday.
Girls Soccer
Aragon High survived a tough PAL Bay Division schedule and is now two wins away from a Division II section championship.
With six freshmen leading the team, the Dons blanked PAL Ocean Division champion Sequoia 2-0 in the opening round match on Wednesday and then dispatched Burlingame 1-0 on Saturday.
Aragon will face San Jose Valley Christian at Valley Christian High in the semifinals on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The winner of the match will move on to face the winner of the Mitty-St. Francis semifinal set for Thursday at 7 p.m., also at Valley Christian High.
Mitty routed Sobrato 7-1 in the opener then blanked Palo Alto 4-0 on Saturday. St. Francis had an opening-round bye before blanking Del Mar 3-0 on Saturday.
The Division I semifinals will also be played at Valley Christian High with the first of the two matches set for a 4:30 p.m. start that will feature a showdown between top-seeded Los Altos and No. 3 Carlmont.
Los Altos had a first-round bye and blanked Leland 2-0 in the second round. Carlmont also had the first round off but needed overtime to escape with a 2-1 win over Piedmont Hills in the second round.
The 7 p.m. semifinal has Monte Vista, coming off a 3-0 win over Leigh in the second round, facing No. 2 Santa Teresa, who needed penalty kicks to defeat Homestead on Saturday.
In Division III action, Wednesday's semifinals at Valley Christian will see No. Santa Cruz, coming off a 1-0 win over King's Academy, facing No. 4 Woodside Priory, who blanked Santa Catalina 3-0 on Saturday, at 4:30 p.m.
In the 7 p.m. semifinal match, No. 2 Harbor, 3-0 winners over Castileja, will face No. 3 Scotts Valley, who blanked Pinewood 5-0 in the second round.
The championship matches in all three divisions will be played Saturday, Feb. 24 at Valley Christian High.
