Prep roundup: Riordan wins WCAL title, Mitty girls dominate and Natalia Martinez scores 40 points again

Prep roundup: Riordan wins WCAL title, Mitty girls dominate and Natalia Martinez scores 40 points again

Boys Basketball

No. 3 Archbishop Riordan 74, Bellarmine College Prep 51

The Crusaders locked up the West Catholic Athletic League title with a big win over Bellarmine on the road.

Riordan guard Zion Sensley scored 19 of his 29 points in the first half and the Saint Mary’s commit hit seven 3-pointers while making seven out of eight free throws. Jasir Rencher added 13 points in the win.

Bellarmine (9-14, 4-9) could only muster up 27 points after halftime and struggled to find scoring outside of Will Corbett who scored a team-high 24 points.

It’s the first time Riordan (19-4, 13-0) has won the WCAL outright since 1990. The Crusaders won a part of the WCAL last season, sharing the title with Mitty.

SAN FRANCISCO – Riordan forward Zion Sensley shoots, and makes, a 35-foot 3-pointer in the second quarter. Archbishop Mitty played Archbishop Riordan in a high school basketball game at Archbishop Riordan High School on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024 in San Francisco, Calif. (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) 

No. 12 Oakland Tech 57, McClymonds 50

Another hard fought Oakland Athletic League game ends with the Bulldogs squeezing out a seven-point win over McClymonds.

Ardarius Grayson had 19 points for Oakland Tech (22-5, 9-0) and McClymonds (21-6, 5-4) forward Demarion Gardener had 12 points.

Oakland Tech’s final game of the season will be against Oakland High on Wednesday. The Bulldogs could win the OAL outright with a win or could share the OAL title with Oakland if they lose.

Piedmont 44, Castro Valley 37

If you like defense, this was the game for you.

Baskets were tough to come by for both teams throughout the 32 minutes they were on the floor. Castro Valley only scored 16 points in the first half, but led by two going into the intermission.

Though Piedmont’s offense picked up in the third, the Highlanders went into the fourth quarter down two. Piedmont’s defense held Castro Valley to just seven points in the final eight minutes and scored just enough to squeak by with a seven-point victory.

Brit Burden led Piedmont with 19 points.

Piedmont finished the regular season with a 17-9, 8-4 record. Castro Valley ended its regular season 10-16, 2-10.

Terra Nova 41, Woodside 39

How bout them Tigers?

Terra Nova upset the top team in the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division at home to move into second place in the league standings.

Terra Nova (15-8, 7-3) held a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but Woodside (17-6, 8-2) stormed back. The Wildcats outscored the Tigers 11-6 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Terra Nova came out on top.

Senior Vinny Smith led Terra Nova with 19 points. Woodside junior Kevin Perez scored 12 points in the loss.

Girls Basketball

No. 1 Archbishop Mitty 74, No. 11 St. Ignatius 40

The dominance continues for the No. 1 team in the nation.

Mitty (23-0, 11-0) rolled St. Ignatius to capture its eighth consecutive outright West Catholic Athletic League title.

Super sophomore McKenna Woliczko led the way with 23 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for the Monarchs. Belle Bramer added 17 points.

Sophia Sanchez scored 15 points for St. Ignatius (14-8, 6-5).

UConn commit and Mitty senior Morgan Cheli missed her third straight game.

OAKLAND – Mitty forward McKenna Woliczko holds the ball. Archbishop Mitty defeated Bishop O’Dowd 66-18 at the MLK showcase at Bishop O’Dowd high school in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) 

No. 8 Piedmont 62, Castro Valley 34

Is there anything Natalia Martinez can’t do? The senior guard scored 40 points in her second consecutive game as Piedmont (20-5, 7-1 West Alameda County Foothill) defeated Castro Valley (9-15, 2-7) to close out the regular season. In three games this week, Martinez is averaging 39.6 points per game.

Shakila Zuberi added nine points for the Highlanders in the win.

Naomi Chew and Sofia Tom each scored nine points in the loss.

Heritage 57, Liberty 46

The Patriots continued their dominance in the Bay Valley Athletic League, winning their ninth straight league title on Friday.

Both teams played evenly throughout until Heritage caught fire in the third quarter. The Patriots outscored the Lions 16-4 coming out of halftime and went into the fourth quarter with a 50-32 lead.

Freshman Ze’ni Patterson scored a game-high 24 points for Heritage.

The Patriots ended the regular season with a 18-8, 9-1 record. Liberty finished 16-10, 8-2.

No. 10 Los Gatos 60, Monta Vista 38

Los Gatos junior Nicole Steiner nearly had a triple double in the Wildcats win over Monta Vista.

Steiner had 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Ashley Childers scored a game-high 16 points and Claire Galbo had 15 points in the win.

Sophia Lu led Monta Vista (18-5, 8-3) with 12 points.

Los Gatos (21-2, 11-0) clinched the Santa Clara Valley De Anza League title. The Wildcats will finish out the season playing Palo Alto on Tuesday.

Fremont 68, Homestead 38

The Firebirds dominated Homestead en route to a 30-point victory.

Senior Anusha Chadalavada led the way for Fremont with 22 points. Luciana Ortiz had 17 points and Haley Johnson chipped in 12 in the win.

Fremont improved to 11-12, 5-6 and will finish its season against Los Altos on Tuesday. Homestead dropped to 6-17, 2-9.

Boys Soccer

South San Francisco 2, Jefferson 0

South San Francisco won the Pacific Athletic League Open Division with a 2-0 win over Jefferson.

After a scoreless first half, the Warriors (13-4-2, 8-1-1) found their footing in the second half. SSF scored two goals in the second half to seal the game.

Delfino Martinez scored a goal and assisted on another to Cristian Urbina.