Girls basketball
NorCal Division I
No. 16 McClatchy-Sacramento 66, No. 1 Pinewood 64
Pinewood’s dream of adding more championship hardware to its trophy case came to a abrupt end on Tuesday night when the top-seeded Panthers lost at home in Los Altos Hills to 16th-seeded McClatchy.
The home team led by nine points going to the fourth quarter, but that advantage quickly dissolved when 6-foot-2 junior Nina Cain, who sat for much of third period after picking up her fourth foul, returned to the court for McClatchy.
Her basket in transition with less than 10 seconds to go accounted for the winning points. Pinewood tried to answer, but its shot near the basket as time expired did not drop through the hoop.
Pinewood finished 21-7.
McClatchy, which improved to 25-6, advanced to play No. 8 Whitney-Rocklin on Thursday in the NorCal quarterfinals.
Vallory Kuelker led Pinewood with 18 points. The Panthers also got 14 points from Alex Facelo and 12 points apiece from Jolyn Ding and Katherine Garr.
Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler credited McClatchy but was perplexed that his team was a No. 1 seed and McClatchy was a No. 16. He noted that his team lost to Carondelet (the No. 4 seed) convincingly and Priory (the No. 14 seed) lost to McClatchy convincingly.
“I am not whining about it because it was a wonderful game,” Scheppler said. “That was the marquee matchup of the first round in D1. That’s for sure. Two great teams. They’re a very good team. They have a terrific 6-2 player who played great and the other girls on their team are fabulous as well.
“I’m proud of my girls. It was a great season. At the end of the season, you’re always going to be crying tears of joy or tears of sadness. There are not too many teams that are crying tears of job.”
No. 2 Bishop O’Dowd 76, No. 15 St. Francis 27
Bishop O’ Dowd players celebrate their NorCal playoff victory over St. Francis on Tuesday. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Bishop O’Dowd coach Malik McCord couldn’t help but smile being asked about junior post Madison Gordon, who scored a game-high 16 points for the hosts in their 76-27 victory over St. Francis on Tuesday.
Though he was certainly pleased with her ability to power through traffic in the paint to score tough baskets, it was the less-glamorous parts of her game that left O’Dowd’s coach glowing after the Dragon’s first-round rout in the NorCal Division I playoffs.
“She’s just elevated her game,” McCord said. “Having her size helps us out a lot because we’re not the biggest team in the world. She changes shots and controls the paint, which helps us so much.”
O’Dowd’s post was far from the only one who played well against overmatched St. Francis, with the Oakland private school leading 45-16 at halftime and enjoying a running clock in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Jayla Stokes scored 14 and backcourt mate Kiara McCoy poured in 11. Devin Cosgriff, who holds a UCLA offer and is the most talented of the second-year trio, scored six.
Savannah Jones had a quiet scoring night with just four points, but still had a massive impact by using accurate passes to set up her prolific teammates for easy baskets.
Kylie Brown led St. Francis (15-12) with six points.
O’Dowd looked like a team ready to make a deep run in NorCal, the Dragons coming off a strong showing in the North Coast Section Open playoffs. O’Dowd defeated Acalanes and Carondelet in between a loss to NorCal Open team San Ramon Valley.
“I love where we’re at,” the O’Dowd’s coach said. “We’re playing good basketball now, and at the right time.”
O’Dowd will play host to St. Ignatius on Thursday.
No. 11 Archbishop Riordan 64, No. 6 Acalanes 55
Ashanti Dias scored 20 and Kona Jane Dacoscos put in 17 points as Archbishop Riordan got past Diablo Athletic League champion Acalanes.
Tallyah Nasol also hit three 3-pointers for the visiting Crusaders, who will travel to No. 3 Oak Ridge on Thursday.
Acalanes (26-6) got 27 points from Dulci Vail and another 17 from Ariana Hallstrom.
NorCal Division II
No. 1 Branham 53, No. 16 Chico 47
Branham’s Quinn Godfrey (30) and her teammates cheer during a timeout against Chico High in the second half of the girls basketball Division II playoff game at Branham High School In San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The No. 1 seed Branham girls trailed virtually the entire game against No. 16 Chico before coming from behind in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.
The Bruins outscored Chico 20-8 in the fourth quarter thanks to 6-4 center Quinn Godfrey coming alive and asserting her will. Godfrey scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the final eight minutes. Her putback with 2:28 left gave Branham its first lead. She also finished with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Point guard Rebecca Sung scored 14 points.
Branham will host No. 9 seed Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa, a 59-52 winner over Monta Vista, on Thursday at 7 p.m.
NorCal Division III
No. 5 Mills 56, No. 12 Clovis East 53 (OT)
Another day, another thrilling victory for the Mills girls, who won their third overtime game of the season. Michelle Tang led the way with 21, Sofia Kwan scored 13, Chloe Lee added eight points and Luna Mengel Yoshimura put in seven points. Clovis East erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime. Mills will play host to No. 13 Cornerstone Christian on Thursday.
NorCal Division V
No. 7 Crystal Springs Uplands 75, No. 10 Quincy 22
Senior Jemma Lacap outscored Quincy by herself, scoring 26 points in Crystal Springs’ rout. Angelica-Reese Estrada scored 12 and Raelyn Dela Cruz ended the night with 11 points. Crystal Springs Uplands will travel to No. 2 Lynbrook on Thursday.
Boys basketball
NorCal Division I
No. 2 San Ramon Valley 67, No. 15 Vanden 64
San Ramon Valley, playing at home in Danville, survived a nail-biter as 15th-seeded Vanden gave the Wolves all they could handle in the opening round of regional play.
Mason Thomas (18 points), Luke Isaak (14 points) and Seamus Deely (12 points) were SRV’s leading scorers.
Tyler Thompson had 25 points for Vanden.
“Vanden deserved much better than this 15 seed,” SRV coach Brian Botteen said in a text. “We are fortune to be moving on!”
SRV (26-7) will play No. 10 Monterey Trail-Elk Grove on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
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NorCal Division II
No. 5 Bellarmine 49, No. 12 Montgomery 41
Battle-tested Bellarmine showed that it is much better than its record as the Bells prevailed at home over Montgomery in a first-round regional game.
Will Corbett had 18 points and six assists to lead the Bells, who improved to 11-17. Bellarmine also got 11 pounds, seven rebounds and three assists from Julian Gospich.
The Bells advanced to play at fourth-seeded Bishop O’Dowd on Thursday.
