The state high school basketball playoffs have reached the championship stage.
Regional titles will be decided in the North and South on Tuesday night, followed by state championship games on Friday and Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
In the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area, a dozen teams are still chasing state title dreams, powerhouses such as the Archbishop Mitty girls and Salesian and Archbishop Riordan boys among them.
The Mitty girls will be at home on Tuesday to play for the NorCal Open Division championship against Central Section heavyweight Clovis West, a team the San Jose school has beaten the past two seasons in the regional semifinals.
Mitty has won three consecutive NorCal Open titles and four of the past six. The Monarchs have appeared in 24 regional finals overall, winning 15 titles. Both are unprecedented among girls and boys teams in California.
But Clovis West has beaten Mitty on the biggest of stages. As the South regional champion in 2017, the Fresno-area school edged Mitty 44-40 in the Open Division state final. The Open state championship remains the one accomplishment missing from Mitty’s long resume of success.
Clovis West will bring a 31-2 record to San Jose. Mitty is 29-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.
Sue Phillips, who in January won her 800th game as Mitty’s coach, watched much of Clovis West’s win on Saturday over St. Mary’s-Stockton before her team defeated Folsom.
“They shot the lights out,” Phillips said about Clovis West. “They were really great offensively. Incredibly efficient. Didn’t hurt themselves. Played tremendous defense on Jordan Lee. I thought they were fantastic.”
Salesian and Riordan, both rich in basketball history, will be seeking their first NorCal Open boys title when they meet in a highly anticipated matchup at Contra Costa College in San Pablo.
Salesian’s Aaron Hunkin-Claytor dribbles down court during an MLK Classic game against Riordan at De La Salle on Jan. 15, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
When the teams met in an MLK showcase at De La Salle in January, Salesian spotted Riordan a 10-0 lead, then rolled to a 61-48 victory. Salesian is on an 18-game winning streak, its only loss all season coming against Southern California power St. John Bosco-Bellflower, 68-66 in overtime.
Riordan has won 16 in a row since losing to Salesian.
“I love that we’re gonna have a rematch,” Salesian senior De’Undrae Perteete said. “They’re a great team. I know a lot of guys over there, and they’re good guys. It’ll be fun to play them again.”
The Tuesday schedule also includes a fourth boys game this season between East Bay Athletic League rivals San Ramon Valley and Granada. After losing at Granada 60-58 during league play, SRV beat the Matadors in the league and section playoffs, by 24 and nine points.
They will meet for the Division I title at Dublin High. Granada is the defending Division I champion, having beaten Salesian for the crown last season.
“It’s always a superheated game,” San Ramon Valley standout Luke Isaak said about facing Granada. “I’m excited to go play them and hopefully end their season.”
Four Oakland schools will be aiming for regional championship hardware.
The Bishop O’Dowd girls – 6-0 in NorCal title games – will try to add a seventh trophy to its case when they play host to four-time regional champion Carondelet for the Division I crown. When the teams played last month in the section playoffs, O’Dowd won 51-37.
The Oakland boys basketball team is mobbed by students and cheerleaders as the school celebrates its CIF Northern California Division III championship victory over rival Oakland Tech at Laney College in Oakland on March. 7, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
One year after the Oakland boys defeated Oakland Tech before a packed house at Laney College for the Division III regional title, the rivals will meet again in a NorCal final, this time at Oakland Tech for the Division II championship.
Like last year, Tech enters the regional final having gone 3-0 against Oakland during the season. The fourth time was the charm for Oakland in 2023 as the Wildcats beat Tech on their way to capturing the Division III state title.
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Oakland’s girls team also has its sights on reaching Sacramento. The Wildcats will travel across the Bay to Hillsborough to face Crystal Springs Uplands for the Division V championship. Oakland is back in a NorCal final for the first time since it won Division III regional and state championships in 2019. Crystal Springs is appearing in its first NorCal title game.
Athenian, a small private school in Danville, will also be playing in its first regional final as the school’s top-seeded boys team will be at home to face second-seeded San Domenico of San Anselmo for the Division V crown.
In Division VI, which does not have a state final, the top-seeded Cornerstone Christian boys of Antioch will close out their season at home against No. 6 seed Napa Christian for the NorCal championship.
Joseph Dycus and Nathan Canilao contributed to this report.
