TOP SEEDS ROLL
A year ago, Pittsburg made a surprising run to the North Coast Section Division I boys semifinals as a No. 12 seed. Not so this time around. On the opening night of the playoffs, the 10th-seeded Pirates bowed out. Facing Bay Valley Athletic League rival Liberty, seeded seventh, visiting Pittsburg fell 63-53 on Tuesday night. Liberty, which won a thriller at Pittsburg last week in league play, advances to play at second-seeded Berkeley in the quarterfinals on Friday. Pittsburg knows something about playing at Berkeley. It was there that the Pirates began their Cinderella journey last season. Berkeley and top-seeded Bishop O’Dowd had byes in the opening round Tuesday. The rest of the Division I bracket fell into place without a sniff of an upset. The top seeds — No. 3 Dublin, No. 4 Dougherty Valley, No. 5 Monte Vista, No. 6 Campolindo and No. 7 Liberty — all prevailed. The same thing on the girls’ side in Division I as No. 5 Liberty, No. 6 Monte Vista, No. 7 James Logan and No. 8 Dublin advanced. The top four seeds in girls Division I — No. 1 California, No. 2 Heritage, No. 3 Salesian, No. 4 Alameda — had byes.
SURPRISES
Let’s give a tip of the cap to the selection committee. Of the 37 games played Tuesday, boys and girls, there were only three upsets. The biggest stunner unfolded in Division V boys as No. 14 Marin Academy, which brought an 8-19 record into the playoffs, shocked No 3 St. Bernard’s 80-73. In the 21 other boys games, the better seed prevailed. The upsets among the girls were No. 10 Alhambra edging No. 7 Encinal 45-43 in Division III and No. 11 International-San Francisco knocking off No. 6 Berean Christian 40-39 in Division V.
GAME DETAILS
Division I boys
No. 3 Dublin 80, No. 14 James Logan 37: Jalen Stokes finished with 23 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks as Dublin rolled over visiting James Logan to set up a quarterfinal at home on Friday against Campolindo. Damase Coly added 11 points and Jaiden Oliver-Jones chipped in with nine points, seven rebounds and three steals. The Gaels also got eight points and seven assists from Isaiah Wong. Dublin improved to 22-8. James Logan finished 9-18.
No. 4 Dougherty Valley 70, No. 13 Mt. Eden 40: Because Mt. Eden won its league and Dougherty Valley was not a league champion, the NCS, per its bylaws, played this game on the home court of the No. 13 seed. It didn’t matter. Dougherty Valley, which last season won the section’s Open Division, breezed to the quarterfinals behind 18 points from Aadi Malali, 12 points each from Andrew Degirolamo and Azan Evans and 11 from Jayden Doty. Dougherty Valley, which improved to 18-10, will be at home on Friday to face Monte Vista. Mt. Eden ended its season at 14-13.
No. 6 Campolindo 52, No. 11 College Park 36: Gavin Rendle scored 13 points and Dylan Mansour and Tim Smith scored nine points each to lead host Campo to a first-round victory at home over one of its Diablo Athletic League rivals, College Park. Campo led 22-13 at halftime and widened the advantage to 41-26 after three quarters as the Cougars improved to 22-7. Senior Connor Whittles had 19 points in his final game for College Park, which finished 14-15.
No. 7 Liberty 63, No. 10 Pittsburg 53: Liberty broke this one open in the first half as the Lions, playing at home, built a 37-16 advantage at the break on their way to a first-round victory in Division I. Pittsburg, as it did in a loss to Liberty last week, staged a second-half comeback but couldn’t get closer than six points down the stretch as Liberty advanced to the quarterfinals. Andrew Vixon led Liberty with 21 points. Gavin Cook Whisenton, who was in foul trouble much of the game, added 12 points. The Lions (24-3) also got 10 points from Dante Vigil and eight from Josh Heinz. Pittsburg finished 20-7.
Division III boys
No. 4 Miramonte 79, No. 13 El Cerrito 30: Miramonte roared to a 43-10 halftime cushion and never looked back as the Orinda school stormed into the quarterfinals on Friday against fifth-seeded San Marin, a 60-50 winner over No. 12 Pinole Valley. Jack Quinnild had 18 points and Marcus Robinson finished with 14 points for Miramonte. The Mats also got seven rebounds from Chris Kaufhold and six from Thomas Zwahlen. Miramonte is 18-11. El Cerrito dropped to 9-20.
No. 3 Piedmont 40, No. 14 Sonoma Valley 34: Piedmont survived a defensive battle on its home court to reach the quarterfinals. Dillon Casey scored 18 points and Brit Burden added 14 for Piedmont, which will play host to sixth-seeded Alhambra on Friday. Alhambra beat Kennedy-Fremont 53-50. Piedmont improved to 18-9. Sonoma Valley is 10-18.
Girls Division I
No. 7 James Logan 70, No. 10 American 37: Vanessa Parilla scored 26 points and Kailyn Oldham had 17 points to lead the host Colts to a victory over one of their league rivals. Logan (22-4) advances to the quarterfinals on Friday at second-seeded Heritage, which had a bye. Emily Chao finished with 18 points for American, which completed its season at 13-14.
No. 8 Dublin 64, No. 9 Clayton Valley Charter 39: Kenya Craven and Sophia Ignacio each finished with 15 points and Aanya Pandia added 11 points to lead host Dublin to a first-round victory at home. Dublin (22-8) will play at top-seeded California on Friday. Clayton Valley finished 18-10.
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ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY
Divisions II, IV and VI take center stage on the second day of the NCS playoffs. North Bay schools Montgomery, Cardinal Newman, Redwood are the top three seeds in the Division II boys bracket, followed by Mission Valley Athletic League champion Moreau Catholic. … The Mariners dropped back down to D-II after playing in D-I last season. Moreau will play host to 13th-seeded Ukiah, which will bring a 22-6 record to the Hayward private school. Moreau is 14-0 in 2024 after opening the season with seven losses in its first 12 games. … If Moreau wins, it will face No. 12 Las Lomas or No. 5 Alameda in the quarterfinals on Saturday. … Ygnacio Valley, the second in Division IV, had an opening-round bye. The Wolves will play No. 10 Lick-Wilmerding or No. 7 Marin Catholic on Saturday.
WHAT’S UP IN THE CCS?
The Central Coast Section doesn’t start its basketball playoffs until this weekend. Schools in the section were allowed to play regular-season games through Tuesday. The playoff seeding meeting is Wednesday.
