Boys Top Story: EBAL’s dominance rewarded
The East Bay Athletic League was rewarded Sunday for being the Bay Area’s strongest this season.
When the NCS announced its six-team Open Division bracket, five EBAL schools made the cut, headlined by No. 1 seed Dougherty Valley and No. 2 seed De La Salle.
The only outsider among the six is traditional powerhouse Salesian, which captured the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division championship on Saturday.
The Pride was seeded third.
Dougherty Valley and De La Salle received opening-round byes (more on that later).
The remaining four teams get started Thursday night. Salesian will play sixth-seeded San Ramon Valley at Contra Costa College and No. 5 seed Dublin will visit No. 4 seed Granada in a rubber match between the EBAL schools. The teams split two previous games, both at Dublin.
“Yeah, 100 percent it’s a testament to our league,” De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder said. “SRV is really, really good. They’re 23-5. They won one of the divisions down at Damien. I am pretty sure that’s one of the best teams in this area. Dublin had a great year. Granada was a six seed in our (EBAL) tournament and they have multiple college players — and not just like (lower level) players. They have Division I players.”
Seven of the EBAL’s 10 teams are in the latest Bay Area News Group rankings.
Girls Top Story: Why no Piedmont in the Open
If the Open Division is designated for the best teams, then how did Piedmont – the Bay Area News Group’s No. 1 team – land in Division IV?
Blame the bylaws.
In the NCS, teams are assigned to divisions before each season, using a formula that combines old-school enrollment and new-school competitive equity.
Piedmont was placed in Division IV, making the Highlanders ineligible for the NCS’s six-team Open Division because only teams from Divisions I through III are eligible under the section rules.
Assuming Piedmont qualifies for NorCal – which is a fairly safe assumption – the Highlanders will be eligible for the regional Open Division.
“Of course, I want to play against the best, but there’s things we can’t control, so it’s not going to affect anything,” Piedmont forward Eva Levingston said. “We’re still gonna come out strong each game.”
Coach Bryan Gardere, who led Piedmont to back-to-back Division IV state titles in 2004 and 2005, wants his team to play the best competition.
But he understands the rules.
“With the small numbers we have, I’m not mad at wherever they put us,” Gardere said.
Piedmont is seeded No. 1 in Division IV and received an opening-round bye.
How does my team get to NorCals?
In the previous NCS format, all semifinalists and one quarterfinal loser advanced to NorCals.
But that changed when the section added an Open Division in 2020.
Because six teams from Divisions I through III are placed into the Open Division, only finalists in Divisions I, II and III are guaranteed a regional berth.
The remaining spots go to the six teams in the Open.
In Divisions IV through VI, all teams that advance to the semifinals qualify for a regional.
The section’s 25th regional spot goes to the quarterfinal loser in Divisions I, II or III with the best seed or that wins a tiebreaker.
Open Division byes: Pros, cons
As we noted earlier, Dougherty Valley and De La Salle have opening-round byes in the boys Open Division. In the girls Open Division, Salesian and San Ramon Valley have byes.
In ideal circumstances, that would mean a couple of days of rest.
Not so bad at this time of year.
But in the Open Division, the break can be nearly two weeks in some cases (ie De La Salle this season).
The Open Division semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22. De La Salle lost to Granada in the semifinals of the EBAL tournament on Feb. 9.
The Spartans had a similar break last season.
After beating Granada in the EBAL tournament final on Feb. 12, they did not play again until Feb. 23, beating Miramonte 40-38 to advance to the final.
“Part of it is just talking to your players,” Schroeder said. “People are going to be playing and we’re not going to be playing. We have to stay locked in on our season. Last year with Miramonte we did not start well. I want to say we got down 17 and had to come all the way back. We were fortunate to win that one.
“What I learned from it is you have to just stay in it, stay concentrating on the season. Today the sun is shining. It’s 65 degrees out. It almost feels in a way like you’re out of it because you’re not going to play (for 13 days). You’ve got to handle this little break the right way so you can put yourself in a position to be ready to go on Wednesday, Feb. 22.”
Since the NCS added an Open Division in 2020, the boys teams that received byes are 3-1 in their semifinal games, the girls are 2-2. (There were no NCS playoffs in 2021 because of the pandemic).
Coincidentally, Salesian is the only boys and girls team to lose after the long layoff.
Boys: Best early matchups
Let’s start with the Open Division: Dublin at Granada and San Ramon Valley vs. Salesian at Contra Costa College on Thursday are the headliners this week. Granada won at Dublin, 79-69, in the quarterfinals of the EBAL tournament last week. Dublin won the regular season matchup between the teams, 67-60, a game that Granada standout Tyler Harris missed because of an ankle injury. The San Ramon Valley-Salesian game is a rematch of last season’s NCS Division II final, a game that Salesian won 49-47 at SRV. … If No. 7 seed Bishop O’Dowd and No. 2 seed Moreau Catholic win Tuesday in the Division I playoffs, the perennial East Bay powers will meet Friday night at Moreau. … Berkeley, champion of the West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division, was seeded No. 5 in Division I. If the Yellowjackets win Tuesday at home against Pittsburg, they could be visiting No. 4 seed Monte Vista on Friday night. All Monte Vista has done this season at home is beat Dougherty Valley and De La Salle, the top two seeds in the Open.
Girls: Best early matchups
As is the case with the boys Open, top seeds Salesian (23-4) and San Ramon Valley (25-3) will receive a bye. No. 5 Acalanes (20-6) will travel to No. 4 Carondelet (21-5) to determine Salesian’s opponent. Acalanes, last year’s Division II champion, is on a seven-game winning streak. Carondelet, the defending Open Division champion, rebounded from a loss against OAL powerhouse Oakland Tech with a win against Pinewood to end the regular season. Heritage (22-4), the Open’s No. 6 seed for the second straight year, will travel to No. 3 Cardinal Newman (22-6). Heritage’s McDonald’s All-American Amanda Muse helped the Patriots go 10-0 in league play. In Division II, No. 10 Newark Memorial (14-12) and No. 7 Northgate (18-10) are both coming off respectable seasons and should be a solid matchup in a first round in which many teams either have byes or are playing overmatched competition.
Boys (unsung) team to watch: Las Lomas
The history book will show that Campolindo and Clayton Valley shared the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division title this season. Both received No. 1 seeds on Sunday — Clayton Valley in Division I, Campo in Division II. But as we’ve seen the past few weeks, the hottest team in the league is Las Lomas, which beat both Campo and Clayton Valley by double digits late in the season. Las Lomas (17-9) was seeded No. 3 in Division II and will open the playoffs Wednesday at home against Washington-Fremont. If Las Lomas wins, it will be back at home Saturday to face No. 6 seed Montgomery or No. 11 seed Petaluma. The No. 2 seed in Division II is Redwood.
Girls (unsung) team to watch: Miramonte
MIramonte’s hopes of making the Open Division ended with a 64-54 loss to Open Division-bound Acalanes on Thursday, but its quest to capture a section title for the first time since 2017 is very much alive. Miramonte (22-4), the No. 3 seed in Division II, has proven it can compete with top competition. The Matadors lost 47-43 to D-I No. 1 seed Monte Vista, beat D-I No. 6 seed James Logan, and won 11 other games against teams that made it into the NCS playoffs. With scorers such as Karena Eberts (17.8 points per game) and Courtney Scheingart (95 made three-pointers), the Matadors have the firepower to make a deep run. If the Orinda school gets past Hayward on Wednesday, Miramonte will play the winner of No. 11 Washington and No. 6 Redwood on Saturday.
Closing note
As usual, some teams with losing records made the playoffs. The count this season: 13 boys teams and eight girls teams. Miramonte and St. Joseph Notre Dame boys were easily the least successful of the bunch. Miramonte (5-21) was seeded No. 12 in Division III. SJND (5-20) is the 13th seed in Division IV.
Source: www.mercurynews.com