The Northern California high school basketball playoffs continue this evening with teams in all brackets now just two wins from regional championships and a trip to Sacramento’s Golden1 Center for next weekend’s state finals.
Four teams in the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area — two boys, two girls — are alive in the Open Division, the best-of-the-best bracket.
And four others — two boys, two girls — are in contention in Division I.
In all, there are 20 still playing across the six divisions that will feed into Sacramento.
Here are 10 storylines for tonight:
No. 1: Can the Campolindo boys keep their incredible run going? The Moraga school is 46-1 since February 2020 heading into the semifinals against Archbishop Riordan and has never ended a season with a loss in the Aidan Mahaney era. The Cougars won a state championship in 2019 and a NorCal title in 2020 when the pandemic shutdown ended the season just before the state finals. Last spring, Campo finished 15-0 when there were no playoffs for North Coast Section teams.
No. 2: How big is that chip on Riordan’s shoulder? In case you didn’t know, the Riordan boys were not pleased that they only received the fifth seed in the NorCal Open after winning the Central Coast Section Open title. The Crusaders had to win a road game Wednesday at De La Salle to reach the semifinals.
No. 3: Don’t bring up 2020 around Riordan. The San Francisco school can’t help but look at Campo’s NorCal Division I title that season without thinking what could have been. Riordan was the No. 1 seed in that bracket but had to withdraw going into the semifinals against De La Salle because of COVID-19 issues. Campo not only beat DLS in the final, but it also hung a 2020 co-state championship banner in its gym — which will be in front of Riordan’s eyes all night.
No. 4: Ahead of schedule? Given Kelly Sopak’s level of success as the Miramonte girls coach, we all knew that his move to Concord private school Carondelet before the 2021 season would have a major impact on the girls’ game. But this quickly? The rise has been swift — 10-1 last spring and the No. 1 seed in the Open this season heading into tonight’s home game against Oak Ridge.
No. 5: It’ll be a state championship rematch at Archbishop Mitty in the NorCal girls Open when Clovis West pays a visit. Depending on need, the California Interscholastic Federation reserves the right to put the Fresno-area schools in the North or the South. In 2017, Clovis West won the South region, then held Haley Jones-led Mitty to 32 points below its season scoring average in a 44-40 victory for the state crown.
No. 6: Back at home for the Sacred Heart Prep boys? After needing two gyms — its own and Menlo School’s next door — to beat Oakland Tech in the Division I quarterfinals Thursday, SHP will be on its home court tonight to play Clovis North.
No. 7: SHP is the top seed in the bracket, but seeds have meant nothing to Clovis North. In the first round Tuesday, the 13th-seeded team traveled to Orinda and stunned No. 4 seed Miramonte 70-68 in overtime. Thursday, it won a road game, 45-43 at No. 5 seed Folsom.
No. 8: St. Ignatius had a decisive home-court advantage in its auxiliary gym Thursday against Lincoln of Stockton, winning 53-38 (The San Francisco school’s main gym was being prepared for a fundraising auction). Now No. 3 seed St. Ignatius will travel for the first time in the NorCal regionals, playing tonight at No. 2 seed Inderkum of Sacramento. SI is 6-4 on the road this season, but Inderkum is 12-0 at home and 28-2 overall.
No. 9: The third-seeded SI girls also will hit the road for the first time in these NorCals D-I playoffs, traveling to Stockton to play No. 2 seed St. Mary’s. When the teams played at Carondelet in late January, St. Mary’s rolled 71-52.
No. 10: Because Salesian’s gym doesn’t meet the minimum capacity requirement to host a regional semifinal, the Pride’s home game tonight against Bishop O’Dowd will be played on the west side of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge at Dominican University as part of a doubleheader. In the 6 p.m. opener, the Branson boys will face St. Patrick-St. Vincent in a D-II semifinal. The girls game is scheduled to start at 8.
Source: www.mercurynews.com