Preps

Mack, Sacred Heart Cathedral cap undefeated season with state championships

It seemed like only yesterday when the boy's team from McClymonds last lost a game. It has been one year since a trouncing at the hands of then state champion Fairfax High of LA.

There are about 23 other teams that might have a bone to pick with Fairfax after Mack finished off their perfect season with a resounding win over a Dominguez squad that came into the state finals having beaten every top team in LA except Taft.

Dominguez was on a roll, but they had nothing coming against a Mack team that was on a mission. Four years ago Mack had one of the best freshmen classes in the history of the school.

On the heels of a Leon Powe dominated OAL, the Warriors looked like they would carry the torch for a couple of more years. Transfers put a damper on things three years ago, but forward Frank Otis stayed giving head coach Dwight Nathaniel a pillar to build his team around.

Now, three years after the mass exodus McClymonds is state champion in the toughest division to win state in, division one. The players that left McClymonds included some of the best prep players in the area.

Coach Nathaniel made a promise to Otis that he would stay as head coach until the powerful player graduated high school. Two state finals appearences and one title later coach Moe, as he is called, has his championship after 13-years leading McClymonds.

Mack fell behind 7-2 before they got their game going. Damon Powell helped the cause by throwing two dunks, the second he went striaght up in the air over two Dominguez players for a and one.

That capped off a 11-2 run to give Mack a 13-10 lead. The score after the first quarter was tied at 18 and you could sense the confidence Mack had just by being in the game.

Powell would pick up his second foul in the second quarter and he was sent to the bench the rest of the first half. Dominguez responded with a run of their own to take a 29-23 lead midway through the second quarter.

Mack then went on a 10-0 run to take back the lead. Defense fueled the run. The Warriors held one of the top guards in the country, Jordan Hamilton scoreless for a quarter and a half.

Hamilton finished with 20pts and eigt rebounds, but he did not score his first points of the second half until he hit a couple of free throws with 5-minutes left in the fourth quarter.

His first basket came two minutes later with Mack up 16.

"This win is for all of Oakland" said guard Quincy Hill. "The OAL was a great league to play in. It really helped us prepare to play in the playoffs and win a state title. People from all over Oakland came out to watch us play this year."

Mack's trio of guards, Damario Sims, William Cherry and Quincy Hill combined to shoot 15 of 30 with each player making 50% of their shots. Damon Powell finished the game seven of ten from the field despite being in foul trouble most of the game.

The third time was not the charm for the Berkeley High's girls team who lost to Long Beach Poly in the state finals for, you guessed it, the third time in a row.

Now three time defending champions, Long Beach Poly wasted little time getting ahead of Berkeley High with a 20-2 run in the first quarter. You could tell Berkeley lost their heart and it was only a matter of not who would win, but by how much would Poly beat Berkeley by this year.

Poly, ranked number two by Sports Illistrated and third by the USA Today got got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Rutgers-bound Jasmine Dixon in a 55-31 win Saturday night at Arco Arena.

Berkeley High's Camila Rosen, a 5-11 junior, led Berkeley with 15 points, The rest of the team was a combined 5-of-36. Berkeley High, as a team dhot just 11 of 48 from the field.

The stage is set

Four teams, Berkeley High, St. Patrick's (Vallejo), Archbishop Mitty (boys San Jose) and McClymonds return to the state finals after losing their last year.

Photo by Eric Taylor That's half of the 20 team field that made it back to the state finals from last year. McClymonds has not lost since getting beat by Fairfax in last year's D1 final.

Mack was held to just 29pts in the loss and that has not sat well with the team who are looking to have a better showing in the 2008 final.

William Cherry showed off a jumper in the Warriors 50-37 win over De La Salle in the D1 Final Four.

Cherry, a Jr. guard drilled a trio of three's in the second half helping to open up the middle for center Frank Otis who had his way with the Spartan big men in the second half.

Mack would turn what was a 14-13 game at the half into a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter when their rebounding edge finally started to pay off. Mack was all over just about every rebound that clanged off the iron.

Cherry had 18pts and 14-rebounds, Otis chipped in with 12pts and ten-rebounds as De La Salle got out rebounded 45-24 in the game.

Mack will play a Dominguez (Compton) squad that survived a 80-77 overtime win over defending state champion Fairfax in third round of the SoCal championships.

The Branson juggernaut rolled through the D5 NorCal playoffs and both the girls and boys teams are back trying to repeat as state champions. Oliver McNally scored 16pts in the boys easy 45-28 win over Lick-Wilmerding (SF) while Rachael Bilney scored 24pts helping the girls beat Eastside Prep (East Palo Alto) 64-24 in the D5 regional finals..

San Jose's Archbishop Mitty got both their teams into state and the boys and girls will take over Arco Arena Friday night when first the girls take on Mira Costa before the boys play a rematch against Mater Dei.

Last year Mater Dei snapped a two year state final losing streak by beating Mitty 69-64 in OT. The two teams have a combined two losses between them heading into the D2 state finals.

Photo by Eric Taylor Mitty has been playing hurt all year and they survived without the big man Drew Gordon, who was thought to be lost for the year with a knee injury for a good part of the second half of the season.

How good it is to be 18 years old. Gordon's leg healed in time for the NorCal playoffs and now for state.

Both teams have ran through the playoffs and it will be a great D2 final.

The Mitty girls are back to defend their D2 title. They emerged from the sixth seed and a 18-11 regular season record to face Mira Costa in the D2 final.

Mira Costa got past second seeded Ayala in a triple overtime thriller in the Socal finals. It was the third OT game in a row for Mira Costa.

Sacramento High got a chance to represent the host city after they beat t Sacred Heart Cathedral 66-49 behind Chase Tapley's 19pts, nine rebounds and five steals.

The St. Mary's (Berkeley) boys team got past a tough Modesto Christian squad 82-70 in the D4 regional finals at Folsom High last week setting up a showdown with Campbell Hall (North Hollywood).

St. Mary's had their hands full Against Modesto before their defensive pressure in the second half turned the tide in their favor. The Panthers were every where in the second half on D after watching Modesto guard DJ Seely and big man Reeves Nelson go crazy in the second quarter.

Modesto led at the half behind Reeves powerful dunks, but St. Mary's never let him get back into a rhythm in the second half. Nelson finished the game with 27pts and 17-rebounds but most of those came in the first half.

Dominique Lee led St. Mary's in scoring with 20pts and the Brew Brothers (Will and Chris) combined for 34pts in the win. St. Mary's has played in three of the last four NorCal Championship games and they will be making their second appearance in the CIF State finals in four years.

After losing the D5 Regional championships the last two years to Branson, Modesto moved up to D4 this year only to have the same thing happen to them.

Their are four teams making their first CIF state finals. Team's making their first state championship are Mira Costa (Div. II girls); Magnolia (Div. III girls); Sacramento (Div. III boys) and Renaissance (Div. V boys).

The south holds a 132-103 edge in overall titles won, after it took six of 10 games a year ago. The northern girls hold a slim 62-55 edge over the southern girls, while the southern boys hold a 77-41 advantage over the northern boys.

Here is a run down off all the match ups in the state playoffs and how each team reached the state finals.

D1 - Boys - McClymonds (Oakland, 34-0) v Dominguez (Compton, 32-3) 3/15/08, 8pm.

McClymonds, coached by Dwight Nathaniel beat Lincoln (SF) 77-49, Newark Memorial (Newark) 62-42 and De La Salle (Concord) 50-37

Dominguez, coached by Russell Otis beat Knight 83-59, San Diego High 97-83, Fairfax (LA) 80-77 OT, M. L. King (Riverside) 83-74

Girls- Berkeley High (30-3) v Long Beach Poly (29-2) 3/15/08, 6pm

Berkeley High, coached by Cheryl Drapes beat Skyline (Oakland) 68-32, San Benito 50-38 and Kennedy (Sacramento) 72-53

Long Beach Poly, coached by Carl Buggs beat Bonita Vista 74-27, San Clemente 62-46, A. B. Miller 87-58 and Narbonne 60-47 OT

D2 - Boys - Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, 31-1) v Mater Dei (Santa Ana, 34-1) 3/14/08, 8pm

Archbishop Mitty, coached by Brian Eagleson beat Shasta 71-51, Hayward High 85-68 and Fairfield 76-56

Mater Dei, coached by Gary McNight beat Centennial (Bakersfield) 76-39, Mission Hills 83-54 and Edison (Fresno) 75-59

Girls - Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, 21-11) v Mira Costa (28-6) 3/14/08, 6pm

Archbishop Mitty, coached by Sue Phillips beat Peasant Valley 58-36, Oak Ridge (Sacramento) 52-42 and St. Francis (Sacramento) 51-41

Mira Costa, coached by Don Braunecker beat Edison (Fresno) 69-53 OT, Redondo Union 41-37 OT and Ayala (Chino Hills) 72-64 triple OT

D3 Boys - Sacramento High (30-3) v Santa Margarita (29-5) 3/15/08, 2.45pm

Sacramento High, coached by Derek Swafford beat Campolindo (Moraga) 69-66, Riordan (SF) 59-49 and Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF) 65-49

Santa Margarita, coached by Jerry Debusk beat Kerman 82-44, La Jolla 69-51 and Bishop Montgomery 67-39

Girls - Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF, 32-0) v Magnolia (27-6) 3/15/08, 1pm

Sacred Heart, coached by Brian Harrigan beat Oroville 74-34, Sacramento 67-46, St. Mary's (Stockton) 46-45

Magnolia, coached by Michael Anderson beat Hanford 76-72, Summit (Fontana) 45-41 and Muir 40-39

D4 - Boys - St. Mary's (Berkeley, 33-1) v Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, 30-5) 3/14/08, 1.45pm

St. Mary's, coached by Manny Nodar beat Yreka 85-37, Colfax 70-50 and Modesto Christian 82-70

Campbell Hall, coached by Terry Kelly beat Rosamond 88-72, Garces 82-56, San Joaquin 76-45

Girls - St. Patrick's-St. Vincent (Vallejo, 28-5) v La Jolla Country Day (26-5) 3/14/08, 3.30pm

St. Pat's, coached by Dr. Rodney Faucett beat Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 82-68, Valley Christian (San Jose) 56-45 and Justin Siena 65-60

La Jolla Country Day, coached by Terri Bamford beat Crossroads (Santa Monica) 67-27, St. Mary's (Inglewood) 57-47 and Marlborough 69-53

D5 - Boys - Branson (Ross, 31-3) v Renaissance Academy (27-3) 3/15/08, 11.15am

Branson, coached by Jonas Honick beat Tulelake 65-46, Woodside Prep 37-30 and Lick-Wilmerding (SF) 45-28

Renaissance Academy, coached by Sid Cooke beat View Park (Crenshaw) 50-46, Immanuel Christian (Reedley) 64-56 and Price (LA) 55-52

Girls - Branson (Ross, 28-7) v Mission Prep (27-4) 3/15/08, 9.30am

Branson, coached by .... beat Hamilton City 71-39, St. Francis (Watsonville) 51-24 Eastside Prep (East Palo Alto) 64-24

Mission Prep, coached by ... beat Escondido 41-13, View Park (Crenshaw) 48-25 and Clavin Christian (Escondido) 52-25

Let the games begin

Ok, I am a week late and I mean no disrespect to the teams the lost in the first two rounds of the section playoff, but we should see better competition in the up coming weeks as the cream begins to rise to the top.

Now that everybody has gotten their feet wet the 2008 high school basketball playoffs will heat up with several big games this week. All the top seeds easily won their first round match ups and they will now get their first real tests of the post season.

Photo by Eric Taylor Don't tell that to the St. Mary's (Berkeley) girls team who had to go to Piedmont High were they beat Piedmont and they also exorcised a few demons in the process.

It will be St. Mary's moving on to the NCS Semi's and not Piedmont who has ended St. Mary's season a few times in the last couple of years.

None like the five times, including three in league and state playoffs that Piedmont beat St. Mary's the Paris sister's senior year at Piedmont.

.It was not easy. Piedmont senior Casey Morris missed a jumper as time expired and St. Mary's held on to win 43-42. Morris scored 10 of her game high 19pts in the fourth quarter.

Piedmont jumped out to a 15-4 lead, but a 20-4 run fueled by Sonia Aguilar's (15pts) shooting from the outside and St. Mary's was up 31-26 midway through the third quarter.

Danielle Mauldin made a free throw with 33-seconds left setting up Morris and her ill fated late shot. St. Mary's moves on to play #1 seed Justin-Siena.

The Newark Memorial boys team ended Berkeley High's season, beating them 70-62 at home Saturday night. Chris Jones led the way with 21pts. They get a pumped up Castro Valley Wed. night.

Kennedy (Richmond) ended the run of Cardinal Newman. CN made the D4 championship game last year, but in the second round match up they lost at Kennedy 48-46.

Jonah than Williams went off, scoring 25pts helping Kennedy advance to play Salesian in the semi's at home. The BSAL is holding up quite well in the D4 bracket in the NCS. All four of the boys teams and half of the girls teams still playing are from that competitive league.

The St. Mary's boys team will entertain a St. Joe's team they have owned this year, beating them with ease twice during league play.

The section semi's are quite often the most exciting games to date. They seem to match up teams that have played each other before and we know one thing, they are usually the best teams in the area.

What makes this game so important is that each year the two teams that make the section finals have gone on to the state playoffs over 90% of the time. You win in the semi's are it is a good chance you will have at least two more games to play.

Win a section championship and you get to play close to home in the first round of the state playoffs. A loss in the section final and you will get a chance to tour the state a little bit in your bid to make the state championship game at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

The section championships will take place this Saturday and Sunday. The NCS Championships are at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Ca. and at St. Mary's College in Moraga, Ca. Tickets click here

Playoff match up set as second season begins

The stage has been set. For those teams who did not make the playoffs, then better luck next year. High school teams all over the state start their run at a state title tonite in what is shaping up to be very exciting.

Their seems to be a few clear cut favorites to make it to state in northern Cali. The Sacred Heart Cathedral girl's teams should be a lock to make state in D3. The number one ranked team in America should have little trouble getting back to Arco Arena next month.

A battle is shaping up between De La salle and McClymonds as the two teams look to meet each other in a rematch of last year's playoff game that Mack won on their way to the state finals.

Mack topped De La by two points this year and they have not lost yet in 2007-08. The Warriors have been pushed by Oakland High and Fremont the past two weeks which is just what McClymonds needed as the playoffs .

In San Jose the Archbishop Mitty's boys team's road back to the D2 state championship game took a turn for the worse when their big man, Drew Gordon, was hurt for the season and they must now relay on shooting guard .............. to led the way.

Mack slides by De La Salle in the MLK Classic

Photo by Eric Taylor McClymonds High had just enough to hold off De La Salle at the Martin Luther Classic winning 44-42 in a rematch of last years NorCal Final game that sent Mack to the 2007 D1 state finals.

Mack controlled the tempo of the game in the first half with forward Frank Otis scoring ten first half points.

Mack did not let De La Salle get into the back cutting ball control offense they love to wear people down with.

Mack could never really shake De La. Mack led 23-18 at the half. Jr. Damon Powell got the crowd excited when he slammed home two of his ten points in the third quarter.

The Spartans heated up a little bit in the fourth quarter. Don Martellaro hit a couple of three's and when Brandon Smith knocked down another three De La had pulled to with a point with 29 seconds left.

The Spartans would not score again. De La Salle guard Jose Rivera scored a game high 21pts, but he missed a three-point try with seven seconds left that could have won it.

Berkeley High's playoff hopes get a shot in the arm

The Yellowjackets stepped out of the ACCAL to beat Salesian 68 - 65 in the Martin Luther King Jr. Classic. Berkeley improved to 9-7 while Salesian fell to 15-3.

Bryce Pittman added 15 points and Duane Bagsby had 12 for the Yellowjackets. Freshman guard Jabari Brown led Salesian with 16 points

Salesian took their final lead of the game when Justin Brown hit a shot at the end of the third quarter to make it 55-54 Salesian. The fourth quarter belonged to Berkeley's Duane Bagsby who ran the offense and scored six of his twelve points in the fourth quarter.

The Yellowjackets might have to win the ACCAL to make the North Coast Section Playoffs.

Are you ready for some basketball

The first annual Nor Cal Tip Off Classic will be held Saturday November 24, 2007 at Newark Memorial High School in Newark, California.

The event is designed to promote/showcase Northern California High School Basketball to college coaches, media/scouts and the general public.

There will be seven games on the day beginning at 10:30 am. (The schedule is enclosed.) Traditional powers Sacramento High, Newark Memorial, Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco and Fremont of Oakland will be featured.

The event will culminate with the marquee match up at 7:45 pm between Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd and Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, the top-rated team in Northern California. Approximately 30 Division I prospects will be playing in the classic. Headlining the list is 6'8 senior Drew Gordon of Archbishop Mitty who has committed to UCLA.

Other seniors of note include 6'5 Chris Jones of Newark Memorial (committed to Fresno State), 7'2 Greg Somogyi of Woodside Priory and 6'6 James Albright of Fremont of Oakland.

Juniors of note include: 6'6 Jerry Brown of Sacred Heart Cathedral, 6'3 Tim Harris of Valley Christian (San Jose), 6'2 Chase Tapley of Sacramento High, 6'8 Lucas Devenney of Piner (Santa Rosa) and 6'4 Justin Brue of Bishop O'Dowd. For further information contact event director Gerry Freitas at 408-998-1327 or via email: gerryfreitas@hotmail.com.

Has it been a year already?. Time sure flies when you are having fun. It is all good for the ten teams still left in the CIF state championships that will be played out March 23rd and 24th at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Ca.

Some teams, like McClymonds in Oakland, it will be their first trip to the big house in March. This is where they all wanted to end their season's. A trip to Sac and Arco is what they got.

Five teams, half of last years champions made it back to the finals to defend their championship. The Fairfax boys are trying to win their second championship in three years.

They beat De la salle two years ago to claim a title and they will try to end McClymonds dream season on a down note when they two teams play March 24th at 8pm.

Mack, the OAL champion, owned the boards in their big wins over De La Salle and Oak Grove to reach the finals. De La Salle (19) and Oak Grove (29) were out rebounded 90-48 by McClymonds.

Frank Otis will need another big game. He had 23-points and 15-rebounds against Oak Grove. Mack will have their hands full will Fairfax, a 77-44 winner over a good Westchester squad last week in the SoCal Final Four.

Westchester had won three games by no less then 11-points in the SoCal playoffs until they ran into Fairfax. Fairfax themselves were tested by Pasadena, winning 54-51 in the third round of the playoffs.

Big games tend to bring out the best in good players and that is what happened when Bishop O'Dowd got past Acalanes in a rematch of the NCS Championship game won by Acalanes two weeks ago. O'Dowd learned their lesson, especially guard Shawn Lewis.

Shawn lit it up for 27-points, hitting three's and driving to the hoop, you name it, Lewis did it. He capped it off by pulling the final rebound after Acalanes missed a running five footer that would have tied the game with just seconds left.

In O'Dowd's loss to Acalanes in the NCS Championship Lewis and the rest of the team played a step slower then Acalanes all game. In the NorCal Final the two teams went back and forth the whole game, but this time O'Dowd came out on top.

It was a day for the ten foot runner. Several teams season ended when they missed a little runner. It is a shot that you make ten times in a row when you are at the park playing or in practice. With a place in the state finals on the line it is one of the toughest shots in the game today.

The Sacramento High girls team can tell you all about it. They were leading 66-63, just 18 seconds away from returning to the state finals. Vicki Baugh, Sac High's outstanding guard had 31-points up to that point and it looked like it would be enough to get past Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Sacred Heart's Tierra Rogers picked this point of the game to come alive. She had been playing her usual great defense, but she was 1 of 13 from the field. She grabbed an offensive rebounded and scored with 18-seconds left before coming up with the play of the game.

Up 65-66 and the clock running, all Sacramento had to do get the ball past half court and hold on to the ball, get fouled an make a couple of free throws to go back to state.

A 40-foot cross court pass was the last thing Sacramento's head coach thought was going to happen, but that's what did and it was Roger's who snatched the ball out of the air and then drove into the heart of the Sacramento defense, right at the rim.

Two Sac players ran at Roger's as she dished the ball off to Lauren Bell who finished off a career high 22-point game with a short bank shot with seven seconds left in the game. He is where the ten foot runner comes in.

Baugh got the inbounds pass and drove the ball up court as the clock was winding down. After shaking loose of her defender all that was left was a wide open ten footer that she clanked off the back of the rim. Game over.

Sacred Heart moves on to play two time defending champion Bishop Amat March 24th at 1pm in what will be a very entertaining game. Both teams are defending state champions. That does not happen very often. Sacred Heart moved up from division 4 to Division 3 this year and it has not slowed them down one bit.

Even though they can only be ten teams playing for a state title, the rest of the over 2,000 high school basketball teams can still be proud of the fact that they pushed the teams that made it to be the very best that they can be and they will in turn represent themselves well at state.

You are only as good as your competition. Archbishop Mitty's Drew Gordon understand how important league play is in preparing a team to make a run at a state title.

"Playing in our league (the WCAL) taught to never expect a foul call. We know that we have to play through to the whistle and not expect the ref's to give us anything." said Gordan on what it is like to play in the ruff and tumble WCAL.

Check below for a complete schedule of games for the 2007 CIF State Basketball Championships

With high school basketball heating up, here is a look back at the results of last year's state championships

Mack would not let this one get away. Using great defense and clutch free throw shooting dow the stretch the Warriors knocked defending D1 champion De La Salle out of the NorCal playoffs and earning a trip to the Final Four at the Stockton Arena March 17th at 8pm.

This one close and tense through out the contest. Both teams were feeling each other out and Mack led 8-7 after the first quarter and 19-14 at the half. Forward Frank Otis had a monster game scoring 18-points and grabbing 17-rebounds as Mack controlled the glass in the win.

De La Salle pulled 19-rebounds as a team. Mack had 42. It is hard to win if you do not get many second chances. That is what De La could not overcome. The Spartans have made a living getting easy buckets from back door cuts, but McClymonds was all over that.

Guards Will Cherry, Vinny McGhee harassed the Spartans passing game all night, not letting De La get off many good shots. "We knew we had to step it up on defense. This might have been our best game defensively so far this year. We know what we have to do next week. It feels great to beat De La Salle, but we know that there is a lot more basketball left to be played". said Frank Otis.

It was one of the biggest wins in McClymonds basketball history and it kept alive their dream of winning the schools first D1 basketball championship. Just making the title game would be a first and all that stands in their way in 26-1 Oak Grove, a 62-50 winner over Skyline.

The OAL was a second half away from putting two teams in the Final Four. Skyline led 29-23 at the half, but Oak Grove got a triple double from senior forward Tyree McCray (13-points, 12-rebounds and ten blocks) helping them run away from Skyline in the second half.

Branson High (Ross) and Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) kept their schools dream of both the boys and girls teams winning a state title by advancing to the Final Four this weekend in Stockton.

The Branson boys are the only defending champion in the bunch and they have the look of a champion once again. Branson pounded Hamilton City 61-31 at the College of Marin. Chris Martin led Branson with 17 points and they will ride a 26-game winning streak into their Final Four match up with Modesto Christian at 3pm at Delta College in Stockton.

Mitty's girls team, lead by Danielle Robinson are on a mission this year moved one game away from a state finals with a 65-55 win over Oak Ridge-El Dorado. Playing in the WCAL against the likes of Sacred Heart Cathedral has helped toughen them up.

Mitty will take on Pinole Valley, a 55-38 winner over Montgomery. Pinole (30-2) was led by Jaleesa Ross (15 point, seven rebounds, three steals) and Marnique Arnold's 15 points and ten rebounds. They play at the Stockton Arena at 2pm in what could be the best game of the day.

I could say that about just about every game. The Mitty boy's team lead by forward Drew Gordon made the Final Four by mopping up the floor with Menlo-Atherton, winning 82-46. They play top ranked Jesuit- Carmichael (32-1) at 4pm at the Stockton Arena.

The Berkeley High girls rolled to their date with McClatchy by knocking off another Sacramento team , Kennedy 64-50 at Berkeley High in legendary head coach Gene Nakamura's final game at the school. It was a fitting way to him to go out.

Berkeley High pulled away in the third quarter, in fact they did not give up a single point in the quarter. Not even a free throw, out scoring Kennedy 14-0 in the quarter. Game over. Jazmine Perkins scored 18 points for Berkeley High.

St. Mary's (Berkeley) passed one more test, this time a 58-53 win at Palma (Salinas). Will Brew scored 12-points and his brother Chris tallied 11 in the win.

St. Mary's gets a rematch of the NCS championship game with Cardinal Newman, a 78-74 overtime win at #1 Colfax. St. Mary's beat Cardinal Newman two weeks ago and they would love a repeat performance in the D4 Final Four game at Delta College.

Richmond High got 18-points from Eli Holman and 17 from Wendell McKines in their 71-57 win over Montgomery in front of a jammed pack crowd at Santa Rosa JC. It was Richmond's third straight playoff road win in a row and with all the drama that has happened to them this year, how hard could it be to play a basketball game.

McKines came into the game averaging 39-points a game this year. The Oliers won this game by dominating the middle of the key. Montgomery played into their hands by launching 42-three's, making only 15 of them.

De La Salle will have to gas up the team bus and hit the road for the NorCal playoffs after falling 47-43 to Monta Vista in the NCS D1 final at St. Mary's College. Drew McAllister led the way with 12-points and seven rebounds.

It was Monte Vista's first NCS Championship and it must be a sweet victory over De La, who has owned the football crazy school in football over the years. For De La Salle, it was only their second loss of the season.

Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd has had quite a history in NCS playoff basketball. That history did not help them win their 14th NCS Championship Saturday night. The Dragons lost 60-43 in the D3 finals at Cal State East Bay to number #1 seed Acalanes.

Acalanes forward Jordan Fillmore set the tone for the game on defense in the first half with five blocks. Acalanes was taller then O'Dowd and all the block shots seemed to get into O'Dowd's head in the second half.

Fillmore did more then block shots. He scored 13-points and grabbed 15-rebounds. Time after time Acalanes got the offensive rebound in the second half when O'Dowd was trying to catch up. Joey Anderson scored 22-points for Acalanes.

Shawn Lewis (16-points) and Brandon Walker (13-points) combined for 29 of O'Dowd's 43-points. No other player scored more then five for the Dragons.

McClymonds shook off their loss to Fremont two weeks ago by knocking off Skyline 76-66 in the OAL finals at Laney College in Oakland. You are only as good as your competition and losing to Fremont could have been the wake up call Mack needed heading into the state championships.

"We have some things we need to work on. We always try to get better. But we are alright. We are playing pretty good basketball right now." said senior guard Vinny McGhee of McClymonds.

Mack used defense to pull away from the pesky Titans who had survived an overtime win the night before over Fremont. Vinny McGhee led the way for Mack with 24-points.

William Cherry added 19-points for Mack who won their second OAL Championship in three years. Skyline fell behind 66-46 with just over two minutes left in the game, but they outscored Mack 20-10 to close out the game.

Kwame Vaughn kept Skyline in the game with 12-first quarter points. He finished the game with 25-points. Mack turned up their D coming out of the half time break taking all the drama out of this one.

Teams all over the bay got a taste of what league play is going to be like. Riordan, Northern Cali 's top ranked team came up on the short end of a 54-51 game against Serra ( San Mateo ). Serra held forward Rob Jones to just eight points in the win. Riordan bounced back to blast Bellermine 66-27 to improve to 13-1, 3-1 in the WCAL.

St. Ignatius is the surprise leader of the WCAL after they knocked off St. Francis 55-52 to boost their record to 13-1, 4-0 in the WCAL. Victor Bull led the way for S.I. with 20pts. It was the second 20pts game in a row for the power forward. He went for dub against Sacred Heart Cathedral at USF in front of a jammed packed crowd Tuesday night.

Staying in the City, International Studies did something no other San Francisco City league school has been able to do in almost two years. Beat Lowell . Dominic Stewart had 30 points and twin brother Marseilles 25 as host International Studies Academy broke Lowell High's 21-game Academic Athletic Association win streak with a 74-72 overtime victory Wednesday.

Over in Oakland , the OAL race got a little more interesting with Castlemont's 72-61 win over league favorite Fremont . The Tigers are being forced to play without transfer guard Jeremy Franklin because of a protest from a team or teams in the OAL. Franklin moved over from San Leandro and he has played in several games this season.

He did not play when Fremont traveled down to Fresno and beat Clovis West 75-74 and Edison 72-70 last week. The loss to Castlemont was Fremont 's first since a 75-67n set back at the hands of Paul V1 at the Gonzaga DC Classic out in Maryland back on Dec. 17 th . Castlemont, now 10-7, is the defending OAL champion and the quest to defend their title got off to a good start.

The Piedmont girl's team knows a thing or two about repeating as champions of the BSAL. They have had a rocky start in 2006-07, but they got their league season off to a fast start when they went to Berkeley and beat league favorite St. Mary's 47-43 Wed. night.

The BSAL girl's race looks like it will be one of the best in the bay this season. St. Mary's has the best record, now 12-3, but they sit in fourth place in league play behind St. Patrick/St. Vincent (11-2, 3-0 BSAL), surprising Albany (8-3, 3-0 BSAL) and Piedmont (8-3, 3-0 BSAL).

Sacred Heart Cathedral girl's team can stake the claim as the best team in San Francisco once again after getting past St. Ignatius 49-46 at USF before the boys game. Sophomore Ki Ki Moore was money in the extra period, scoring six of her ten points in OT.

Sacred Heart led late in the game, but S.I.'s Maggie McCarthy made a lay up as time run out to force the extra period. Lauren Bell led the way for Sacred Heart with (11-2, 3-0 WCAL) 12-points, while S.I.'s Erin Grady, also just a sophomore, had 18-points and 11-rebounds.

Second ranked De La Salle got a scare from Skyline (Oakland) at the Martin Luther King Classic that was held at Cal's Haas Pavilion Monday. The Spartans got 12-points from Ryan Silva and Jose Rivera as De La Salle improved to 14-0.

8th ranked Fremont was not so lucky, falling 77-69 to a Pinole Valley team they beat 85-58 last month. B.J. Lassiter paced Pinole Valley with 23-points. Point guard Gabriel Kindred led all scorers with 30-points.

Life in the spotlight has not been kind for the defending D4 NorCal champion Sacred Heart Cathedral. They fell to 5-6 with their 44-42 loss to cross town rival Riordan at home on opening night in the WCAL men's basketball league.

Sacred Heart jumped out to an early lead, but Rob Jones, Riordan's talented power forward, would not let his team lose for the first time this season.

He finished the game with 23pts, seven rebounds and six blocks, but he did his damage in the first half scoring 13pts in the first half.

It was a 18-all tie at the half, so you see how important Jones was for Riordan. Now 12-0, the coaches son, Richie Forslund hit one of the biggest shots of the game, a three with 38-seconds left to put Riordan up 42-38.

Sacred Heart's Dominic Johnson had a good look to win the game, but his tree point attempt with a second left clanked off the rim and the state's seventh ranked team escaped with the win.

Archbishop Mitty and their star powerforward Drew Gordon came calling Friday night and Riordan sent them home with a 43-36 win to improve to 2-0 in the WCAL and 13-0 overall.

Riordan keeps coming up on top, but the beginning of their games have been anything but smooth. Riordan slipped into a 11-2 hole against Mitty before slowly getting back into the game. Rob Jones had another big game for Riordan, pulling down a season high 17-rebounds in the victory.

Riordan's Daniel Cannon had a game high 15-points, including seven straight late in the game to seal it for Riordan. "We showed that we were the better team tonight. We can not keep getting off to the slow starts that we have been having. I do not know why we start so bad, but we showed how tough we are tonight and this is a big win for us." said Jones after the game.

Castor Valley improved to 12-1 holding off league favorite San Leandro 68-66 in the first league game for both. San Leandro has also lost their leading scorer, forward Matt Busch for six weeks due to a broken foot.

Will Petty led the way for Castro Valley with 15pts while San Leandro got 18pts from Demitrius Owens in the losing effort. San Leandro fell behind by as much as 23 in the second half before making a game of it.

Every team in the six team league is above .500 with one more game before the OAL regular season begins. Dorsey came through the O and beat Oakland High 72-60 before surviving Skyline 67-66 over the past weekend. Dorsey is now 12-3.

San Leandro scored a big win over Mack in the championship game of the Modesto Christian Tourney Saturday. Fremont got past Berkeley High Friday night.

They played the game without transfer Jeremy Franklin, who had to sit out the contest do to protests from other OAL schools. 10-3 Dorsey (LA) hits the town for games at Oakland High (1/5/07, 7pm) and Skyline (1/6/07, after JV) for a final out of league test for the OAL before league starts next week.

If the teams in the OAL do not beat each other up too much, three could get into the NorCal playoffs at the end of the season. That might be a stretch, but two teams will get in. Fremont and Mack are leading the OAL, but Oakland and Skyline will not go out without a fight.

Another league that will be an exciting race is the WCAL with Archbishop Mitty, Riordan, Sacred Heart and St. Ignatius holding down the fort. Riordan and Sacred Heart will get the show on the road when they play at Sacred Heart Jan. 3rd.

Riordan is now 11-0 after winning the Chaminade X-Mas Classic at West Hills (LA County). Forward Rob Jones led the way with 17pts and 16-rebounds in the 47-34 title game victory over Menlo School-Atherton (10-3).

Defending D4 NorCal Sacred Heart features two of the best sophomores in the state in guard Kevin Greene and swing man Jerry Brown leading the way.

All of this and I have not even mentioned Mitty and their three towers 6-6 Collin Chiverton, 6-8 Enoch Andoh and 6-8 Drew Gordon. Gordon, a Jr., is on every college recruiters A list. One of the toughest leagues in the state, the top three teams at the end of the season will be trouble if they make they NorCal playoffs.

Berkeley High girls head coach Gene Nakamura will stop coaching after this year

The man has been coaching the Berkeley High girl's team since the 1983 season. During the past 23-years coach Nakamura has led the Lady Yellowjackets to a NCS record seven state championship appearances, winning two state titles.

Last year he led his team to the state finals only to lose 54-34 to Long Beach Poly. The Yellowjackets are once again one of the favorites to make it to the CIF State Championships in March.

Several teams got a good look at themselves playing in a tough 2006 Gridley Invitational. It featured 2006 state D5 state champions Branson along with San Leandro, Fremont (Oak.), Pinole Valley, Riordan and Modesto Christian.

Riordan improved to 6-0 with a 52-36 win in the championship game of the Gridley Invitational over Cornerstone Christian Saturday night. Power forward Rob Jones led the way with 12pts.

San Leandro got 19 from Kareem Nitoto in their 39-37 grind it out win over Branson. Oliver McNally led Branson with 18pts. Fremont got 21pts from forward Frank Albright in the Tigers close 66-63 win over Modesto Christian.

Pinole Valley ran past host Gridley 74-41 as the Invitational came to a close. All of the teams competing made the playoffs last year and look for them to be their again come late February and early March 2007.

De La Salle took care of business in their own Chris Vonture Classic. The Spartans are a perfect 7-0 after knocking off ..... in the finals.

The Sacred Heart girls team showed they will be hard to beat in their defense of the D4 state championship they won last season. The Lady Irish pounded both Skyline and Castlemont in the Skyline Invitational over the weekend.

Sacred Heart used a stifling pressure defense to run by Skyline Saturday 75-30. They improved to 5-0 while Skyline fell to 3-2.