CCS basketball playoffs roundup: Best of Friday night’s opening round
The Central Coast Section basketball playoffs got underway Friday night with boys and girls pool-play games in the Open Division and play-in games in Divisions I through V.
Here are the highlights:
GAMES OF THE NIGHT
Girls
Paly sophomore hits go-ahead bucket: For a moment, it looked like overtime was inevitable.
With seconds remaining in Palo Alto’s Division I play-in game against Leigh on the road, the Vikings play broke down and thoughts of an extra period were already rolling through coach Kevin Blunt’s head.
That was until sophomore Harmoni Jackson hit the shot of the night.
Jackson’s contested go-ahead layup with two seconds left became the difference in Palo Alto’s 45-43 win over Leigh.
“Once the ball went in, it was just pandemonium,” Blunt said. “The girls were super excited. It took a lot out of them because it was a battle the whole game.”
Jackson finished with a game-high 32 points as Palo Alto improved to 19-7.
Palo Alto will play No. 6 Carlmont on Saturday, less than 24 hours after its stunning win.
– Nathan Canilao
Mitty’s dominance takes no nights off: Half Moon Bay has had a fine season. The Cougars won 19 regular-season games and the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division championship.
Good enough for a spot in the CCS’s Open Division.
But there is an entirely different level at the top of the section’s strongest playoff bracket. Half Moon Bay saw that difference Friday night.
Mitty easily won its Pool A opener 89-23. The San Jose national powerhouse had 53 points in the first half. Four Monarchs scored in double figures and nine made the scoring column.
In other words, it was more of the same.
Since losing in double overtime to Ontario Christian 96-87 on Jan. 10, Mitty (23-2) has won 11 in a row, with no margin tighter than 37 points.
The Monarchs’ average point differential during their win streak is 53.7 points.
On Friday, Tee McCarthy (18 points), Emma Cook (17), McKenna Woliczko (16) and Abi James (12) led the way.
Mitty continues pool play Monday at home against St. Francis.
HMB (19-6) visits St. Ignatius on Monday.
– Darren Sabedra
No sweat for Priory: Priory may have some challenges ahead as it tries to make it out of Pool B and reach the CCS Open title game for the first time in school history.
Those trials were in recess on Friday night. The No. 2 Panthers (20-5) hammered No. 7 Alisal (22-3) 69-28 on Friday night in Portola Valley, getting 18 points from Gabby Wickham, 10 from Adelaide Chan and 10 more from Shay Johnson.
Chan added five assists and two steals, Wickham had three rebounds and two steals, and Johnson chipped in seven boards and two assists.
Now comes the hard part for Priory. Next up is a rematch with league foe Pinewood, which Priory beat twice this season by a combined three points.
Priory will close out pool play with a matchup against Riordan on Wednesday. By virtue of its high seed, Priory gets to host all three games at home.
– Christian Babcock
Riordan’s second-period shutout sparks win over Pinewood: The host Crusaders held Pinewood scoreless in the second quarter en route to a 58-46 victory in the first round of pool play in the CCS Open Division playoffs.
Riordan, the No. 3 seed in Pool B, led 19-17 after the first period and increased the margin to 24-17 at the half. The Crusaders proceeded to outscore sixth-seeded Pinewood in all four quarters.
Shooting guard Nylah Dyson led Riordan (16-7) with 16 points. Zion McGuire had 12 for the home team.
Point Loma University-bound Andri Wilkinson had 14 points for Pinewood (20-5), as did Caitlyn Kramer.
– Mike Lefkow
Boys
Archbishop Mitty continues late-season hot streak: Mitty came into the CCS Open Division playoffs riding back-to-back 22-point wins to end the regular season, and the Monarchs did nothing to cool off on Friday.
Facing another West Catholic Athletic League foe to open the playoffs in Pool B, Mitty beat Valley Christian 66-36, getting 14 points from Brady Clugage, 12 from Isaac Turner and 12 more from Daniel Ryan to set the tone.
Mitty (16-9) also got buckets from Nicholas Gklaros-Stavropoulos (11 points), Amani LaMere-Swift (6) and Joseph Seifu (4).
Bryant Clark led Valley (14-11) with 12 points, and Logan Jennings had nine.
– Christian Babcock
SI handles M-A at home: No problems for St. Ignatius in San Francisco.
The second seed in the CCS Open bracket started off Pool B play with a comfortable 76-60 win over Menlo-Atherton (21-4), giving SI (22-3) an early edge as it looks to take control of Pool B and set up a likely rematch with Archbishop Riordan in the Open title game.
Shawn Boquiren led SI with 25 points, and Noah Kirsch-Lopez added 18 to pace the Wildcats. Raymond Whitley added 11.
Luca Auer had 21 points to lead M-A, and Jerry Williams added 19. Jacob Sutton had 10.
– Christian Babcock
Riordan routs Serra: There was no emotional letdown for Riordan, which came off a double overtime win over St. Ignatius on Wednesday to end the West Catholic Athletic League regular season.
The Crusaders cruised past fellow WCAL foe Serra in the first game of Open Division pool play behind D.J. Armstrong’s 20 points and 11 more from University of San Francisco commit Andrew Hilman.
Wyatt Vonblanco scored 16 points for Serra, which dropped to 13-12 and will face Bellarmine on Monday.
Riordan (24-1) will play sophomore star Boss Mhoon and King’s Academy at home on Monday.
– Nathan Canilao
STARS OF THE NIGHT
– Harmoni Jackson scored 32 points and hit the go-ahead bucket to lift Palo Alto over Leigh in the Division I play-in game.
– One game after hitting a tying 3-pointer to send its game against Riordan to a second overtime, Shawn Boquiren led SI with 25 points as the Cats beat M-A comfortably in the City.
– D.J. Armstrong scored 20 points in Riordan’s blowout win over Serra in the first game of CCS Open Division pool play.
WHAT’S NEXT
The playoffs continue on Saturday with second-round games in all enrollment-based Divisions: I II, III, IV and V. The Open Division will resume pool play on Monday.