Bay Area News Group high school basketball predictions: Feb. 27, 2026
The section championships are here.
Friday and Saturday are jam-packed with NCS, CCS and Oakland Section title games all across the Bay Area, and Darren Sabedra, Christian Babcock and Nathan Canilao predict which teams will come out on top.
All in good fun, of course.
Riordan and St. Ignatius will go out at it for a third time at the University of San Francisco with the winner being crowned the CCS Open Division championship. Riordan needed a buzzer beater to win the first time and two overtime periods to come out victorious in the second matchup.
With the game back at USF, can St. Ignatius finally come out on top?
While a close call, Canilao believes Riordan’s talent will be too much in a third matchup.
“It’s a coin flip. I think I’m going to take Riordan,” Canilao said. “I just think like you guys said, there’s just too much talent on Riordan and I think talent wins out in high school basketball most of the time.”
On the girls side, San Ramon Valley and Carondelet will also meet for a third time. The Wolves have won the first two and have won nine straight against the Concord school dating back to 2023.
Babcock said in order for Carondelet to win, Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak might need to summon WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu, whom he coached at Miramonte a decade ago.
“I think they might need Sabrina out there for this one,” Babcock said. “I just think SRV has too much firepower.”
The guys also pick between Salesian and Clayton Valley for the NCS boys Open championship, Granada and Bishop O’Dowd for the NCS boys Division I title game and many more.
Be sure to check out the video below.
Now, onto the picks …
Picks for Feb. 27, 2026
Friday
Archbishop Riordan (26-1) vs. St. Ignatius (24-3) at USF, 7 p.m.
Babcock: Riordan
Canilao: Riordan
Sabedra: Riordan
Saturday
Milpitas (25-1) vs. Los Gatos (21-5), TBD
Babcock: Milpitas
Canilao: Los Gatos
Sabedra: Milpitas
Bishop O’Dowd (22-7) vs. Granada (21-7) at San Leandro High, 5 p.m.
Babcock: O’Dowd
Canilao: Granada
Sabedra: O’Dowd
Clayton Valley (26-3) vs. Salesian (26-3) at San Leandro High, 7 p.m.
Babcock: Salesian
Canilao: Salesian
Sabedra: Salesian
GIRLS
Friday
Miramonte (17-13) vs. Benicia (20-9) at Alhambra High, 7 p.m.
Babcock: Miramonte
Canilao: Miramonte
Sabedra: Benicia
Saturday
Los Gatos (20-6) vs. Menlo-Atherton (20-5), TBD
Babcock: Menlo-Atherton
Canilao: Menlo-Atherton
Sabedra: Menlo-Atherton
Santa Cruz (18-9) vs. Mills (13-13), TBD
Babcock: Mills
Canilao: Mills
Sabedra: Mills
Carondelet (24-5) vs. San Ramon Valley (25-3) at Dublin High, 7 p.m.
Babcock: SRV
Canilao: SRV
Sabedra: SRV
Feb, 20 results
BOYS
Friday
No. 5 The King’s Academy (21-3) at No. 4 Bellarmine (16-8), 7 p.m.
Babcock: TKA (W)
Canilao: TKA (W)
Sabedra: Bell (L)
No. 5 Dublin (19-8) at No. 4 Liberty (24-3), 7 p.m.
Babcock: Dublin (L)
Canilao: Dublin (L)
Sabedra: Dublin (L)
Wednesday
No. 7 Menlo-Atherton at No. 6 Valley Christian, 7 p.m.
Babcock: M-A (W)
Canilao: VC (L)
Sabedra: VC (L)
GIRLS
Friday
No. 6 Pinewood (20-4) at No. 3 Archbishop Riordan (15-7), 6 p.m.
Babcock: Riordan (W)
Canilao: Riordan (W)
Sabedra: Riordan (W)
No. 5 Alameda (18-9) at No. 4 Acalanes (20-8), 7 p.m.
Babcock: Acalanes (W)
Canilao: Acalanes (W)
Sabedra: Acalanes (W)
No. 7 Heritage (21-6) at No. 2 Dublin (21-7), 7 p.m.
Babcock: Dublin (L)
Canilao: Dublin (L)
Sabedra: Dublin (L)
Feb. 20 standings
Babcock: 4-2
Canilao: 3-3
Sabedra: 2-4
Season standings
Canilao: 20-17
Babcock: 20-17
Sabedra: 21-16