Sometimes, the most difficult thing for basketball fans in the Central Coast Section is geography. It’s a pretty widespread section, and fans often find themselves separated from the best games by lengthy drives, compounded by rush hour traffic.
Luckily for fans this Friday, it’s hard to go wrong. Everywhere you look, there are league title contenders meeting in heavyweight bouts.
No. 2 St. Ignatius (11-4, 4-1 WCAL) at No. 3 St. Francis (13-2, 5-0), 7:30 pm
The winner of this game will be in the running with Bellarmine for pole position in the league. St. Francis will travel to face the Bells on Tuesday, but there’s no way the Lancers are looking past a St. Ignatius team that beat them three times last year, twice in WCAL play and a third time in the Open Division consolation round. The two league meetings were decided by a total of eight points, but the Wildcats took St. Francis out behind the woodshed in the playoff meeting.
The matchup between point guards Darrion Trammell and Logan Johnson will be hyped up as a huge showdown, but it won’t be the only clash of extremely talented players on the court. Keep an eye out for sharpshooters Brandon Beckman and Roy Yuan, while x-factors Wrenn Robinson and Maurice Wilmer may provide the difference in what should be a high-octane thriller.
No. 1 Bellarmine (13-2, 5-0 WCAL) at No. 8 Riordan (11-4, 2-3), 7:30 pm
The Bells appear to have the upper hand, considering that they beat Serra without Jake Wojcik, who is expected, but not guaranteed, to return on Friday. Just a few miles away, Riordan nearly overcame a 19-point deficit but fell just short in a 66-60 loss at Mitty. Matching up with Kendall Stubblefield may be a huge challenge for the Crusaders, who have tons of talent at guard but lack a major post presence.
No. 5 Palo Alto (13-2, 4-0 SCVAL De Anza) at No. 15 Los Gatos (12-4, 3-1), 7:45 pm
The Wildcats have a chance to grab a share of first place in the SCVAL De Anza and put a serious dent into Palo Alto’s Open Division hopes. Los Gatos would love nothing more than to take down the Vikings after last year’s CCS Division I Championship, which Palo Alto won on Spencer Rojahn’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, ended the Wildcats’ season.
With Division I likely to send three teams to the Open Division once again, the Division I field would only send one team to the State Tournament once again, meaning Friday night’s battle could have serious implications in seeding down the road.
No. 6 Sequoia (12-4, 4-0 PAL South) at No. 12 Menlo-Atherton (10-5, 3-1), 7:45 pm
Menlo-Atherton’s loss to Mills puts a slight damper on this game for some in the Redwood City-Menlo Park area but increases the intrigue for folks further north in San Mateo County, as the victory put Mills in the midst of a complex three-way race. With the Bears and Cherokees meeting twice but facing Mills just once, the Vikings may be doing a lot of scoreboard watching in the coming weeks. Trying to limit Sequoia center Ziggy Lauese will be essential for the Bears if they want to take down a team that they lost to in three of four meetings last year.
No. 7 Sacred Heart Cathedral (11-4, 2-3 WCAL) at No. 13 Valley Christian (9-6, 0-5), 7:30 pm
Mark DeLuca is still waiting on his team to put together a full game in WCAL play. The Warriors were tied with St. Ignatius at halftime, but a nine-point deficit through three quarters quickly ballooned to 17 in a 70-55 loss. Improved health, with Cameron Fini returning to full strength to accompany Jay Allen-Tovar in the post, will certainly help Valley Christian. SHC finally found some depth in Tuesday’s loss to St. Francis, with Elijah Flowers and Ezekiel Contreras-Forrest each stepping up to complement the main core for the Fightin’ Irish.
No. 16 Mitty (3-12, 1-4 WCAL) at No. 9 Serra (9-6, 1-4), 7:30 pm
Every game is a playoff game for Mitty at this point. Tuesday’s win over Riordan was the first of seven WCAL wins that the Monarchs need for postseason eligibility. Mitty broke out of that losing streak with four scorers in double figures, including a double-double from Riley Grigsby. The Padres are in unfamiliar territory, having lost four consecutive WCAL games for the first time since 2009. Henry James put together a solid showing in Tuesday’s loss at Bellarmine, scoring 12 points.
No. 21 Jefferson (9-6, 2-1 PAL North) at Terra Nova (7-8, 3-0), 7:45 pm
Just as Mills has emerged in the PAL South, Terra Nova has a chance to do the same in the North. Despite a sub-par nonleague record, the Tigers have made quick work of their first three league opponents and now enter a tough stretch of schedule with the Grizzlies up first. Freshman Justin Milch scored 19 in Wednesday’s win over South City, a modest showing compared to the 22 he dropped on El Camino the prior week. Jefferson has played excellent defensive basketball, holding El Camino to 46 and Oceana to 33 in blowout wins.
No. 17 Santa Cruz (13-3, 4-0 SCCAL) at St. Francis SCP (12-3, 4-1), 7 pm
With Tuesday’s road win at Aptos, the Sharks are officially a serious threat in the SCCAL and have a chance to knock off the perennial favorites. Santa Cruz already owns a 3-point win over Aptos and will face the Mariners again on Monday, but first the Cardinals will need to pick up a win in Watsonville at the home of the Sharks. If Santa Cruz is going to survive, Max Dehart will need to be a big part of it. The senior is averaging 20 points per game.
No. 14 Mills (13-3, 4-0 PAL South) at Aragon (7-8, 1-3), 7:45 pm
While it’s not a traditional rivalry, fans can throw out the records when the Vikings and Dons meet and expect a truly ridiculous game. Since the PAL switched back to a North-South format for the 2013 season, the teams have met 10 times, with six being decided by no more than five points.
Regardless of what happens, it would be hard to top last year’s first meeting, in which Aragon took the lead on free throws after Mills was charged with a technical foul for students running across the sideline and on the court during a timeout to try to get to the other side of the gym to distract the Aragon shooter. The Aragon fans then prematurely celebrated on the court, thinking the game had ended, and they were assessed a technical foul, but the Vikings missed the free throws that would have tied the game.
This time, the Dons are trying to dig themselves out of a hole after dropping their first three league contests, while Mills currently holds a tie for first place with Sequoia.
Santa Clara (11-5, 3-1 SCVAL El Camino) at Gunn (6-9, 3-1), 8 pm
Gunn has certainly turned some heads since the start of league play by winning three of four. The Titans did lose at Milpitas on Wednesday, but a nonleague loss to Palo Alto, from the upper De Anza Division, certainly earned them some respect as they kept the Vikings close until late, falling 56-40. Santa Clara has won three straight since opening league play with a loss to Lynbrook, and the Bruins have four scorers averaging between eight and 11 points per game, led by Jagos Jovanovic, who is averaging a double-double (10.8 ppg, 10.9 rpg).
