If the Central Coast Section was to receive a grade for handling Saturday’s power outage at Independence HS during the section basketball championships, it would have to be an A-plus. The outage caused delays of just an hour as all parties involved acted quickly to move the games from Independence to nearby Piedmont Hills. Not only were the games moved quickly and pushed back by just an hour, the news was quickly spread as all parties necessary remained informed.
While the court at Piedmont Hills is slightly smaller than at Independence, the smaller seating capacity and low roof made for a great atmosphere in the Division II and III title games. From Jay Allen-Tovar’s dunks to Riordan’s huge comeback, the gym was rocking all night.
Thrillers in the BCL West
If there was any wonder why the coaches in the BCL West are bald, balding or have gray hair, look no further than Wednesday night’s drama in the first round of the state tournament. Three of the league’s four entrants won, all in dramatic fashion. Stuart Hall took down Foothill-Sacramento 61-59, with Miles Amos hitting the go-ahead layup with seven seconds left. Ari Gamshad’s basket in the final minute of double-overtime propelled Urban to a 58-56 win over Mt. Shasta, and Spencer Spivy scored 45, including the game-winner with seven seconds left, as University beat Patterson 85-83 in three overtimes at Kezar Pavilion.
How about Menlo?
When brackets came out on Sunday, a trip to Clayton Valley looked like a death sentence for a Menlo team that had been dealt back-to-back blowout losses by up-tempo opponents. Instead, the Knights handled the Ugly Eagles’ pressure and emerged with a 65-61 win. Riley Woodson starred for 13th-seeded Menlo, scoring 31 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Joe Foley was held to just five, but handled the defensive pressure with expertise and drew attention to free up Woodson in the post.
