SAN PABLO – Top-seeded Salesian (25-5) overcame a sluggish first half and turned a 12-11 deficit after one quarter and a 24-23 halftime lead into a comfortable North Coast Section Division IV semifinal 64-47 victory over Arcata on Wednesday night at Contra Costa College.
USC-bound Minyon Moore shook off early foul trouble to dominate in the second half and finished with 29 points and an amazing 13 steals with four assists. Moore, the younger sister of former Pride star and current Louisville sophomore starter Mariya Moore, had 10 points and six steals in the third quarter and 11 points and four steals in the final period when the Pride extended a 42-34 lead after three quarters to 20 points in the final moments.
“I figured we had a rough start and my getting into foul trouble didn’t help, so I knew in the second half I needed to step up and lead us to a win,” Moore said.
Angel Jackson, Salesian’s 6-5 freshman center, came on strong in the second half after a dismal first two quarters and finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks. St. Mary’s-bound Jordan Hobson chipped in with 10 points despite playing with foul trouble.
"We were out-hustled and out-focused in the first half," said Salesian Coach Stephen Pezzola. "I suggested at halftime this game was a fork in the road for our season so I told the girls to get your lunch pail out and go to work – and they responded."
Fourth-seeded Arcata (24-5) was the crisper team to start, however despite an 18-7 rebounding advantage in the first half the girls from Humboldt County still trailed by a point.
Vanessa Holland had a team-high 13 points and sophomore forward Kylie McCracken played very well and finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds with three steals.
“Although the girls played well in the first half against a real quality team, we made some mistakes in the second half and ran out of gas, but a lot of that had to do with Salesian,” Arcata Coach Dusty Scofield remarked.
Arcata came into the game on a 19-game winning streak since losing in December in double overtime to Sacred Heart Cathedral. Despite the loss it’s likely the Tigers will receive a very high seed in the Northern Regional Division IV playoffs since they are the NorCal No. 3 D4 team in the Maxpreps/Calpreps power rankings and No. 6 in NorCal in the Cal-Hi Sports Division IV rankings.
Salesian on the other hand is ticketed for the Open Division regardless of what happens in the CIFNCS Division IV title game on Saturday at Albany High. They will face No. 2 seed Cardinal Newman.
The Cardinals were a 59-42 winner over No. 3 seed St. Mary’s behind a double-double 17 points and 15 rebounds by Lauren Walker.
For defending champion Salesian it’s an opportunity to repeat for the first time as NCS champions and claim a third title overall.
NCS Division III - Miramonte blows past Tamalpais and now meets a Bishop O’Dowd team that came back against Campolindo
As expected CIFNCS Division III top-seeded Miramonte (28-0) continued to roll in a running clock 87-32 victory at home in Orinda over No. 4 seed Tamalpais-Mill Valley.
All the top players for Miramonte put up numbers despite limited action with Coach Kelly Sopak playing the entire squad.
Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year hot candidate Sabrina Ionescu went for 16 points and 12 assists, Uriah Howard also had a double-double after finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Keana Delos Santos had a game-high 18 points and junior wing Elle Louie and sophomore guard Clair Steele added 14 points apiece.
Miramonte now meets No. 2 seed Bishop O’Dowd in the NCS D3 final on Saturday afternoon at St. Mary’s College. The second-seeded Dragons got a tussle from No. 3 seed Campolindo-Moraga but still came away with a 64-53 victory despite giving up 25 points in the first quarter and overcoming a double-digit deficit to prevail.
O’Dowd was led by Mylah Andrada who scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half, Salihah Bey added 14 points and Myah Pace had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
With the victory O'Dowd reaches its seventh NCS title game in eight years but last year they lost 72-66 to Miramonte in the D3 title game.
