As with any form of basketball played in March, the state tournament is known for upsets, and with the new competitive equity format, the prevalence of victorious underdogs was no surprise. However, which of those teams emerged victorious certainly caught folks off-guard.
Menlo’s win over Clayton Valley in the Division I 13-versus-4 game may have been the biggest shocker of all as the Knights managed to overcome a team known for pushing the pace and running opponents out of the gym. Menlo (24-3) had lost back-to-back games against high-octane opponents, but the Knights managed to handle Clayton Valley’s aggressive press and slow the game down once getting across half-court. The Ugly Eagles did manage to limit point guard Joe Foley to five points, but their focus on the Lehigh-bound point guard let Riley Woodson dominate inside to the tune of 31 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore Cole Kastner added 14, while Clayton Valley (26-4) got 28 points from Garrett Pascoe and 16 from Nick Klarman.
Another 13 seed from the Central Coast Section was victorious as Riordan took down shorthanded St. Patrick-St. Vincent in Division II behind 24 points from James Chun. SPSV played without two starters, dual-sport standouts Marshel Martin and Akil Edwards. The Crusaders shot 14-of-25 from 3-point range, with Chun sinking five from long-distance. Riordan (17-11) also got 14 from Je’Lani Clark and 11 from Anthony Oropeza, using the strong 3-point performance to offset a 13-for-23 effort at the line. St. Patrick-St. Vincent (21-11) got 17 points from Jalen Scott, who shot 11-of-11 at the line, along with 15 from Dishon Jackson and 11 from Chance McMillan.
One of the biggest statements of the night came from Los Gatos, 83-52 road winners over eighth-seeded Antelope in Division II. As was the case in Saturday’s CCS Championship, Alex Braken-Guelke and Dylan Belquist combined to outscore their opponents all by themselves, with Braken-Guelke scoring 31 and Belquist adding 26, eclipsing the career 2,000-point mark in the process. Los Gatos (22-6) will travel to top-seeded Alameda on Saturday.
The other biggest surprise in Division II was Woodcreek’s 71-54 win over St. Joseph Notre Dame. As detailed by Scott Giorgianni, Chris Cagle only scored 16 for the Timberwolves, but Delis Boggs scored 27 to lead Woodcreek (19-11) to the unexpectedly comfortable win.
There were rumblings that Central from Fresno was underseeded, but nobody could have fathomed the 12th-seeded Grizzlies coming home victorious from Mountain View with a 73-72 win over St. Francis. Central will host Menlo on Saturday in the second round of the Division I tournament.
Heritage had trouble late with another Fresno-area opponent, as Bullard rallied late before the top-seeded Patriots escaped with the 71-67 win in the Division I bracket. Junior point Ezra Manjon led the way with 22 points for Heritage, while two-time BVAL MVP Jonathan Ned scored 20 points, despite heading to the bench for a good stretch in the second half due to foul trouble.
Sequoia’s season came to an end in the first round of the Division II playoffs, dropping a 70-60 result to 10th-seeded Moreau Catholic. 27 turnovers were too much for Sequoia (22-8) to overcome after jumping out to an early 28-15 lead.
Division V had a few great games as well, with Keshad Johnson’s buzzer-beater giving 12th-seeded Envision Academy a 62-60 win over University Prep (Redding) and #4 Urban needing two overtimes to take down Mt. Shasta, 58-56.
No team lower than a 13 seed won in Northern California, but there were some close calls. Trailing by 11 in the third quarter, St. Mary’s-Stockton, seeded second in Division II, came back for a 62-59 win over Sunnyside-Fresno, taking the lead in the final minute on Bryce Johnson’s pull-up jumper. St. Mary’s (24-8) got 22 points from Jamar Marshall, 16 from Carson Simi and 15 from Johnson. In Division III, third-seeded University needed three overtimes to fend off Patterson, with Spencer Spivy scoring 45 for the Red Devils in an 85-83 thriller. After an offensive rebound, Spivy scored the winning basket with eight seconds left. Two top seeds had close calls, with Heritage holding on for a 71-67 win over Bullard in Division I after leading by as much as 17 and Santa Cruz squeaking out a 65-60 win over Weston Ranch in Division IV.
In Southern California, 15th-seeded Taft beat Torrey Pines in Division II, 81-74 in overtime. Two years ago, Taft was the top seed in the field and lost in the first round to Temecula Valley.
