Coaches and fans alike lament the California high school basketball schedule, which was shortened significantly last season, but there’s beauty in the chaos that’ll unfold over the next 48 hours in the Central Coast Section. Every league except for the PAL and SCCAL will play on Tuesday night, and roughly 16 hours after those games conclude, league representatives will meet at the CCS office in San Jose to place teams across six brackets.
Between now and then, there’s still a handful of make-or-break games to be played that will have ramifications up and down the entire section, covering every possible league and playoff division. Those contests will cover the vast expanses of the region, from San Francisco deep into Monterey County.
The three-way tie in the WCAL comes down to the final night of league play, though fans will partially be able to avoid getting their attention compromised thanks to staggered start times. Top-ranked Mitty (19-4, 10-3 WCAL) heads to 15th-ranked Valley Christian (9-14, 1-12) at 4 p.m., when the Warriors will honor their two seniors, Aleksa Jovanovic and Justin Morgan. A game that will be written off by most, Valley has acclimated to the rigors of the WCAL and is coming off a win over a St. Ignatius team that knocked off the Monarchs a week earlier.
The other two games with title implications are set to tip off at 7:30, and even with Senior Night ceremonies, they should start on time as they won’t be preceded by any junior varsity or freshman games as the lower-level teams concluded their seasons on Friday. Third-ranked Riordan (19-4, 10-3) will host 10th-ranked Sacred Heart Cathedral (9-14, 4-9) after honoring a senior class headlined by Je’Lani Clark, the winningest player in program history and the holder of the school record for most starts, Bryce Monroe and Dominic Wilson.
While both the Crusaders and Monarchs will be heavily favored in their games, it may be a much tougher road for Bellarmine (20-3, 10-3) in the other 7:30 game. The second-ranked Bells will be looking to avenge an earlier loss to eighth-ranked St. Francis (14-9, 6-7), a task that’ll be far easier said than done. Yes, Bellarmine has won in Mountain View in three consecutive years, including one two years ago that clinched an outright WCAL title, but it’ll be a completely sold out game preceded by a ceremony in which the Lancers will honor a senior class that’s already led them far above and beyond expectations.
In a program that’s had no shortage of talent but has seen chemistry issues in recent years, this season has been something of a renaissance for St. Francis, with a balance of sophomores, juniors and seniors coming together. The quartet that will be honored Tuesday night has done a remarkable job of not only holding the team together but winning a few games in the process. On any gives night, one of Ryan Daly, Trevor Leon, Nolan Nepomuceno or Kyle Rosecrans is bound to step up to lead the Lancers with clutch performances to go alongside a high-flying sophomore class led by Harlan Banks and Isaiah Kerr. Also among the youngsters on the roster is Vince Barringer, whose outside shooting ability stands out on a roster full of players who knock down shots from the outside with ease, and John Frazier, a center who’s largely been behind Daly on the depth chart but could be needed against a Bellarmine team with tremendous strength in the middle, highlighted by Ian Elam and Ryan Kiachian. After a lull in his performance midway through the season, the 6-foot-9 Kiachian’s been on fire as of late, with four straight double-digit games, serving as the Bells’ high scorer in the last two.
The 6 p.m. game between 11th-ranked St. Ignatius (8-15, 3-10) and fourth-ranked Serra (16-7, 8-5) is the only one not to affect the league championship, but it could very well be the most competitive game of the night and will almost certainly be the most intense. A rivalry that’s seen more than its share of cutthroat moments in recent years, the Wildcats will look to beat the Padres on their home floor in the Beach Game for a fourth consecutive year. That’ll all depend on which SI team shows up, though. If the one that won three of five games and was a blown call away from winning a fourth comes to play on Senior Night, there’s a very real chance the Wildcats continue their mastery of Serra at home. If the one from the last week shows up, it could be a long night for a crowd that’s seen its team win just one home game in league play. After 23 games, St. Ignatius may be the hardest team to prognosticate, not just in the WCAL, but perhaps in the entire section or perhaps even all of Northern California.
With five of its eight teams ranked in the top eight spots in the section in our latest CCS Boys Basketball Rankings, it’s easy to see why so much attention is on the WCAL every single night, and while Tuesday will be no exception, there are a few other high-level league races coming down to their final night as well.
13th-ranked Carmel (20-3, 10-1 PCAL Gabilan) entered the season as a potential Open Division team, and while the Padres may need a few things to fall their way to crack the field, the first and largest task they’ll need to complete is to win a second consecutive PCAL Gabilan title, one that they were pegged for when the season began. However, they’ll only be playing for a share of it, and in order to claim said share, they’ll need to avenge a home loss to 16th-ranked Palma (19-4, 11-0). The teams have run roughshod over the rest of the league, but it’s the Chieftains who enter the final night of league play with a one-game lead after stealing a 44-43 road win on Jan. 23, a game in which they held Kai Lee to just five points.
The other top league up for grabs is the BVAL Mt. Hamilton, where there’s a two-way tie for first, a third team with an outside shot and tons of seeding in the Division I bracket to be hammered out. 17th-ranked Evergreen Valley (19-3, 11-2 BVAL Mt. Hamilton) and 18th-ranked Piedmont Hills (18-5, 11-2) are tied after splitting their regular season series, with the Cougars settling the score with a 75-66 road win on Friday. The Pirates will host rival Independence (14-9, 6-7) at 7 p.m. for their Senior Night, and while they’re comfortably ahead of the 76ers in the standings, they had to slog out a 37-32 win when the teams first met three weeks earlier. For Evergreen Valley, Senior Night will come against 19th-ranked Santa Teresa (18-5, 10-3), a team led by the unstoppable Mahmoud Fofana, who averaged 22.5 points and 14.4 rebounds in his first 22 games (his stats from Friday’s win at Sobrato are not yet available).
Both of the lower divisions of the BVAL will go down to the final night as well. The Santa Teresa Division, which is simply meant to confuse as Santa Teresa doesn’t currently play in the division, will see the Saints’ rival, Oak Grove (16-7, 10-3) try to wrap up at least a share of the title at Yerba Buena (3-20, 1-12). While the Aztec Warriors sit at the bottom of the standings, they only lost by nine when the teams first squared off and will be fired up to win on Senior Night as they honor their leaders and top scorers, Aldo Barragan and Jorge Ruiz.
Meanwhile, Pioneer (13-10, 10-3) will hit the road to try to handle Branham (9-14, 6-7) in a game where both teams will have enormous rewards to play for. After posting a sub-.500 nonleague record and starting BVAL play 2-7, the Bruins looked to be done for but have since rattled off four straight wins to turn their slim playoff hopes into a real possibility, avenging earlier losses to Prospect and Westmont with consecutive two-point wins in their last two games, saving their season with Isaiah Burr’s three at the buzzer on Friday night. The Mustangs will, of course, be playing for at least a share of the league title, and if both they and the Eagles win, they’ll be dead even on every single tiebreaker, creating a true co-championship and causing headaches on Wednesday as the seeding committee will have to decide which team to place first in Division II.
Even the ‘C’ division of the BVAL, the West Valley, will come down to the final game as Del Mar (15-5, 13-0) makes the trek down to Morgan Hill to face Live Oak (18-5, 12-1). Both teams have run comfortably through the rest of league play, winning each other game by at least 11 points, but a 77-70 Dons win three weeks ago currently serves as the difference, a game in which Fabian Reichstadt scored 29.
The WBAL is still up for grabs, with the two Valparaiso Avenue schools tied for first with one game to go. Seventh-ranked Menlo (19-4, 12-1) should have little trouble with Crystal Springs Uplands (9-14, 2-11) in a 6:30 p.m. game in Hillsborough, but sixth-ranked Sacred Heart Prep (20-3, 12-1) might not have such an easy time with Woodside Priory (17-6, 10-3). Yes, the Gators handed the Panthers a 56-31 beatdown the first time the two teams met, but Priory has since won six of seven, with the only loss coming by two to Menlo after losing by 20 to the Knights the first time the teams met.
The one other league championship up for grabs is in the PSAL, one of just two leagues in the section to play an end-of-season tournament. With the playoffs set to begin on Friday, it’s been a whirlwind for some of the smallest schools in the section as they played both Saturday and Monday. The championship is set for 7:30 p.m., with North Division co-champ Pacific Bay Christian (24-2) hosting third-place Nueva (18-9). The Eagles won a pair of tight meetings in the regular season, taking the first 40-35 at home and winning the second 61-59 in overtime to spoil the Mavericks’ Senior Night behind 22 points from Diego Sotto and 19 from 6-7 senior Dwight Bumgarner.
Ninth-ranked Palo Alto (19-4, 11-0 SCVAL De Anza) has already locked up a league title, and while the Vikings have slim chances to get in the Open Division, they’ll need to hold up their end of the deal to be in the discussion, with the unenviable task of a trip to Cupertino (11-12, 4-7) to close out the regular season. The Pioneers are 9-3 at home on the year, and two of those losses were in the first week of the year to Bellarmine and Sequoia, teams now ranked second and 14th in the section, respectively. On top of that, Palo Alto barely scratched out a 45-42 win when the teams first met all the way back on Jan. 3 to open league play, with 17 points from Matt Marzano. Conner Lusk scored 12 in that game but has since been lost to a fractured elbow, though the Vikings didn’t have Jamir Shepard in that initial bout.
The teams placed third through sixth in the league standings are separated by just a single game, and with all of them set to play in the Division I bracket, there are enormous playoff implications across the league on Tuesday night, not only at Cupertino but in the other two games as well. Homestead (13-10, 5-6) sits alone in third place for the moment but has to pay a visit to Milpitas (12-11, 4-7) in a game featuring teams that are peaking at the right time, each having won three of their last four with only a loss to Palo Alto in between. The Mustangs are now ranked 25th in the section as a reward for their strong play, and the Trojans have been a joy to watch as of late, with five of their 11 league games so far coming down to the final possession.
The other game is perhaps the biggest rivalry to be played outside of the WCAL in the section’s final night of regular season action, with 20th-ranked Los Altos (19-4, 8-3) hosting Mountain View (13-10, 4-7). Both teams have been slumping as of late, with the Spartans dropping four straight and the Eagles doubling their loss total for the season in the past 11 days to end any hopes of a league title, but it’ll be a phenomenal crowd on Tuesday night and a chance for both teams to head to the postseason on a high note. It was a thriller when the teams first tangled all the way back on Jan. 3, with Brock Susko scoring 18 to lead the Eagles to a 51-49 road win.
In the El Camino Division, Santa Clara (17-5, 10-2) already locked up the outright league title and can spend the night relaxing, having already concluded the regular season on Friday with a win over Gunn (9-14, 5-6). The Titans have to win their regular season finale to reach the playoffs, a home game against cellar-dwelling Monta Vista (2-19, 1-10). The Matadors finally got a league win on Senior Night this past Friday, 49-46 over Fremont (11-12, 4-7).
On a night where so many games will have gigantic crowds, one that could easily fly under the radar will be a nonleague contest that could make or break a team’s season. Currently 4-5 in nonleague play, Pacific Grove (9-14) is in must-win territory at home against Stevenson (17-6). The Pirates are co-champs of the second tier of the PCAL, the Mission Division, while the Breakers are fifth in the Gabilan Division. While the other Gabilan teams will play league games, including the aforementioned Carmel-Palma clash to decide the league title, the bye on the final night of the regular season happened to land on PG, and it just so happens that the Breakers will be playing for their lives on their home floor.
With so much at stake, the folks here at Prep2Prep will be working hard to deliver updates, stories and projections in a timely manner, with the goal of posting a final round of projections by Wednesday morning before the seeding meeting. In order for this to happen, fans and coaches need to promptly report scores on Tuesday night. Participation by all will be greatly appreciated to help share news up and down the Central Coast on what should be a magical and memorable night on the hardwood!
