Campolindo and Capital Christian each get to first-ever state championship
Division III
Campolindo-Moraga 50 Drake-San Anselmo 44
With the score tied 44-44 Chris Hansen hit six free-throws in the final 37.3 seconds and No. 2 seed Campolindo (28-4) advances to its first ever state championship in three Northern Regional title game appearances.
Hansen, a 6-foot-7 UC San Diego-bound senior, finished with a game-high 22 points and 17 rebounds. Scott Chen added 11 points and Austin Clarke chipped in with 10 points.
Top-seed Drake led 44-42 with 2:40 remaining off a steal and layup by Malik Huff (12 points) but the Pirates couldn’t get a call and failed to score the rest of the way. Dane Wells also had 12 points for a Drake team that is now 3-2 in NorCal title games.
The game was a back and forth affair with Campolindo leading 13-8 after one quarter and 23-22 at the half. The second half saw six lead changes and four ties before the Cougars put it away.
“To finally get a win in the NorCal championship is huge for the Campolindo community, especially after our football team won a state championship,” said Campolindo Coach Matt Watson, referring to the Cougars’ football team’s amazing and dramatic victory over El Capitan-Lakeside last December. “But you have to feel bad for Drake. They played their hearts out but someone has to go home. I’m just glad it’s not us.”
Drake Coach Doug Donnellan, whose team was looking to return to the CIF Division III state title game where they lost last year to Chaminade-West Hiils, was a bit inconsolable but gentlemanly in his frustration after his team could only draw one foul in the entire second half. “Can you believe it? One foul in the second half and two officials never called a foul for us the entire game.”
Campolindo now meet Damien-La Verne for the CIF D3 state championship this Friday at 4 p.m. at Cal-Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion.
Division IV
Fourth-seed Capital Christian got a big double-double off the bench from Marcus Fowler to advance to its first Division IV state championship in its third-straight appearance in a Northern Regional title game and fourth appearance overall.
Fowler, a 6-foot-3 junior that also plays football for the Cougars finished with a season-high 18 points and 14 rebounds. Edward Ware added 14 points and Justice-Sheldon Mosely chipped in with 11 points. All three played football for a Capital Christian team that lost to eventual CIF Division IV state champion Central Catholic-Modesto in a mid-December CIF Division IV NorCal bowl game.
“It’s a big deal to get this monkey off our back and bring this NorCal championship back home,” said Capital Christian Coach Devon Jones.
St. Mary’s led 25-22 early in the third quarter but a 9-0 run by Capital Christian gave the Cougars a 31-25 lead they never relinquished.
Eleventh-seed St. Mary’s (20-12) was led by Aren Ulmer with 12 points. Josh Allen added seven points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers are now 4-4 in NorCal title-games.
Capital Christian now meets Crespi-Encino in the Division IV state championship next Saturday at 12 noon in Berkeley at Cal’s Haas Pavilion. Crespi was a 58-54 winner over Campbell Hall-North Hollywood.
“We played Crespi last year in the summer but we really don’t know that much about them,” Jones remarked. “We know they’re a good team and we’ll have to play our best game of the season, but we plan to speed them up. You have to catch us.”
Division V
University-San Francisco 65, Brookside Christian-Stockton 50
Second-seed University turned a close game through the first two quarters into an easy victory.
After a 12-12 tie through one quarter and a 26-21 lead at halftime, University (28-7) turned on the afterburners in the third quarter to outscore Brookside 22-11 and pretty much seal the deal.
Mattie Mrlik took over in the third quarter and led University with 27 points, including 18 in the second half on 7-of-8 shooting. For the game the junior guard was 11-of-16 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range. As a team the Red Devils were 7-of-9 on three pointers in the second half. Brandon Lew added 13 points and Sean Gilmore and Noad Sebhatleab chipped in with 11 points apiece.
“It was a great team effort, great balance,” said University Coach Randy Bessolo. “In the first half we let them do the things they wanted to do but in the second half we found another level.”
For University it was its fourth Northern Regional Division V title in six appearances. The Red Devils will be trying to win a first CIF Division V state championship after coming up short in their first three tries. The San Francisco boys will be a huge underdog as their opponent will be Maxpreps and Cal-Hi Sports state No. 6 ranked Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth.
“The question is do you think they’re asking Sierra Canyon about University?” was the tongue-in-cheek answer of Bessolo when asked what he knew about Sierra Canyon.
Fourth-seed Brookside Christian (26-5) was making its first appearance in the Northern Regional championship game
“No excuses. We just got outplayed today,” remarked Brookside coach Adam Lichter.
The Knights were led by Kameron Vales and Da’vion Barlow with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
