VALLEJO, Calif. – It felt like a magical night on Saturday in Vallejo, as two teams played their best basketball for all the marbles that ended with No. 2 Branson defeating No. 1 St. Patrick-St. Vincent, 82-75, to capture the North Coast Section Division 3 title.
It was almost a wire-to-wire victory – SPSV led only once, 3-2. But the margin ebbed and flowed throughout, with Branson regularly achieving advantages of five or more points only to see the Bruins climb back up and cut it to three or fewer. In the end, a series of assisted buckets down low by George Gale proved huge and the Bulls are able to hang up their fourth NCS trophy in the last five seasons.
“We’ve been very resilient throughout the years,” Branson guard Joaquim Arauz-Moore said. “We took time to respect each other, respect the game, and work on our craft. And I think we did a really good job of growing as a team and being ready for any moment.”
Gale scored 24 points and had nine rebounds, Arauz-Moore tallied 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, and freshman Semetri “TT” Carr added another 18 points along with eight rebounds, four assists, and three blocks for Branson (25-5). Jase Butler was also key, chipping in 11 points and more importantly getting six assists, including a series of them to Gale in the fourth quarter. Carr was particularly effective in the opening frame, getting seven points, four boards, two assists, and two blocks alone.
“(Carr) did not seem like a freshman tonight,” Johnson said. “We’ve been telling him all year, if you play varsity, your mentality has to be I’m a senior. He was just amazing.”
“They’re a smaller team, so I was able to steal and get an open outlet, and Jase was really good at finding me,” Gale said.
For St. Patrick-St. Vincent (22-2), Nick Medeiros scored 24 points, including 11 in the final quarter, Jevon Blackmore added 15 points and six boards, and Josiah Jones chipped in 11 points.
“We knew they were a fast team, and they had a great game plan and we had to stay relentless,” Carr said.
After the Bruins took the 3-2 lead, the Bulls responded with a quick 7-0 run, and went ahead 16-7 before St. Patrick-St. Vincent closed the quarter on a run of their own, making it 21-18 after the first. In the second it remained close, with Gale dropping in a putback at the buzzer on an airballed desperation three to create a 38-33 advantage. In the third Branson built as much as a 10-point lead, but SPSV battled back in the latter half of the period to trail 54-51 to start the fourth.
In the fourth, the points came at a relentless pace for both sides. At the 6:32 mark, Butler fed Gale for a layup that made it 59-56; several plays later that combo worked again to result in a 66-58 score line; and with 3:51 to go, it worked to the tune of sending of Gale to the line for a pair of free throws that put Branson ahead 70-64.
SPSV wouldn’t go away, getting it to 70-67 a half a minute later, but back-to-back buckets by Arauz-Moore, a big three-pointer by Butler with 1:05 to go, and a pair of free throws by Arauz-Moore with 42 seconds left kept Branson in control and up 79-73. After that the Bruins had to be perfect or nearly so, and the Bulls did enough to prevent a last gasp comeback.
“We knew we had to be strong with the ball and be organized on the press break,” Branson coach Steve Johnson said.
Each of the teams had no trouble dusting off opponents in the first two rounds, but escaped with two-point victories in the semifinals – Branson against No. 3 Piedmont, SPSV against No. 4 Archie Williams. Branson and SPSV met for the D3 title the last time there were NCS Championships. In 2020, the seeds were reversed, and St. Patrick-St. Vincent eked out a 43-40 win at the College of Marin. In 2019 each took home a title, Branson in D4 and SPSV in D3. Branson had back-to-back D5 championship wins in 2017 and 2018.
“All year we talked about learning from each game and really transferring the energy from each game so we don’t lose anything,” Johnson added. “We need to cherish the time we have together but also get better together. That’s how we’re going to make a state run.”
