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Surprise: Alameda ousts top seed SRV
Surprise? Well maybe not.
In this tale of two seasons for Alameda High, the Hornets won their 16th game in a row Tuesday night, beating San Ramon Valley 72-56 to advance to the championship game of the North Coast Section Division II playoffs. Up next will be De Anza at a time and place to be announced.
Alameda was 3-10 during the portion of the season played in 2019. But since 2020 began, it is 16-0
Alameda, which came into the playoffs seeded fifth in D-II, led 27-18 at intermission and 49-35 after three quarters. No. 1 seed San Ramon Valley, which is 20-9 and hoping for an at-large bid to the CIF NorCals next week, got within 11 points a couple of times in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets scored eight of the game’s last 11 points to seal the win.
With 16 wins in a row, Alameda coach Cameron Quick was asked if his team belonged in Division I.
“No, we were 3-10,” he said.
Alameda got its act together after a miserable performance in the Surf n Turf Tournament in San Diego, where it lost to teams from Elk Grove, Seattle and Woods Cross, Utah, all by at least nine points.
“At the beginning of the season we didn’t all buy in,” said Elijah Caliz, who led Alameda with 17 points. “Now we’re working together as a team. But we didn’t do good in the preseason. Everybody was down on us, even the kids at school.”
Alameda was impressive against San Ramon Valley. Four players scored in double figures. The Hornets were quicker, and used that quickness to beat SRV to the ball for offensive rebounds.
“We knew we had that advantage, that we were quicker,” Quick said. “That has been part of our program throughout the year.”
Joining Caliz in double figures were DeJon Marks and Jason Cibull with 15 points apiece, and Josh Niusulu with 14.
San Ramon Valley struggles without star player
San Ramon Valley has had to adjust without guard Sebastien Scott, who was lost for the season earlier this month when he tore his ACL in a game against Dougherty Valley. Scott was on the bench Tuesday night in SRV’s loss to Alameda, and his scoring clearly was missed.
The Wolves got a game-high 22 points from Tyler Isaak and 15 from Pat Deeley. But they trailed for nearly the entire game, and Alameda coasted in the second half.
San Ramon is 3-2 without Scott, and it lost the game in which he was injured against Dougherty Valley.
Another surprise: San Leandro girls upset top seed American
In a 70-62 Division I girls semifinal victory that winning coach Dennis Flannery called “a pretty stupendous thing,” No. 5 seed San Leandro led from the first basket of the second half and handed No. 1 American only its second loss of the season.
“We play well together and everyone is playing at their peak level at the right time of the year,” said Flannery, whose team has only one senior. “We were seeded No. 5, but we wanted to keep our eyes on the prize, which was to win three games. This is a special group.”
The game was tied at 35 at halftime, but the Pirates’ Tovale Tupouata, a 6-foot-1 junior, scored the first basket of the third quarter and San Leandro never trailed after that.
The Pirates (24-5) outscored American 19-7 in the third quarter.
San Leandro was 8 for 16 from 3-point range and had five players score eight points or more: Tupouata (18), Jayonnah Carter (11), Lyndsey Marrujo (nine), Mykala Pakeman (eight) and Maya Pollard (eight). None of those five players are seniors, and three are underclassmen.
“We ask everybody to give us three minutes. That’s all we ask. Then the next group comes in and gives us three minutes,” said Flannery about the team’s fast style of play and depth.
American fell to 27-2 but, given that it is a No. 1 seed, could get the section’s extra NorCal bid that will go to one of the semifinal losers in Divisions I, II or III.
Trending up: De La Salle locks in, routs Monte Vista
De La Salle and Monte Vista had met twice previously this season, with each side winning at home in competitive games. The rubber match was Tuesday in the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division I playoffs. It was not close.
Monte Vista coach Nick Jones called his first timeout 36 seconds into the game and many more thereafter.
It didn’t change the tidal wave.
Top-seeded De La Salle led by 11 after the first quarter and by 23 at halftime as it cruised into the final this weekend with a 70-38 victory.
The Spartans will play No. 2 seed Granada, a winner over No. 11 seed Deer Valley on Tuesday. The date, site and time will be announced Wednesday night.
“There have been certain games throughout the season where we have come out like that,” DLS coach Justin Agrenal said. “San Ramon Valley at home was one. Amador Valley at home was one. When this team is locked in and focused, I think we can play with anybody in the state.
“But also, at times, we have had inconsistencies and that’s why we’re in the situation which we’re in. But at the end of the day, we’re playing for an NCS championship and that’s unbelievable and the kids are excited about it.”
More DLS: Is it Chris Bunch or Bunches?
To hear Agrenal tell it, his 6-foot-6 sophomore Chris Bunch has a tendency to score his points in spurts. “His last name is Bunch, but he can definitely score in bunches,” the coach said. “When he gets hot, he’s a force for sure.”
Bunch was sizzling Tuesday.
He buried three 3-pointers in the first quarter and another in the second. He finished with 24 points.
“I come out and try to do my normal stuff, get into the flow of the game,” Bunch said. “My teammates kept feeding me and when I hit my first couple of shots, I felt it.”
Does DLS have a chip on its shoulder?
De La Salle has won three of the past four NCS Division I championships. The Spartans had hoped they’d be competing for an even bigger prize now. But they weren’t selected for the section’s inaugural six-team Open Division, left out after a 20-6 regular season that included four losses in East Bay Athletic League play.
As the top seed in a diluted D-I bracket, DLS has breezed to the final, following up a rout of College Park with the big win Tuesday.
“We feel like we can play with anybody,” Argenal said. “That’s something we talked about. Obviously, we can’t control how the committee views us or any of their thoughts. But we can control how we play.
“And I think the past two games that we’ve had in the section playoffs, we’ve been pretty focused and locked in.”
SRV thankful its star didn’t choose Carondelet
Senior Audrey Bayston had a tough decision to make when she was about to enter high school. Should she attend San Ramon Valley or Carondelet?
One good friend was headed to San Ramon Valley. Two were enrolling at Carondelet. Bayston chose SRV, and it paid off big-time Tuesday night when she scored 27 points to lead the Wolves past the Cougars 71-67 in a North Coast Section Division I semifinal.
Second-seeded San Ramon Valley will play No. 5 seed San Leandro for the D-1 title at a time and place to be determined Wednesday night. San Leandro beat No. 1 seed American to earn a spot in the title game.
Bayston’s decision on which high school to attend might have been made on a night in eighth grade when she went to watch Carondelet play SRV.
“It was 21-5 in the first half,” she recalled. “San Ramon Valley had only five points.”
The Carondelet lineup also featured four players who would go on to play collegiately.
Bayston will play in college, too. She will continue her basketball career at Colorado College, a Division III school in Colorado Springs.
“Not a lot of people know that though,” she said. “Only close friends and family.”
And the game: SRV wins thriller
Most of Bayston’s 27 points came inside. Anne Marie Santich had 17 points and Paige Gerhart scored 12. All three are seniors, and all have gone over 1,000 points for their careers, said SRV coach John Cristiano.
“I’m proud of those seniors,” Cristiano said. “They’ve worked hard for this. I’m so proud they’re going to the championship game.”
Bayston, for one, can hardly wait. The Wolves lost to American when they were freshmen, and they’ve also been beaten by Carondelet and Heritage in past NCS playoffs.
The game between SRV (25-4) and Carondelet (16-12) was well-played. It was tied at 67 with under two minutes to play, but Natalie Pasco and Santich each buried two free throws to clinch a spot in the title game.
Carondelet senior Annie Bonderer was brilliant. The 5-5 guard buried eight 3-points and scored a game-high 28 points. Jayme Blackard, another 5-5 guard for the Cougars, added 17.
