Boys basketball
Archbishop Mitty’s Tim Kennedy doesn’t have to be told how tough it can be to win a boys basketball game at Serra. The longtime coach was a Padre himself in the 1990s.
Kennedy took his Mitty team to San Mateo on Saturday night with an undefeated record in West Catholic Athletic League play, having beaten the league’s three San Francisco schools (Archbishop Riordan, St. Ignatius, Sacred Heart Cathedral) and St. Francis.
Mitty, ranked second by the Bay Area News Group, ran into a defensive buzzsaw against Serra.
The Monarchs trailed 18-16 at halftime and 29-22 through three quarters.
Serra went on to win 50-41, a bounce-back victory after stunning losses the previous Saturday at Valley Christian 50-49 and at home on Wednesday against St. Francis 61-38.
No. 7 Serra improved to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in the WCAL.
Mitty fell to 11-4, 4-1.
Miles Klapper scored 23 points and Garret Keyhani finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead Serra, Brady Smith chipped in with nine points.
Aidan Burke (17 points) and Derek Sangster (13 points) scored in double figures for Mitty.
No. 10 Archbishop Riordan 64, No. 19 St. Francis 62
St. Francis, playing at home in Mountain View, seemed on its way to a second consecutive impressive victory when the Lancers took a 12-point lead into halftime against Riordan.
But the Crusaders held St. Francis to six points in the third quarter and then prevailed when King-Njhsanni Wilhite capped a 25-point performance with a layup as time expired.
Riordan is 9-5, 3-1.
St. Francis dropped to 10-6, 2-4, with two of those WCAL losses in excruciating fashion – an overtime gut-wrencher last Monday at Mitty and then Saturday’s heartbreaker.
Bellarmine 47, Sacred Heart Cathedral 33
Bellarmine had lost all five of its WCAL games heading into Saturday’s game at Sacred Heart Cathedral, the previous three by an average of 22.3 points.
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- Friday report: Miramonte boys edge Clayton Valley; SPSV tops Salesian
- Thursday report: In rematch of CCS Open final, Mitty boys beat Riordan again
- Wednesday report: Northgate boys slow down Miramonte
- Bay Area News Group boys, girls basketball rankings
The skid ended against SHC as Nick Corbett (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Theoren Brouillette (12 points) led the Bells to a much-needed victory.
Bellarmine is 8-7, 1-5. SHC fell to 4-8, 2-4.
Sunday basketball
In August, the California Interscholastic Federation suspended its bylaw that prevents schools from playing on Sunday, giving them an opportunity to make up games postponed during the pandemic.
Dougherty Valley and Granada took advantage Sunday, engaging in a tight and tense East Bay Athletic League boys basketball game.
When it ended, fourth-ranked Dougherty Valley, playing at home in San Ramon, emerged with a 76-71 victory over 16th-ranked Granada.
The Wildcats improved to 17-1, 3-1.
Granada is 11-4, 3-1.
Connor Sevilla (32 points) and Ryan Beasley (22 points) led Dougherty Valley.
Granada got 31 points from Kevin Gad, 15 points and 10 rebounds from Jonathan Mitchell and 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists from Andrew McKeever.
Elsewhere
No. 1 Campolindo stretched its winning streak to nine games with a 71-56 victory over Vanden at the Crush in the Valley showcase at Contra Costa College. Aidan Mahaney (18 points), Matt Radell (15 points) and Cade Bennett (10 points) led the way for the Cougars, who have won 34 of their past 35 games. … Bishop O’Dowd improved to 6-5, beating Sacramento 73-50 at the Crush in the Valley. The Dragons have won three in a row since losing to University at De La Salle’s MLK Classic.
Girls basketball
Sabrina Ionescu Showcase
With WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu in attendance at Carondelet for her first high school showcase, many of Northern California’s top players and teams took part in a marathon day of games.
There was some last-minute shuffling after a couple of teams withdrew.
But eight games unfolded starting Saturday morning, highlighted by Pinewood’s comeback victory over Monte Vista, Archbishop Mitty’s triumph over Folsom, Bishop O’Dowd outlasting Lick-Wilmerding, host Carondelet turning back Heritage and St. Mary’s-Stockton toppling St. Ignatius.
At the end of the long day, Carondelet’s Kelly Sopak, who coached Ionescu at Miramonte, tweeted, “Special thanks to @sabrina_i20 and her entire family for making the FIRST Sabrina Ionescu Showcase #SI20 a huge success. Her impact on OUR game has been legendary #GrowtheGame.”
To which Ionescu replied, “No, thank you!!! 1st one down, many to go!”
Here are the final scores:
Piedmont 83, Las Lomas 38
No. 18 Pinole Valley 66, Castro Valley 59
No, thank you!!! 1st one down, many to go!🙏🏼 https://t.co/iCdPLirmEF
— Sabrina Ionescu (@sabrina_i20) January 23, 2022
No. 6 Bishop O’Dowd 75, Lick-Wilmerding 63
No. 5 Pinewood 66, No. 9 Monte Vista 61
No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 68, Folsom 39
Mitty defeats Folsom 68-39 in Game 3 of the #SI20Showcase Game MVP @MorganCheli – @sabrina_i20 on hand to deliver the MVP T Shirt pic.twitter.com/ecnAeff2h1
— CalStars (@CalStars) January 22, 2022
Clovis West 70, Oakland Tech 64
No. 1 Carondelet 79, No. 10 Heritage 60
St. Mary’s-Stockton 71, No. 4 St. Ignatius 52
Girls basketball falls 79-60 to Carondelet in the SI20 Classic. Amanda Muse named game MVP after 27 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks. Ashley McNabb, Kendall McClure, Julia Wright 10 points each. We start BVAL play on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/ly7NBCW3y5
— Heritage Athletics (@HeritagePats) January 23, 2022
Elsewhere
No. 3 Salesian ran its record to 10-3, holding off Antelope 62-57 at the Crush in the Valley showcase at Contra Costa College. Ariel Anderson (13 points), Silivia Fonongaloa (12 points) and Makiah Asidanya (12 points) scored in double figures for the Pride.
