Boys basketball: Branson takes out San Rafael, sets up final against San Domenico
The North Coast Section Division III bracket feels like home to the Branson School boys basketball team.
The Bulls have reached the NCS D-III final for the third time in four years — the only exception being their one-year hiatus to test the Open Division waters last season.
Back where they seemingly belong following graduations and transfers, Branson beat San Rafael 61-52 in the NCS semifinals on Tuesday night at College of Marin.
“We’ll take it,” said Branson coach Demetrius Roquemore. “Those guys last year deserved the opportunity to play in the Open. The guys who returned really worked hard in the offseason. And it’s good for them to get back to this point.”
The top-seeded Bulls (20-10) meet No. 2 San Domenico on Friday at 7 p.m. at College of Marin. San Domenico edged Berkeley 50-47 to stamp its ticket to the NCS final.
Making its first appearance in the NCS semifinals since 2000, No. 5 San Rafael (19-10) still has something huge to play for when the Bulldogs host No. 6 Berkeley at Terra Linda High on Friday at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the CIF NorCal tournament, which starts Tuesday.
Earning its second win of the season against San Rafael, Branson needed an 8-2 run late in the third quarter to fend off the scrappy Bulldogs. Guard NJ Gray put the Bulls ahead for good, 44-43, and added a pair layups with under a minute to play in the period to push Branson ahead 50-45.
“I don’t think we took them very seriously coming out,” said Roquemore. “They came out to play like they should. Once we matched their intensity level we were able to put some runs together.”
Gray led all players with 27 points, seven assists and eight rebounds. The Bulls’ Chase Robertson and Heath French added 14 points each and combined for 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs were led by Gio Brovelli, who scored 22 points, while Wyatt Tornello and Luke Shapiro had 11 points apiece. Tornello led the team in rebounds with 11 and William Healy had eight.
The Bulldogs shook off their lower seed and an earlier loss to Branson to dominate the first quarter and led 14-5 on a nifty behind-the-back pass from Shapiro to Healy. San Rafael had leads of 18-12 after the first quarter and 34-32 at intermission before the Bulls slowly crept away primarily by pushing the ball inside.
“In the first quarter, I saw how the refs were calling the game,” said Gray, who already has scholarship offers from Cal, Stanford and Pepperdine. “They were calling a lot of fouls so I was trying to get inside and get to the line a little bit.”
The Bulls’ strategy created foul trouble for the Bulldogs, including four on Tornello before the first half ended. Meanwhile, Gray went 6 for 7 from the line in the second quarter to keep the Bulls close.
“It impacted the game in a major way,” said San Rafael coach Colin Hamilton. “The officiating was terrible.”
Hamilton was forced to call a timeout a minute into the final quarter after Gray scored for a 52-45 Branson cushion. Tyler Wells followed with a three-pointer seconds later to give the Bulls a double-digit lead for the first time in the game, 55-45.
Branson will be shooting for its 15th NCS title in boys basketball. The Bulls most recently won section championships in 2022 and 2023.
“We’re extremely excited,” said Gray. “We’re a really young team so it’s a great opportunity to try to win the NCS championship. We’re pretty confident going into the game. It should be a good one.”