NCS basketball playoffs 2024: Saturday’s top storylines, surprises, game recaps
St. Patrick-St. Vincent, seeded 10th, stuns No. 2 Cardinal Newman. American's Cinderella story halted by Benicia. Northgate girls upset Miramonte.
TOP STORYLINES: PARTY CRASHER
St. Patrick-St. Vincent didn’t get any favors from the North Coast Section selection committee. A 17-win regular-season that included three losses to Northern California’s top-ranked team, Salesian — twice in league play, once in the league tournament — merited only a No. 10 seed in the Division II bracket for the Vallejo private school. Turns out, that seed was bad news for Cardinal Newman. The Santa Rosa school won 25 regular-season games and beat Washington-Fremont in the first round of NCS. But Cardinal Newman’s season is now over, the second-seeded team having its party crashed at home on Saturday night against St. Patrick-St. Vincent, 42-37. SPSV is not only a victory away from the final but also a spot in the Northern California regionals. The Bruins will be back on the road Wednesday, this time against sixth-seeded Benicia, a 51-37 winner over 14th-seeded American on Saturday.
SURPRISES
Well, would you believe that SPSV was now the lowest-seeded team to advance on Saturday? In Division VI boys, 12th-seeded Napa Christian advanced with an 89-85 victory over fourth-seeded Point Arena. … In Division II girls, sixth-seeded Northgate triumphed in dramatic fashion, edging third-seeded Miramonte 39-37.
GAME DETAILS
Division II boys
No. 4 Moreau Catholic 56, No. 5 Alameda 51: Jalen Arnold scored 12 points and Dominic Walker and Andrew Placido each scored nine points to lead Moreau to a close victory at home over Alameda in a quarterfinal game. The Mariners advance to play top-seeded Montgomery-Santa Rosa on Wednesday. Darren Sabedra has the game recap here.
No. 6 Benicia 51, No. 14 American 37: American’s Cinderella story is over as the 14th-seeded team, which shocked third-seeded Redwood in the first round Wednesday, fell on the road against Benicia. Jackdan Eyike scored 10 points and Jacob Edwards added nine points to lead Benicia (20-10) into the semifinals at home Wednesday against 10th-seeded St. Patrick-St. Vincent. Kiratraj Sanghera had 15 points and Jordan Bucko finished with 10 for American, which finished 18-10.
Division II girls
No. 4 Moreau Catholic 65, No. 5 Foothill 44: Moreau, playing at home in Hayward, pulled away in the second half for a comfortable victory over Foothill in a quarterfinal game. Madeline Bader (16 points), Elisa Ortega (15 points), Kylah Isidro (10 points) and Mahlaysia Atkins (10 points) scored in double figures for the Mariners (18-10), who advance to play at top-seeded Redwood on Wednesday. Riley Young scored 24 points and Beti Terpstra added 16 points for Foothill, which finished 20-9.
No. 6 Northgate 39, No. 3 Miramonte 37: Amelia Schrag nailed a shot with two seconds left to pull off the upset against Miramonte. She ended the game with 17 points, and Hana Neuman had nine points. Karena Eberts, as she had done so many times during her Miramonte career, had a big scoring night. The senior scored 13 points, and Maegan Gloria Eichenberger and Willa Mapaye scored eight each for the Matadors. Northgate will play at No. 2 Montgomery on Wednesday. — Joseph Dycus
Division IV boys
No. 2 Ygnacio Valley 64, No. 7 Marin Catholic 54: The Wolves jumped out to a 23-point lead by halftime and cruised to a semifinal matchup with Urban on Wednesday. Antonio Kellogg Jr. led YV with 15 points, and Loyal Morris scored 12. Four other Wolves scored at least eight points for Ygnacio Valley. — Joseph Dycus
ON TAP FOR SUNDAY
Rest. NCS action resumes on Tuesday with semifinal games in Divisions I, III and V.
Joseph Dycus contributed to this report.