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Opportunity is knocking for the Eastside Prep girls and Woodside Priory boys in the Central Coast Section basketball playoffs. The question for both is: will they answer the call?
Of the five local teams playing for championships this weekend, only the Panthers from EPA and Portola Valley have yet to hoist a section banner. The Eastside Prep girls, in fact, will be making their first-ever appearance in the section title game.
Both Division V teams are riding lengthy streaks into the section finales on Saturday at Foothill College. Top-seeded Eastside Prep has won 22 straight while top-seeded Priory has captured 16 straight.
The Eastside girls (28-1) will try to keep their streak alive first, taking on No. 3 St. Francis-Central Coast Catholic (22-7) at noon. The Priory boys (24-4) will follow against No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep (18-8) at 2 p.m. The finalists already have clinched berths in the CIF NorCal playoffs that begin Tuesday.
Also headed for NorCals are the Menlo-Atherton and Menlo boys. The No. 2-seeded Knights (22-7) will be seeking their first section title since 1991 against No. 1 and defending champion Palma (20-7) on Friday in the Division IV finals at San Jose State at 4:45 p.m. The No. 3-seeded Bears (21-9) will be hoping to end an even longer drought when they face top-seeded Mitty (28-1) in the Division II finals Saturday at Santa Clara University at 8 p.m. Menlo-Atherton last won a section crown in 1989.
M-A has the chance to pull one of the biggest upsets in CCS history against a Mitty unit that has suffered an unusual rash of injuries this season, including a season-ending foot injury to UCLA-bound Drew Gordon. Still, nationally No. 9-ranked Mitty is deep, has an abundance of talent and is on a mission to seize a state crown.
The Bears welcome the challenge and are playing arguably their best basketball of the season.
“Mitty’s big and they can shoot from the outside,” said M-A first-year coach Phillip White. “We’ve played some big teams. Mitty’s good and we’ll have to match their intensity.”
M-A reached the finals by holding off No. 2 St. Francis, 63-58, in the semifinals on Tuesday at Foothill College. Junior guard Peter DeFilipps pumped in 23 of his game-high 27 points and junior forward Sam Knapp grabbed 10 of his game-high 17 rebounds in the first half as the Bears took a 35-24 halftime lead. DeFilipps scored 17 of M-A’s first 20 points.
Up 41-26 midway through the third quarter, St. Francis produced a 20-2 run to grab a 46-43 lead early in the fourth quarter. After both schools kept close to one another for the majority of the fourth quarter, Knapp connected on a six-foot fadeaway jumper from the baseline to give the Bears a 58-52 lead with 1:39 left.
After St. Francis cut the lead to 59-58 with 12 seconds left, M-A senior guard Austin Raub (who played sparingly) calmly nailed a pair of free throws to give M-A a 61-58 advantage with 9.5 seconds remaining. Senior guard Richard Branning iced the game with two free throws to finish with 12 points.
“This was huge for our program,” said White. “Some of these guys didn’t play last year. These guys have grown up.”
Menlo reached Friday’s finale by pounding No. 3 Valley Christian-San Jose, 68-54, on Tuesday at Hartnell College in Salinas. Menlo raced to a 39-33 halftime lead, but saw that advantage whittled to 46-45 after three quarters.
The combination of pin-point free-throw shooting and stingy defense helped Menlo outscore Valley Christian, 22-9, in the final quarter to secure the win. Senior guard Garrett Cohen and junior center Will Tashman led Menlo with 19 and 15 points, respectively. Tashman also grabbed 14 rebounds. Senior forward Max Frye netted 14 points for the Knights. Menlo shot 43 percent from the floor and made 25 of 30
free throws in one of the best games since coach Kris Weems took over the program four years ago.
“We haven’t always been able to peak at the right time of the year,” said Weems, “but we may be doing that now. We will see Friday.”
The Division V finalists are no strangers as Woodside Priory and Sacred Heart Prep will battle for the third time in less than two months. Woodside Priory beat the Gators, 66-52 and 49-45 this season.
Saturday’s matchup will be interesting with Woodside Priory missing 6-9 junior forward Dinko Marshavelski, who is out for the season due to a foot injury suffered three weeks ago. His absence hampers the Panthers’ inside game and that was evident on Wednesday in Woodside Priory’s odd 28-20 triumph over PSAL rival and No. 5 seed Pinewood (13-13) in the semifinals at Santa Clara High.
Pinewood led 17-6 at the half by being patient and holding Woodside Priory to just 2-of-22 shooting. Yet, Woodside Priory came out of the locker room and made its first six shots en route to a key 14-0 run and a 20-17 lead.
Pinewood scored just three points in the second half on 1-of-16 shooting and was shut out in the third quarter. Priory started attacking the basket better in the second half and, along with its stubborn defense, was able to withstand a potentially huge upset.
“We talked about it being a 32-minute game,” said Woodside Priory coach Al Klein. “We were more aggressive in the second half. On Saturday, we have to put the ball in the basket.”
With the game tied 20-20 with 6:18 left, Woodside Priory scored the game’s final eight points to advance to the finals. Woodside Priory shot 25 percent (10 of 40) from the field while Pinewood was just 8 of 35 (23 percent).
Sacred Heart Prep had an easier time in the semifinals after pounding No. 7 St. Thomas More, 65-47. The Gators led 23-8 before the Knights cut the margin to 32-28 at the half. The Gators’ speed, strength and swarming defense were too much in the second half. Senior guard Christian Buono led the Gators with 23 points and junior Alex Baloff added 14.
Sacred Heart will be seeking its third CCS title in the team’s history and second in here years. The Gators last won in 2006. This will be their seventh appearance in the finals.
Girls
Eastside Prep advanced to its first section title game eliminating No. 4 Castilleja, 49-37, in the semifinals Wednesday in Watsonville.
Castilleja (19-6) figured it had a good chance to knock off the top-seeded Panthers, but fell behind by 16-0 in the first quarter and was forced to play catch up from there. The Gators responded and got to within 34-32 in the fourth quarter before sophomore Felicia Anderson hit back-to-back three-pointers for Eastside Prep. Anderson led the Panthers with 16 points and senior Sam Bunch added 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Castilleja sophomore Eve Zelinger scored nine points to become the third player in school history to score 900 career points. Senior Lindsay Taylor played her final game for Castilleja and led the team with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Eastside prep had hoped to face 10-time defending champion Pinewood in the finals, but No. 2 Pinewood (19-10) suffered a 45-40 upset to host St. Francis-Central Coast Catholic.
Pinewood’s 10-year reign as a CCS champion came to an end in shocking fashion. The Panthers (19-10) had a shot to tie with 22.4 seconds to play and trailing by 43-40 when junior Lindsay Nickel — she finished with 18 points — took a clean three-pointer from the top of the key that missed. Teammate Hailie Eackles, however, grabbed the rebound and and fired a pass to fellow freshman Kelsey Morehead. But, she too, missed from three-point range before time ran out.
Pinewood actually trailed by 11-0 after one quarter, likely the first time the Panthers have ever gone scoreless like that. Pinewood stepped it up the next two quarters to trim its deficit to 31-28 entering the fourth period. The Panthers got to within 41-39 with 1:26 left after Morehead made a big three-pointer. That, however, was as close as the Panthers got.
In the Division II semifinals, No. 3 Gunn (26-3) had its best season ever end in a 52-43 loss to SCVAL De Anza Division champ and No. 2 Wilcox on Tuesday at Oak Grove High. All three of Gunn’s losses this season were at the hands of Wilcox.
“Wilcox is very talented and well-coached,” said Gunn coach Sarah Stapp, who in two years has guided Gunn to a 36-14 record. “We accomplished a lot and have a lot to look forward to.”
Gunn started its magical season with 16 straight wins and set numerous schools records in a season that was beyond expectations.Â
On Tuesday, Wilcox led Gunn 35-18 at the half by taking advantage of Gunn miscues. The Chargers turned 11 turnovers into 24 points. Gunn produced a 19-9 spurt to cut the margin to 44-37 and got within 46-41 with a minute to play.
Junior guard Jasmine Evans led Gunn with 15 points. Senior center Neva Hauser concluded her productive Gunn career with 10 points.
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