The parity in CCS girls' basketball was shown on Friday night when Mitty upset St. Ignatius to tie the Wildcats for the WCAL title. SI is ranked No. 3 in the nation according to MaxPreps.
SI is still seeded No. 1 in the CCS Open Division and will begin its post-season journey against No. 8 Palo Alto at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Oak Grove High. Meantime, No. 3 seed Mitty will meet Eastside College Prep at 5:30 p.m. at Christopher. The Monarchs have already defeated the Panthers this season.
"On any given night anyone can win," Mitty coach Sue Phillips said. "The beauty is that everyone in the Open goes to NorCals so it's a chance to grow your team and try to win every game."
Other Open first-round games are No. 2 Pinewood vs. No. 7 Valley Christian at 7:30 p.m. at Christopher and No. 5 Sacred Heart Cathedral vs. No. 4 Scotts Valley at 5:30 p.m. at Oak Grove. Scotts Valley defeated Mitty last season in the Open prompting that P-word (parity) again.
In Division I, North Salinas is the top seed and gets two byes, as does No. 2 Menlo-Atherton, No. 3 Piedmont Hills and No. 4 Silver Creek. North Salinas won it all last season and has a veteran team.
Presentation had a sub-.500 record overall and in the rugged WCAL, but got the No. 1 seed in D-II and gets two byes, along with No. 2 Westmoor, No. 3 St. Francis and No. 4 Mountain View.
"We feel good about it," Presentation coach Wade Nakamura said on the NFHS seeding show. "We said to ourselves wherever the chips fell. ... if we're in the Open we'll compete, but we'll be just as happy playing in Division II. Earning the top seed in Division II is fantastic."
Neither is Westmoor coach Mike Keough too disappointed with the No. 2 seed.
"We feel good," Keough said. "We would have liked to have gotten No. 1, but we're comfortable at No. 2."
Keough is hoping his second-best player, Kasey Liang, recovers from a high ankle sprain in time to be effective. His best player is guard Yazmeen Goo, a University of Alaska-Anchorage commit.
Hillsdale, under first-year coach Mike Ciardella, missed out on a PAL-South title but earned the No. 1 seed in D-III. Other top seeds who get two byes are No. 2 Notre Dame-San Jose, No. 3 Saratoga and No. 4 Mills. Hillsdale is led by sophomore Raichel Tjan.
Notre Dame-Belmont lost all its league games until upsetting Presentation in the WCAL finale. But the Tigers shined in non-league play and got the No. 1 seed in D-IV. They get two byes, along with No. 2 Menlo led by Hannah Paye, No. 3 Soquel and No. 4 King's Academy. Notre Dame is paced by Emma Pastorino and Cam McNab.
St. Francis-CCC is the No. 1 seed in D-V and is awarded two byes, along with No. 2 Notre Dame-Salinas, No. 3 Stevenson and No. 4 Andrew Hill in a division that may just come down to Monterey Bay entrants SF vs. Notre Dame-Salinas.
