With St. Ignatius out of the way, Sacred Heart Cathedral needs just one victory for a CCS Open Division championship, but Pinewood will be ready to go after years of Division V titles.
In Division I, top-seeded North Salinas will face Menlo-Atherton, which got by Piedmont Hills in overtime. WCAL opponents St. Francis and Presentation meet for the Division II title, while Branham squares off against Hillsdale in Division III. Menlo School versus Notre Dame-Belmont, and Notre Dame-Salinas versus St. Francis CCC round out the CCS slate.
OPEN DIVISION
No. 2 Pinewood (24-2) vs. No. 5 Sacred Heart Cathedral (16-10)
Friday at Santa Clara University, 6:00
Pinewood defeated No. 7 Valley Christian and No. 6 Eastside College Prep, 47-45. Read the game story on our site.
Sacred Heart Cathedral defeated No. 4 Scotts Valley and No. 1 St. Ignatius, 53-50. This game story is also available.
The Final: These teams met on December 20 in the Presentation Shootout, with Pinewood winning, 61-48. But similar margins against Valley Christian-San Jose (Pinewood +23, Sacred Heart Cathedral +17, +14) and Scotts Valley (Panthers +3, Fightin’ Irish +8) and Sacred Heart’s inspiring victory over St. Ignatius, not to mention both teams’ pedigrees suggest it could easily go either way. Pinewood is strong from distance but the Fightin’ Irish have some quick and tenacious guards. Sacred Heart Cathedral has a star in the post in A’shanti Coleman; the Panthers have a freshman standout in Stella Kailahi to battle, but her status is unknown after she went down with an injury on Tuesday. Prediction: Sacred Heart Cathedral by five.
DIVISION I
Saturday at Santa Clara University, 6:00
No. 1 North Salinas (23-2) vs. Menlo-Atherton (24-5)
North Salinas defeated No. 8 Homestead and No. 4 Silver Creek, 57-41. Alyssa Springs led the Vikings with 13 points.
Menlo-Atherton defeated No. 7 Carlmont and No. 3 Piedmont Hills in overtime, 55-52. Greer Hoyem tallied 20 points and 16 rebounds, and the Bears survived after Piedmont Hills made a fourth quarter comeback, as detailed by Glenn Reeves.
The Final: Menlo-Atherton, despite being the lower seed, has a good chance. The Bears beat Homestead by 19 back in December, while North Salinas won by eight in the playoff match. It also bodes well that Menlo-Atherton defeated Palo Alto by seven and lost to Presentation by 11 while North Salinas lost to Scotts Valley by 27. Still, North Salinas’s record speaks for itself. Prediction: Menlo-Atherton by two.
DIVISION II
Saturday at Santa Clara University, 2:00
No. 1 Presentation (12-13) vs. No. 3 St. Francis (12-14)
Presentation defeated No. 9 Leland and No. 5 Los Gatos, 44-40 in overtime. St. Francis defeated No. 6 Pioneer and No. 2 Westmoor, 40-33.
The Final: The home team won each head-to-head. Presentation had a 48-43 win and St. Francis came away with a 38-34 defeat. The Lancers’ Daisha Abdelkader had 16 points and 10 blocks in the former, and Jenesis Merriman had 12 points and 12 boards in the latter. St. Francis has a slightly better mark with common opponents, 5-10 versus 3-9. The Lancers also downed Sacred Heart Cathedral, but most margins favor Presentation; for instance against St. Ignatius it’s an average loss of 34 for St. Francis and 14 for Presentation, and against Mitty it’s 27.5 for the Lancers, 14.5 for the Panthers. Prediction: Presentation by four.
DIVISION III
Saturday at Independence High School, 6:00
No. 1 Hillsdale (20-8) vs. No. 6 Branham (20-7)
Hillsdale defeated No. 8 Terra Nova and No. 5 Gunderson, 41-32. Caelynn Huang paced the Knights with 14 points. Branham defeated No. 3 Saratoga, No. 10 Sobrato, and No. 2 Notre Dame-San Jose 53-47. Regina Sankey was one of three Bruins in double figures, with 15.
The Final: Hillsdale did better against both Live Oak and Sequoia (each won, but in each case Hillsdale’s margin was 10 more than Branham’s). The Knights beat Gunderson twice by an average of seven, while the Bruins won by six and lost by nine). Regina Sankey has had a great playoff run thus far and she’s the reason an upset is possible. Prediction: Hillsdale by seven.
DIVISION IV
Saturday at Independence High School, 2:00
No. 1 Notre Dame-Belmont (13-13) vs. No. 2 Menlo School (18-8)
Notre Dame defeated No. 8 Monte Vista Christian and No. 4 King’s Academy, 37-32. Menlo School defeated No. 7 Castilleja and No. 3 Soquel, 58-45.
The Final: Very little to compare, but each team beat Hillsdale by a similar margin (plus nine for Notre Dame, eight for Menlo), but Menlo’s bigger margins in each playoff round thus far lay the ground for an upset. Prediction: Menlo School by five.
DIVISION V
Friday at Notre Dame de Namur University, 6:00
No. 1 St. Francis CCC (18-9) vs. No. 2 Notre Dame-Salinas (19-7)
St. Francis CCC defeated No. 9 G.B. Kirby and No. 5 Oakwood, 44-22. Notre Dame-Salinas defeated No. 7 Pacific Collegiate and No. 3 Stevenson, 55-39.
