The King’s Academy’s run to a Division III state championship game last season clearly was no fluke.
The Knights are a year wiser, stronger and even more dangerous.
Now in Division I, they took advantage of an unexpected home game Thursday night, beating 16th-seeded Jesuit-Carmichael 60-49 as Scotty Beamish Jr. had 19 points and Claxton Ladine added 15 to lead the way.
Jesuit had upset top-seeded Buchanan in the first round Tuesday.
The Cinderella ride for the Sacramento-area team ended in Sunnyvale as ninth-seeded TKA built an eight-point lead by halftime and put the visitors away in the final quarter.
TKA star Boss Mhoon, held scoreless in the first half, finished with 12 points and Xavier Barnett contributed eight.
Just as they didn’t have to travel to Clovis on Thursday to face Buchanan, the Knights won’t have to go to the Central Valley town Saturday to play Clovis North.
Fifth-seeded Clovis North lost to Oakland on Thursday, which sets up an Oakland at TKA semifinal on Saturday night.
“It’ll be fun, rematch of a game we won earlier this year,” TKA coach Cameron Bradford told the Bay Area News Group in a text. “Should be a great game.”
– Darren Sabedra
No. 13 Oakland 77, No. 5 Clovis North 75, OT: Oakland proved it is not your typical No. 13 seed.
The Wildcats rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Fresno-area powerhouse Clovis North in overtime.
“At halftime, I just told them, ‘Your season can either end today or y’all can fight and get back in it.’ And they fought,” Oakland coach Orlando Watkins told the Bay Area News Group in a phone call after the game.
Freshman sensation D-Ari Bruce had 25 points, Romyn Waugh added 21 and senior leader Da’Sean Armstrong finished with 10. Bruce missed Friday’s Oakland Section championship game with a groin injury, but is fighting through as he tries to will his team to a state championship game.
“D-Ari is a dog. And when you have a dog, he always finds a way through it,” Watkins said. “He’s led us in the last two games in scoring and he looks 100%.”
Slighted by what it felt was an unfair seeding placement, Oakland has played with a chip on its shoulder, hoping to prove CIF and the rest of the state wrong. The Wildcats have now beaten two NorCal perennial powerhouses, blowing out Archbishop Mitty in their first-round game on Tuesday.
“You ask CIF, we’re not supposed to be here,” Watkins said. “We’re a No. 13 seed in Division I. But you ask anybody on my team, this is where we wanted to be, and we’re trying to prove CIF wrong.”
– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION II
No. 6 Oakland Tech 69, No. 14 Clovis 67: There’s just something about Oakland Tech and playing March.
For the second time in three days, Tech found a way in the late stages to keep its season going as the Bulldogs ended Clovis’ Cinderella run with a win at home.
“We just stayed the course,” Tech coach Karega Hart told the Bay Area News Group in a phone interview. “Bulldog basketball is all about toughness, keep fighting and continuing to work. Tonight, we got the result we wanted.”
Saddiq Alarbesh led Tech with 20 points. Brandon Woodards had 16 points and Jordan Price added 15.
Tech will play host to Amador Valley in the semifinals Saturday. Tech lost to the Dons in December at McClymonds, though both teams are vastly different now.
– Nathan Canilao
No. 7 Amador Valley 69, No. 2 Sacramento 64: Despite being undersized at nearly every position, Amador Valley found a way to defeat an uber-athletic Sacramento team on the road to advance to the semifinals.
Star guard Jaylen Smith scored 22 points, San Jose State commit Cade Krueger had 13 and crafty junior Elijah Stanley added 10.
“We hit some big shots and we were due for a good shooting night,” Amador Valley coach Willis Gardner told the Bay Area News Group in a phone interview.
The Dons have struggled to close out games all season, but have found a formula to win tight games with their season on the line. The Pleasanton school lost three heartbreakers to end the regular season, along with a close loss to Granada in the NCS Division I semifinals.
But now, the Dons have beaten Liberty, Serra and Sacramento in games that were close.
“I think my team is gritty,” Gardner said. “They play really hard each night. We’re going to throw our best shot at you, and defensively be scrappy.”
– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION III
No. 3 Cornerstone Christian 56, No. 6 Palma 46: Cornerstone Christian, a small private school in Antioch, is two wins from advancing to the state finals in Sacramento after rallying to beat Palma.
The NCS Division III champions got 18 points from James Perry and 14 from Benjamin Lukacs as they advanced to play at second-seeded Willow Glen in the semifinals on Saturday night.
Palma led 13-6 after the first quarter, 25-19 at halftime and 37-36 going to the fourth quarter. Cornerstone erupted in the final eight minutes, outscoring Palma 20-9 to put the game away.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 4 Priory 71, No. 5 Branson 57: Priory is moving on to the semifinals after getting 23 points from Kasten Eggers to win at home over Branson.
Jai Gerrodette added 15 points, Mate Palotai scored 12 and Teddy Xanthopoulos had 11 for Priory.
Branson’s N.J. Gray had a game-high 33 points, but it wasn’t enough to lift the North Bay powerhouse.
Priory will travel to top-seeded Natomas on Saturday. The Portola Valley school is trying to win its second consecutive state championship after capturing the Division V title last season.
– Nathan Canilao
No. 1 Natomas 73, No. 9 San Lorenzo 62: San Lorenzo’s dream season has come to an end. The Grizzlies couldn’t keep up with top-seeded Natomas as they fell on the road.
Despite the loss, the future is bright for San Lorenzo. The Grizzlies are slated to return star guard Ronnie Selleaze as well as freshman standout Toby Merchant Jr.
San Lorenzo made it to the NCS semifinals and won a NorCal playoff game, beating Venture Academy on Tuesday.
– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION IV
No. 5 Half Moon Bay 56, No. 13 Sanger West 54: Gio Garduno-Martin scored 22 of his 31 points in the second half as HMB, playing at home, won a quarterfinal thriller.
The Cougars also got 11 points from Owen Perez and eight from Levi Meighan to advance to play host to eighth-seeded Marysville on Saturday for a berth in next week’s NorCal final.
“We played tough,” HMB coach John Parsons said in a text. “It was a wild ending. Lots of loose balls, crazy sequences but did enough to get it done. Our guy Gio stepped up.”
HMB improved to 18-11. Sanger West finished 30-5.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 11 Burlingame 52, No. 14 Bret Harte 38: Burlingame advanced to the semifinals as Lucca Maher scored 18 points and Jean-Luc Uharriet finished with 10 to lead the host Panthers.
The home side led 22-16 at halftime and 35-22 through three quarters.
Burlingame won’t have to travel far for its semifinal as the Panthers will face second-seeded Sacred Heart Prep for a spot in the NorCal final.
It will be the first meeting between the Peninsula schools since 2017.
– Darren Sabedra
GIRLS
DIVISION I
No. 5 Priory 45, No. 13 Clayton Valley Charter 44: With its season on the line, Priory turned it on in the third quarter and prevailed in a nail-biter at home in a quarterfinal.
Clayton Valley led by 13 points at halftime but was outscored 17-4 in the third quarter to turn the game into a back-and-forth battle down the stretch.
Sasha Johnson and Ugreat Daniels were terrific for Priory. Johnson finished with 16 points, four steals and three rebounds and Daniels added 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Lucy Guitron had 15 points for Clayton Valley, all on three-pointers. Ella Scott added 11 for CVC, which finished its season 23-10.
Priory (23-6) advances to play at top-seeded Clovis in the semifinals Saturday.
– Darren Sabedra
No. 6 Central East 51, No. 3 Piedmont 49: Piedmont seemed well on its way to a spot in the semifinals after outscoring visiting Central East 19-4 in the first quarter.
By halftime, though, it was clear this game would be no cakewalk.
Central East outscored Piedmont 24-3 in the second period, setting a tone for what turned out to be a win for the visitors from Fresno.
Sophomore Andrea Martin scored 22 points and freshman Alexa Ba had 13 points to lead Piedmont, which finished 22-5.
— Darren Sabedra
DIVISION II
No. 8 Salesian 49, No. 1 McClatchy 46: Salesian traveled to Sacramento and eliminated the top seed in the bracket as Angelina Pantoja scored 13 points and Ezra Palec added 11 to lead the Pride.
The visitors outscored McClatchy 14-6 in the fourth quarter to secure a spot in the semifinals on Saturday at Oakland Tech.
Oriannah Birden had 13 rebounds, three assists and six points and Faith Thompson had 12 rebounds, four assists and six points to help Salesian improve to 23-10.
— Darren Sabedra
No. 4 Oakland Tech 70, No. 8 Del Oro 54: Oakland Tech is moving on to the semifinals after handedly defeating Del Oro at home.
After starting the season 5-8, Tech has won 15 of 17 games behind excellent play from Division I-bound stars Jhai Johnson
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– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION III
No. 4 Valley Christian 45, No. 12 Los Gatos 43: In a game that was tight from start to finish, host Valley Christian prevailed behind 17 points from Kenedi Nomura to advance to the semifinals.
Valley led 23-20 at halftime and 37-36 going to the fourth quarter but found away to hold on for a date Saturday at home against eighth-seeded Scotts Valley, a 45-42 winner over Notre Dame-Belmont.
Anaya Bannarbie added 11 points and Evelyn Gittens finished with 10 to help lead Valley, which improved to 14-15.
Sophie Riese had 12 points for Los Gatos, which finished 21-8.
– Darren Sabedra
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