TOP STORYLINES: TWENTY IN A ROW
The good times haven’t stopped for San Mateo’s girls basketball team, which under former South San Francisco coach Paul Carion has done some pretty unique things this season — such as winning a league title for the first time since Jimmy Carter occupied the White House, It had been since 1977 that the Bearcats celebrated winning league. Now in the midst of the Central Coast Section playoffs, the magical ride of a season could have ended Saturday night at sixth-seeded Santa Clara. But it didn’t. San Mateo (22-3) won its 20th game in a row, edging Santa Clara 51-50 in overtime as Bella Fong led the way with 27 points. Held to four points in the first half, she scored 10 in the third quarter, seven in the fourth and six in overtime. Charlotte MacAvoy added 10 points for San Mateo. Nina Llamas scored 14 points to lead Santa Clara, which finished 19-6. San Mateo advances to play at third-seeded Christopher on Tuesday.
SURPRISES
It was good to be an 11 seed on Saturday. Alvarez (Division I), Leland (Division II) and Westmoor (Division III) boys and San Mateo (Division II) and Del Mar (Division III) girls — all 11 seeds — beat No. 6 seeds to advance to the quarterfinals.
GAME DETAILS
Division I boys
No. 11 Leland 50, No. 6 Gunn 47: Playing in its first game since a postgame brawl between adults on Tuesday, host Gunn was edged by upset-minded Leland. Trevor Cosgrove, a 6-foot-5 forward, scored 17 points to lead Leland, and Cyrus Zhao put in nine while Blake Hattery scored eight. Gunn senior Ethan Kitch scored a team-high 17 points, James Ford had nine points and Charlie Gibbons put in eight. — Joseph Dycus
No. 7 Leigh 63, No. 10 Fremont-Sunnyvale 52: Leigh moved on to the quarterfinals, beating visiting Fremont behind 20 points from Caleb Asante, 16 from Marko Miocinovic and 15 from Cooper Smith. The Longhorns (16-8) will play at second-seeded Los Gatos on Tuesday. Yuval Lewit scored 28 points for Fremont, which finished 20-6.
No. 8 Cupertino 45, No. 9 Milpitas 41: The Pioneers leaned on a monster performance from senior center Max Feldan to advance to the quarterfinals. Feldan had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Cupertino also got some timely shot-making from its guards, with Max Lin hitting five 3-pointers to score his 15 points, and Soham Nighojkar putting in 14 points, 13 of those coming in the second half. Cupertino (25-1) will play at No. 1 Menlo-Atherton on Tuesday. — Joseph Dycus
Division I girls
No. 6 Fremont-Sunnyvale 55, Leigh 47: Fremont’s seniors carried the Firebirds past Leigh on Saturday. Anusha Chadalavada scored 20 points, and Haley Johnson put in 15. Lauren Chu, a third senior, scored nine. Fremont (13-12) will play at No. 3 Alisal on Tuesday.
Division II boys
Willow Glen 53, No. 5 Hillsdale 51: Xavier Lowe hit a pick-and-pop 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to give Willow Glen a three-point lead. After Hillsdale hit a layup to cut the deficit to one, Willow Glen made a free throw, and then got a game-sealing steal from Lowe to send the Rams to the next round. Davian Kennedy scored a game-high 32 points for the Rams, who will play at No. 4 Wilcox on Tuesday. Willow Glen coach Anthony Cuellar told the Bay Area News Group, “The win tonight shows it takes a team to win. The win tonight shows all the dedication, commitment, and effort our guys put in for each other.” — Joseph Dycus
Division II girls
No. 5 Lynbrook 44, No. 12 Aragon 21: Lynbrook stifled visiting Aragon and got plenty of offense from its two leading scorers as the Vikings punched their ticket the quarterfinals at No. 4 seed Valley Christian. Maggie Lam made three 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and Alice Wu put in 16 points and hit two 3-pointers for the Vikings. — Joseph Dycus
Division III boys
No. 5 Pioneer 59, No. 12 Mt. Pleasant 35: Pioneer advanced to the quarterfinals with a victory at home over Mt. Pleasant as sophomore Sam Stepan scored 15 points and senior Moses Kim added 14 points. Pioneer (18-7) also got 11 points from freshman Derek Quan as it advances to play at fourth-seeded Monterey on Tuesday. Mt. Pleasant finished 17-9.
Division V girls
No. 5 Cristo Rey 53, No. 12 University Prep 35: Kimberly Flores put on a shooting display in Cristo Rey’s rout of University Prep. She made seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points. She hit three triples in the first quarter, and another trio of bombs in the fourth. Karen Figueroa tossed in a cool 18 points to complement Flores’ hot shooting. Lydia Getnet led University Prep with 16 points. Cristo will play at No. 4 Castilleja on Tuesday. — Joseph Dycus
ON TAP FOR SUNDAY
Nothing. CCS takes the day off, then returns with more basketball on Monday.
