CCS basketball playoff unveiled, top boys, girls storylines

Boys: Riordan is top dog

Nobody surprised Archbishop Riordan the highest seeds of the section within the open division. The Crusaders not only won every West Catholic athletic League game, but additionally in a historical way. Riordan scored an ideal 14: 0 and defeated the opponents of the league on average 38 points. Riordan's dominance surely brought her into the conversation as probably the greatest highschool school teams from the Bay Area. The San Francisco School is stacked at every position. Texas A & M Commit Jasir Rencher, Riordan, and the four-star junior point guard Andrew Hilman and the high-flying shooter, Ryder Bush, leads. Big men Nes Emeneke and JP Pihtovs are in the center at each ends. Santa Cruz broadcasts Kirby Seals and Senior striker John Tofi a powerful scale and central defense for the crusaders. Riordan might be accustomed to this 12 months's Open Division Bracket. Six of the eight teams within the division got here from the WCAL. At this point, the query just isn’t whether Riordan will win the Open Division or not, but how much?

– Nathan Canilao

Boys: What happens in the opposite departments

The top public schools of South Bay are in your complete bracket of the Division I. The top seed pale Alto leads the Division I Group, followed by Los Gatos No. 2 and No. 4 Mountain View. Under the direction of Senior Jorell Clark, Palo Alto became the regular season 20-4 and took second place within the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League de Anza Division. No. 5 Leigh, No. 6, Santa Teresa and No. 7 Homestead, have explosive crimes that might perform a surprise within the later rounds. … Christopher comes into the playoffs of Division II as top seeds after the 22: 2 degree. When the seeds hold on, the Cougars will compete in the ultimate against the league and No. 2 Westmont. Christopher had two competition games against the Warriors this season. … Division IV has the potential to be probably the most exciting playoff clip out of the pile. The King's Academy (20-4) was awarded the highest seed after winning the West Bay Athletic League. The knights are led by Freshman Sensation Boss Mhoon, who achieves Big Man Claxton Ladine and Shifty Guard Xavier Barnett. No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep, No. 3 Half Moon Bay and No. 2 Carmel have the potential to attain a run for the title of Division IV.

Boys

Menlo Atheron (18-6) and Milpitas (21-3) were the one public schools that made the Open Division. Ma won the Division of Peninsula Athletic League Bay and had a formidable victory over Valley Christian, who can be outdoors. Milpitas surprised many after winning the Scval de Anza Division. The Trojans are led by Isaac Sisay and Junior Guard Dylan Nguyen. … Although St. Francis only won seven games, he was awarded number 4 in Division II. The Lancers fought this 12 months and can have a tough table in the event that they should go to the semi -finals. When seeds hold, the Mountain View School plays the primary -class Christopher. … Top seed priority might be the favourite that wins the V-Klamt division. The Panthers ended the regular 18-6 season, which the King's Academy and the Menlo School won. Small Summit Shasta can be a division V. The Daly City School had a terrific 12 months and ended the regular season 21: 3.

Girls Open Division: Can Pinewood Throw down?

The Archbishop Mitty Monarchs, who corresponds to her nickname, used years within the Central Coast section about basketball within the central coast. Usually the drama is restricted and speculative movements, against which teams Mitty will end within the CIF Norcal clip or the state championship.

That has modified this 12 months. Without a superstar junior striker McKenna Woliczko, who suffered a torn ACL in January and is traveling for the season, the monarchs are more susceptible than usual.

Could Pinewood get the throne and us see? The program based in Los Altos Hills was excellent through the years, but had difficulty keeping pace with Mitys.

The deep stock of the monarchs of fantastic players kept them competitive, but without Woliczko they are usually not the identical team. Pinewood with 20-3 almost tells the identical record as Mitty (21-3).

The Panthers based in Los Altos Hills defeated Mitty for the CCS title in spring 2021 and ended a run of 5 consecutive section titles for the monarchs. Could the story repeat in 2025?

– Christian Babcock

Open department: Pool game explained

The CCS Open Division just isn’t a one-and-done proposal for boys or girls' basketball.

CCS, which lifted the proposal from the southern section of the CIF, initiated the pool game within the open bracket in 2022. The premise is logical enough: Each team routinely makes the CIF -Norcal clip, so that each one at the very least three games are guaranteed to follow the regional tournament within the CIF norcal.

In practice, nevertheless, it’s a wierd setup. The eight open division teams are divided into two four-team pods-pool A and pool B.

The winner of each pod that was determined by round-robin game meets the open championship game. But what if two or more teams are sure in the identical pool?

It gets really complicated here. The first tiebreaker is easy-to-head-to-head result.

If this doesn’t settle, the team with the bottom combined seeds from the games they won is out of the pool.

This puts plenty of pressure on the best seeds (No. 1 and a couple of), for the reason that teams that they’re faced with of their POD are and lower.

The excellent news? These things often regulate themselves-the teams are the best seeds usually a cut above.

And when you don't? All open teams will receive one other shot within the Norcal Play, which follows a regular clip setup.

– Christian Babcock

Girl

Los Gatos' Nicole Steiner (15) in the second quarter of the Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, California, on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, will make a shot against Monte Vistas Clara Fan (24). Bay Area News Group)
Los Gatos' Nicole Steiner (15) within the second quarter of the Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, California, on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, will make a shot against Monte Vistas Clara Fan (24). Bay Area News Group)

No. 1 Los Gatos (16-8) is prepared for a deep run within the I-Tournament division. The wildcats were an open division team in 2024 and might have been again this 12 months. Instead, you have got a superb shot to trace a CCS title. The Wildcats are headed by the Senior Center Nicole Steiner, who began the primary triple double in class history originally of this 12 months. Senior Ashley Childers offers one other strong presence on the front square. … the open department is all private schools. Six of eight hails from the West Catholic Athletic League, while Pinewood and Priory come from West Bay Athletic League. The teams of the Bay Area teams prove the highest seed in all six CCS clips. (14-8) In Division IV and No. 1 Castilleja (18-3) in Division V. … the women' basketball campaign will proceed to be accomplished next week. All brackets start playing on Friday. Everyone except the open game on Saturday and all six divisions will hold games next Tuesday and Thursday. All six CCS division tournaments will culminate within the championships on March 1 at Santa Clara University.

– Christian Babcock

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