Three Empire teams heading north
Published: Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 9:28 p.m.
After the NorCal Regional baksketball playoff brackets were released early Sunday evening, three Empire coaches couldn’t gauge exactly when their seasons might end during the state’s ultra-competitive tournament.
But they did know this: Their journeys would all begin Tuesday night in Sacramento County.
After losing in the North Coast Section semifinals last week, two boys’ teams — Analy and Montgomery — and the Montgomery girls’ basketball team will travel to meet higher-seeded Sac-Joaquin Section schools in the opening round.
In the boys’ playoffs, Analy (29-2), which had its first NorCal win in school history last year, drew the No. 11 seed in the 12-team Division III bracket and will meet No. 6 Center of Antelope (26-3). Montgomery (23-7) was also given a No. 11 seed in Division II and will visit No. 6 Oakmont of Roseville (22-7).
In the girls’ playoffs, Montgomery (24-7) drew a No. 10 seed in Division II and will visit No. 7 St. Francis of Sacramento (22-8).
All games will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Each bracket with Empire schools includes 12 teams, with the top four seeds receiving first-round byes. Second-round games will be held Thursday and the regional semifinals will be held Saturday. The regional finals will be held March 20 at Arco Arena in Sacramento and the state finals are March 26-27 at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Analy coach Brett Page wasn’t thinking that far ahead Sunday night. He was too busy scrambling to track down a scouting report on Center, which lost to Vista del Lago, 69-66, in triple overtime last week in the Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals.
Center finished the regular season with a 24-2 record, but was handed a No. 6 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs due to a relatively soft schedule. The Cougars, though, quieted some skeptics with a 79-73 quarterfinal win over No. 3 Del Oro and their triple-overtime loss to Vista del Lago (28-3), which is seeded No. 4 at NorCals.
Center isn’t deep — it used six players in its triple-overtime defeat — but it has four starters averaging at least 10 points a game, led by 6-foot-8 senior center Connor Haysbert (14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds) and 6-3 senior guard Elliot Herald (14.3, 5.8). Chad Haysbert, a 6-7 junior forward, is averaging 10.9 points and 8 rebounds a game.
The Cougars won the Capital Valley Conference to grab their first conference title since 1992. After setting a school record by allowing 51.7 points a game last year, they are allowing 48 this season.
Speaking shortly after he first saw the bracket Sunday night, Page didn’t know much about his opponent. But he was happy to still be coaching this season.
“To be able to keep playing is a pretty cool thing,” he said. “We’re going to go up there and give it our best shot.”
In a stroke of good fortune, Montgomery coach Tom Fitchie did some advance scouting of Oakmont on Saturday night.
Fitchie went with his son to see the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II finals at Arco Arena, a game Oakmont lost to Woodcreek, 45-44.
Fitchie went with an idea that he might be scouting his first-round foe. But he also simply wanted to watch some basketball and get home at a decent hour, which is why Woodcreek and Oakmont’s late-afternoon sarting time appealed to him.
Less appealing, however, is Oakmont’s size. The Vikings are led by 6-8 senior forward/center Tony Gill, who entered their section semifinals averaging 18.7 points and 10.5 rebounds a game.
Their lineup also includes 6-6 junior forward J.T. Adenrele (11.4 points, 9 rebounds, 3.8 blocks), 6-3 senior point guard Fred Mobley (11.8 points) and 6-2 senior guard Alex Ford (11.5). Oakmont’s starting lineup averages 6-5. Montgomery’s 6-9 junior center Ben Freeland is the Vikings’ only regular starter over 6-2.
“They are big. They’re huge,” Fitchie said. “I wouldn’t exactly call us huge. We’re going to have our hands full.”
Oakmont has snapped a five-year streak of non-winning seasons. The Vikings went 7-19 last year and had a record of 36-92 from 2005-09.
While Oakmont’s recent history has been less than stellar, the same can’t be said for the St. Francis girls’ basketball program.
The Troubadors have won seven section titles and reeled off five straight 20-win seasons, posting a 116-38 record during that span.
St. Francis entered the SJS Section playoffs as the No. 1 seed, but beat eighth-seeded Valley, 67-63, in overtime in the quarterfinals before losing to No. 3 Vallejo, 67-64, in the finals. Jolise Limcaco, a 5-6 junior guard, led Troubadors with 23 points against Vallejo.
Montgomery coach Steve Bell was surprised St. Francis was given a No. 7 seed, but wasn’t exactly quibbling with his team’s draw.
“I think all the teams are going to pretty good at this point,” he said.
Montgomery visited St. Francis in the first round of the NorCal playoffs in 2007 and won, 49-40.
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