NCS basketball: Windsor boys' playoff run meets early end

In a surprising turn of events, host No. 8 Windsor went down in defeat, 41-32, against No. 9 Redwood (Larkspur) in a first-round NCS Division 2 game Tuesday night.

The Jaguars beat Redwood 57-55 in overtime in December in a holiday tournament game and seemed to have the advantage on paper, especially playing at home. However, things didn't work out for the Jaguars.

“It was a defensive grinder. We had a few shots that we usually make that rattled out,” Windsor (20-8) coach Travis Taylor said. “We would like to still be playing, it is definitely disappointing.”

Windsor trailed 15-10 at halftime. The Jaguar's leading scorer, Riley Smith (15 points), was the only player to score in the first half. The rest of the team was cold.

Ned VanLiere led Redwood (17-11) with 12 points.

Windsor only trailed by three points at the end of three quarters but faded in the fourth quarter, getting beat 16-10.

“I thought we would be able to score more. I think we ran out of gas (towards the end of the season), our lack of depth hurt us,” Taylor said.

“A 20-win season is always something to be proud of. Next year we should have more depth, which will help.”

Montgomery 53, San Lorenzo 49

The No. 2 Vikings (22-6) pulled out a win on the road versus the No. 10 Rebels (10-17), who were hosting the Division 2 game by virtue of winning their league championship.

Alex Soria led Montgomery with 19 points and spurred a second-half comeback. The Vikings trailed by as much as 10 points in the second quarter and were down 25-19 at halftime.

“We were a little sloppy in the first half, we turned the ball over,” Montgomery coach Zac Tiedemann said.

“To our credit, we came out and had a good third quarter. We just played with a little different pace and urgency.”

Montgomery outscored the Rebels 17-8 in the third quarter, which was enough to carry it to victory. The Vikings play at No. 2 Los Lomas of Walnut Creek on Friday night.

“Los Lomas will be a tough team to guard,” Tiedemann said. “It will take a team effort by us on the defensive end.”

Cardinal Newman 69, Washington 56

The No. 3 Cardinals (26-3) defeated the No. 14 Huskies (16-11) of Fremont in a Division 2 opening round game.

Cardinal Newman led 37-28 at halftime and outscored Washington 34-29 in the second half.

“Our intensity level and concentration weren't very good,” Cardinal Newman coach Tom Bonfigli said. “We had too many turnovers.”

The Cardinals were led by Cody Baker with 26 points (season high). Brad Morato added 12 points and Damian Wallace 11 points.

“Baker had an exceptional game at both ends of the court,” Bonfigli said.

The Huskies were led by Jaylen Edmonds with 21 points.

The Cardinals will host No. 6 Tamalpais on Friday night in a quarterfinal game.

Hercules 55, Piner 49

The No. 10 Prospectors (15-12) went down in defeat to the No. 7 Titans (20-8) on the road in a Division 3 game.

“We competed hard but came out a little tight. We missed some easy buckets early and then played catch-up,” Piner coach Mike Erickson said. “The effort was good in their gym. I'm happy with how we played.

Piner trailed 28-17 at halftime and pulled to within five points at several junctures in the second half but couldn't get over the hill.

Jace Foster had 27 points for the Prospectors.

“Jace did a good job and competed hard all game. He was making a lot of our plays for us,” Erickson said. “Overall it was a pretty good season.”

In girls games:

Montgomery 62, Kennedy 37

Host No. 2 Montgomery defeated No. 15 Kennedy (Fremont) in a Division 2 opening round game. The Vikings (22-6) were in charge from the opening bell, racing to a 36-21 halftime lead and cruising through the second half.

“Early on we tried up-tempo and we got some transition buckets,” Montgomery coach Darryl LaBlue said.

“The kids had good ball movement and spacing. Overall I was pleased with how well we played.”

The Vikings play at home on Friday night against an opponent to be determined.

Montgomery was led by Shayla Newman with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Kennedy was led by Tiffany Donaldson with 11 points.

Concord 67, Casa Grande 33

The No.12 Gauchos (13-14) got blown out by the No. 5 Minutemen (16-7). Casa Grande trailed 41-16 at halftime and didn't have the firepower to forge a second-half comeback.

Casa Grande was led by Cassidy McKinney with 12 points.

Concord was led by Jessica Solis with 17 points.