This week in Empire sports: Key races in high school basketball, soccer

The Vine Valley Athletic League girls basketball race is as tight as can be, with Casa Grande and Vintage both 6-1 going into Tuesday night's games.

Both teams' only loss came to the other. Casa defeated Vintage 55-42 Jan. 17, while Vintage won the Dec. 18 contest, 40-26.

Over the MLK holiday, Casa kept busy with a hard-fought game in Kentfield, losing 49-45 to Marin Catholic.

After meeting Sonoma Valley on Tuesday night, the Gauchos will host 2-5 American Canyon on Thursday. Vintage plays American Canyon tonight.

Although Casa and Vintage are neck-and-neck through seven league games thus far, the Gauchos are outscoring their opponents slightly more than Vintage has. With five league games left for each, the race could come down to the wire.

The Cardinal Newman girls were also busy on the holiday, competing in two competitive West Coast basketball showcases, which attract college coaches from all over.

On Saturday at the MLK Showcase at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, the first-place North Bay League-Oak Division Cardinals (7-0, 18-4) defeated Bear Creek of Stockton, 64-59. Newman is ranked 24th in the state to Bear Creek's 29th.

Monday at the MLK Showcase at St. Mary's in Stockton, the Cardinals downed 30th-ranked La Jolla Country Day, 52-46.

Junior guard Anya Choice scored 31 points on Saturday and 22 on Monday in front of several college scouts.

Here's what to look for this week in prep sports:

Basketball

The first-place Cardinal Newman boys (5-0) host second-place Santa Rosa (4-2) on Wednesday in NBL-Oak play. Montgomery is also 4-2.

In the NBL-Redwood, Rancho Cotate (4-2) will try to rebound from Monday's 57-54 upset at the hands of last-place El Molino, which entered the game without a league win. The Lions outscored Rancho 27-12 in the fourth quarter to pull ahead.

The Cougars host the 3-3 Elsie Allen Lobos on Wednesday night, while division leader Healdsburg (5-1) travels to Ukiah (2-4).

The undefeated Rancho girls face winless Elsie on Thursday, while 4-2 Piner travels to 2-4 Healdsburg.

In VVAL boys games, Casa (3-4) faces Sonoma Valley (2-4) on Wednesday night. Both teams trail undefeated Napa (7-0) and 6-1 American Canyon.

Soccer

The VVAL girls soccer standings are reminiscent of the old Sonoma County League, with Casa, Petaluma and Sonoma Valley leading the Napa County teams.

Petaluma (5-0-1) downed Sonoma Valley (3-2-2) Monday night, with both goals in the second half, to remain undefeated and one game behind Casa, which is 6-0-1 in league.

In NBL-Redwood boys, second-place Roseland University Prep travels to fourth-place El Molino on Wednesday. Maria Carrillo sits atop the league standings at 5-0 and faces winless Piner (0-3-2).

The Redwood girls have a competitive week, as top-two Santa Rosa and Rancho Cotate met Tuesday for first place and El Molino and Piner fought it out for second place.

Rancho and El Mo meet Thursday, which should further sort out the standings.

In NBL-Oak girls games, first-place Montgomery (4-1-1) and 3-1-2 Maria Carrillo play Friday at Elsie Allen in a match that could topple the Vikings at the top. Newman is in second place at 3-1-1, followed by Windsor at 2-0-4.

You can reach staff writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.