SCL basketball tournament: Healdsburg boys, Petaluma girls triumph

The Healdsburg boys basketball team utilized its substantial size advantage over Piner to win the Sonoma County League tournament championship game 52-47 on Friday night at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Greyhounds (22-6) also won the regular season outright with an 11-1 record. The last time Healdsburg won either the SCL regular season or the postseason tournament was 20 years ago.

“It feels really good. Healdsburg hasn't won an SCL pennant since 1998,” Healdsburg coach Yasha Mokaram said. “The guys worked very hard for this.”

The Greyhounds finished 3-1 against Piner (21-7) this season and the size difference between the teams was stark.

“Healdsburg's size advantage caused problems for us again. Their size has caused problems for us in all of the games with them,” Piner coach Mike Erickson said. “We played hard and tough but Healdsburg was a little bit better.”

The Greyhounds were led by 6-foot-7 post-player Trey Chapman with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 7 blocks. Healdsburg had a dozen defensive blocks in the game.

“Chapman did damage inside,” Erickson said. “Offensively, he was a load.”

Healdsburg was also led by Dez Swan (13 points), Jack Summer (10 points) and Dylan Hayman (10 points).

Piner was paced by Chris Gutierrez (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Scott Erickson (11 points).

Things looked positively radiant for Piner to start the game, as the Prospectors busted out to an 11-0 first-quarter lead. However, Healdsburg came back like a freight train, scoring 15 unanswered points to take a 15-11 lead.

“Playing at SRJC is exciting, (but) Piner was ready to go and we weren't,” Mokaram said. “But then we settled in and the basket started looking bigger. Our length bothered Piner a little bit. Offensively, when we could get the ball inside they couldn't stop us.”

Late in the game, Piner trailed by 14 points but had a furious fourth-quarter rally and narrowed the deficit to 49-47 with 18 seconds to play after the Prospectors' Jared Saddler deftly canned two three-pointers in a row.

“In the fourth quarter we had some turnovers and Piner made some shots. I was getting a little worried, for sure,” Mokaram said. “It was a hard-fought game. It is terrible a team has to lose a game like that. We both played hard enough to win.”

Healdsburg is likely to garner a six or seven seed in the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs, Mokaram said. If so, Healdsburg would probably have a home game in the first round on Wednesday.

Erickson said Piner will be seeded either fourth, fifth or sixth and likely host a first-round game on Tuesday in Division 3.

In the girls game:

Petaluma 40, Sonoma Valley 37, OT

No. 1 Petaluma (23-5) narrowly defeated No. 3 Sonoma Valley (14-13) in comeback fashion to win the girls' SCL tournament championship at SRJC.

The Trojans also won the SCL regular season outright with a 12-0 undefeated season to be crowned champions for both the SCL tournament and regular season.

The victory was the 15th consecutive win for Petaluma, which was 3-0 against the Dragons this season.

“It feels really good to see the girls' hard work pay off,” Petaluma coach Jon Ratshin said. “We kept plugging away on defense and trying to attack the basket in the fourth quarter and overtime.”

It wasn't all smiles for Petaluma, as star post-player Jaden Krist hurt her knee 30 seconds into the game and will likely be out for the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs that begin on Tuesday. Krist averages nine points per game and is the Trojans' stalwart in the middle.

“Krist is one of our best players,” Ratshin said. “I haven't thought about it yet, how we are going to play without her.”

Petaluma trailed 20-18 at halftime and then eventually 31-30 with 4.4 seconds to play when Kelsey Martin was awarded two free-throw attempts on a missed shot in the key.

“It was a questionable call,” Sonoma Valley coach Jann Thorpe said. “That was disappointing.”

Martin missed the first free throw but hit the second to tie the game 31-31. Sonoma Valley could not coax a winning basket in the final seconds and the game went to overtime.

The Trojans outscored the Dragons 9-4 in the fourth quarter and then 9-6 in overtime.

“That was a rough one. There were opportunities. We were leading the entire game until the end,” Thorpe said. “The girls worked so hard, so that's why I am disappointed.”

Sonoma Valley won the SCL last season but lost to Analy in the SCL tournament. Thorpe said the Dragons will likely be a 13th seed in the NCS Division 3 playoffs.

Ratshin said Petaluma will likely be a 10th seed in Division 2, but as a league champion will probably host a first-round game.