Windsor girls, Montgomery boys soccer teams to play for North Coast Section titles

The Windsor girls soccer team will look to capture its first-ever North Coast Section title on Saturday after advancing to the Division 2 championship game with a 1-0 win over visiting No. 3 Campolindo on Wednesday.

Jadyn Holdenried scored the lone goal for No. 2 Windsor (15-1-2), which will play at No. 1 Redwood (18-2-3) at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Larkspur for the section title.

In Division 1, the dramatic run for No. 8 Maria Carrillo came to an end as the Pumas fell in the semifinals to No. 12 California in a penalty kick shootout, 4-1.

The game was scoreless through regulation and both overtime periods. All three of the Pumas’ playoff games went into overtime and the last two were decided with PKs. They were able to get past No. 16 Granada with a 3-1 win in the shootout in the quarterfinals but were unable to replicate that success against the Grizzlies on Wednesday.

In Division 4, No. 3 Sonoma Academy fell short to No. 2 University 5-1. It’s the first loss of the season for the Coyotes (17-1-2).

Boys soccer

Montgomery is going back to the NCS Division 1 title game. The No. 2 Vikings scored four times in the second half to coast past visiting No. 3 Vintage 4-0 in the semifinals on Wednesday.

This will be the fifth straight season where the Vikings (15-2-5) will be playing for a section title. They’ve won three straight NCS championships — two in Division 2 in 2018 and 2019 and the last in Division 1 in 2020.

The Vikings’ Brian Chavez scored in the first half and had two assists in the second half. He set up Bryan Munguia in the 61st minute and then did the same for Johan Martinez in the 65th minute. Daniel Ventura had the final score off an assist from Munguia in the 73rd minute.

The Vikings will play at No. 1 De La Salle (18-6-1) for the Division 1 title on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Concord.

Elsewhere, No. 3 Cardinal Newman couldn’t keep up with No. 2 University in a 5-2 loss in the semifinals of Division 4.

Boys basketball

No. 4 Montgomery gave top-seeded San Ramon Valley a battle but a late scoring run from the end of the third quarter into the fourth was all the hosts needed to hand the Vikings a 51-35 loss in the semifinals of the NCS Division 2 playoffs.

Montgomery (20-6) had trailed by seven at the half but cut the deficit to one with about three minutes left in the third quarter. But the Wolves (17-8) closed the third with a four-point play to take a seven-point lead into the fourth and then opened the final quarter with back-to-back three-pointers to pull away.

Nolan Bessire scored 22 points to lead the Vikings, whose season is likely officially over. In order to reach the CIF NorCal playoffs, they needed to make the finals of the Division 2 playoffs in order to secure a spot.

Girls basketball

In the consolation bracket of the Open Division, No. 4 Cardinal Newman topped No. 6 Heritage 68-50 in a tuneup for the CIF NorCal playoffs.

It was a nice bounce-back win for the Cardinals (22-5) after they lost a heartbreaker to No. 5 Bishop O’Dowd in the first round of the Open Division playoffs last week.

As selections to the Open Division, both Cardinal Newman and Heritage are automatically qualified for the NorCal playoffs next week.

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @JustGusPD.