CIF NorCal basketball: Colfax girls, VCA boys last two Sacramento-area programs standing
The kids can play in Placer County.
The Colfax High School girls and the Valley Christian boys of Roseville will compete for CIF Northern California regional basketball championships after winning dramatic semifinal games Saturday night. The area sent a combined 30 girls and boys teams to the NorCal tournaments, ranging from the Open Division to Division VI. These are the last two standing.
Seeded third in Division III, Colfax held off No. 2 Branson of Ross 41-40 at Marin College for its 21st consecutive victory, including seven in the playoffs. The Falcons will host Caruthers (27-7) of Fresno County on Tuesday night with an opportunity to advance to the CIF state championship game March 10 at Golden 1 Center. Caruthers, the No. 9 seed, beat No. 5 Granada of Livermore 55-50 in the other semifinal after routing top-seeded University High of San Francisco 95-62 in a quarterfinal.
The No. 2-seeded VCA boys didn’t have a game come down to the wire in its D-VI semifinal in Roseville, but the excitement was in reaching 100 points and then some in a 108-89 victory over Napa Christian.
The Lions (24-8) will play at top-seeded San Francisco Waldorf (24-5), winner of 16 consecutive games, in the regional final on Saturday.
Colfax (33-2) got a rebound with 12 seconds to go and was able to run out most of the clock before Branson fouled with about one second remaining. The Blue Raiders (20-13) got the ball back after a missed free throw, but they weren’t able to get a good shot off at the buzzer. Falcons players, per their norm, belted out the school fight song to the Colfax crowd that made the nearly three-hour hour trip.
Colfax received balanced scoring, including 10 points from sophomore center Juliette James. Maycee Heimann had nine points, Jade Biitner eight, Grace Clark seven and Gabriella Biitner five.
The VCA boys received big nights from Chase Clary (27 points), Jordan Hurley (25), Ian Glapsy (21), Daniel Barakat (16) and Chris Donkor (10) to win for the 10th time in their last 11 outings
“I’m so proud of this group,” VCA coach Brad Gunter said. “They have stuck with our coaching staff the entire year and are seeing the rewards. Our feet have finally gotten faster and the minds have slowed down. It was the opposite of much of the year, and with our style, that causes issues.”
The coach added, “Great young men that compete for us. They were more devastated about our girls team losing (in a NorCal game at the same time) than they were happy. Pretty amazing journey for both of us (and Colfax) — last two standing.”
The VCA girls, seeded seventh in D-VI, lost at No. 3 Bret Harte of Angels Camp, 62-52, in a semifinal and finished a school-record best 27-3. The playoff run included a stirring 70-68 win at second-seeded Santa Cruz in a quarterfinal.
The Marysville girls, seeded 13th in D-IV, had their best season come to close with a 54-43 setback at top-seeded San Domenico of San Anselmo. Marysville finished 28-6, including three losses to Pioneer Valley League rival Colfax, the last coming in the section playoffs. In girls D-VI, top-seeded Cornerstone Christian of Antioch beat No. 4 Faith Christian of Yuba City, which went 25-6 and was led by sisters Audrey and Lauren Harris and their coaching father, Geoff Harris.
Vanden 56, Whitney 55: In D-II semifinal action, Sterling McClanahan scored on a putback a split second before the buzzer and had 12 points as the No. 5 Vikings of Fairfield beat No. 9 Whitney in a thriller at James Boyd Gymnasium.
Elijah Lewis had 16 and Tyler Thompson 11 for Vanden (25-10), which has maximized its second life in the playoffs. The Vikings lost to Sacramento 66-61 in the section D-III finals at Golden 1 and have gone 3-0 in the NorCals. Vanden will host Memorial of Fresno, a 68-59 winner over Weston Ranch of Stockton in the other semifinal, for the regional title on Tuesday.
Ely Willis, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, led Whitney with 19 points. The Timberwolves, under coach Nick French, finished 23-11 and went 6-1 in the playoffs, including two wins over Granite Bay, first in the section finals, 61-56, and then on Thursday in a NorCal quarterfinal, 73-62.
CIF NorCal Regionals
Girls
Open Division
No. 2 Mitty 62, No. 3 Clovis West 43
No. 5 Salesian 48, No. 1 Piedmont 45
Tuesday’s final
Salesian at Mitty
Division I
St. Mary’s 55, No. 5 Clovis 48
No. 2 Oakland Tech 56, No. 2 San Ramon Valley 46
Tuesday’s final
Oakland Tech at St. Mary’s
Division II
No. 4 Central 48, No. 1 Marin Catholic 46
No. 2 Pleasant Valley 53, No. 7 San Marin 45
Tuesday’s final
Central at Pleasant Valley
Division III
No. 9 Caruthers 55, No. 5 Granada 50
No. 3 Colfax 41, No. 2 Branson 40
Tuesday’s final
Caruthers at Colfax
Division IV
No. 1 San Domenico 54, No. 13 Marysville 43
No. 7 Menlo School 51, No. 6 Hillsdale 48
Tuesday’s final
Menlo School at San Domenico
Division V
No. 1 Fall River 63, No. 12 Lincoln 50
No. 3 Bret Harte 62, No. 7 Valley Christian 52
Tuesday’s final
No. 3 Bret Harte at No. 1 Fall River
Division VI
No. 1 Cornerstone Christian 64, No. 4 Faith Christian 60
No. 3 Weed 38, No. 2 Ferndale 26
Tuesday’s final
Weed at Cornerstone Christian
Boys
Open Division
No. 1 Modesto Christian 57, No. 5 De La Salle 56
No. 3 St. Joseph 87, No. 2 Dougherty Valley 67
Tuesday’s final
St. Joseph at Modesto Christian
Division I
No. 9 Granada 69, No. 4 Riordan 57
No. 10 Salesian 81, No. 10 San Ramon 51
Tuesday’s final
Granada at Salesian
Division II
No. 8 Vanden 56, No. 9 Whitney 55
No 6 Memorial 68, No. 7 Weston Ranch 59
Tuesday final
Memorial at Vanden
Division III
No. 9 Oakland 70, No. 9 King’s Academy 60
No. 3 Oakland Tech 61, No. 7 Justin-Siena 55
Tuesday’s final
No. 9 Oakland at No. 3 Oakland Tech
Division IV
No, 5 Chico 50, No. 9 Burlingame 47
No. 10 Half Moon Bay 65, No. 3 Marin Catholic 60
Tuesday’s final
Half Moon Bay at Chico
Division V
No 5 Sierra 71, No. 1 Venture Academy 55
No. 3 Ripon Christian 61, No. 2 University Prep 58
Tuesday’s final
Sierra at Ripon Christian
Division VI
No. 1 San Francisco Waldorf 73, No. 5 Cornerstone Christian 53
No. 2 Valley Christian-Roseville 108, No. 3 Napa Christian 89
Tuesday’s final
Valley Christian at SF Waldorf
This story was originally published March 5, 2023 at 5:00 AM.