Inderkum one of several Sacramento-area high seeds out of CIF NorCal basketball tournament
The CIF Northern California basketball tournament can be as joyous of a ride, and it can be painfully unforgiving.
For those teams still left standing, there is plenty to celebrate. For two Sacramento-area No. 1 seeds in the boys brackets, the end arrived much sooner than anticipated.
On Thursday night in Placer County, top-seeded Rocklin was beaten by Clayton Valley Charter of Concord, 68-54, in a Division II quarterfinal stunner. About 30 minutes later in Natomas, the top-seeded team in Division I — the Inderkum Tigers — were eliminated by Oakland Tech, 72-66, in another bracket-jolting quarterfinal surprise.
Just like that, two No. 1 seeds who had a chance to host games right up to the NorCal finals are out.
In Sacramento-area girls play on Thursday, top-seeded NorCal Division IV Liberty Ranch of Galt was eliminated by Lowell of San Francisco, 65-54, and Division II No. 3 seed Colfax had its chance of a NorCal championship three-peat denied by Salesian of Richmond, 53-51.
This comes a night after girls Division I top seed Folsom was eliminated by a No. 16 seed.
Rocklin’s rolling thunder of a 15-game winning streak that included a dramatic, last-second victory over Jesuit to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship at Golden 1 Center came to a crashing halt to a Clayton Valley Charter team used to this sort of moment as a powerhouse out of the North Coast Section.
Inderkum found new life in the NorCals after having its 22-game winning halted by Folsom, which went on to beat Modesto Christian in the Sac-Joaquin Section finals and earn a bid to the Open Division. Seeded third in that bracket, the Folsom boys play a semifinal at No. 3 De La Salle in Concord on Saturday night.
Inderkum finished 29-3. The Tigers were the last team to defeat Oakland Tech this season, doing so 85-59 to cap a holiday showcase at home. Oakland Tech also has the sort of championship background and hardware that most programs in the state crave. The Bulldogs (25-5) are coming off of a CIF State championship Division II run last season and showed it in withstanding the long and athletic Tigers, and they celebrated their victory.
Inderkum pulled to within 68-66 with 26 to go, but Oakland Tech pulled away with free throws. Siincere Hudson scored 19 points and Taylen Goodman had 20 for Inderkum. For Oakland Tech, Weber State-committed senior guard Ardarius Grayson had 21 points.
Division II
Clayton Valley Charter 68, Rocklin 54
Senior guard Elijah Perryman scored 26 points and keyed a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to blow it open, and the Ugly Eagles of Concord stunned the top-seeded Thunder at home.
Mark Lavrenov scored 28 points in his Thunder finale. A four-year varsity starter, Lavrenov is just the second player in program history to score more than 2,000 career points, joining Brendan Lane, who starred for Rocklin in the late 2000s. Reeve Slone scored 11 for Rocklin, which finished 25-8.
Destiny Christian Academy 59, Oakland 31
Senior four-year guard Jaylen Valdez scored 17 points and Myles Wiggin had 14 points, and the No. 5-seeded Lions smothered the No. 13 Wildcats and will host No. 8 Clayton Valley Charter on Saturday a week after having no idea what their NorCal fate might be.
DCA was jolted and motivated by a 54-50 section Division II semifinal loss to Jesuit.
Jesuit 64, Mitty 56
Senior guard Asher Schroeder scored 20 points and had eight rebounds, and fellow fourth-year player Amaury McKinney muscled inside for 11 points and nine boards, and the No. 3-seeded Marauders held off a late push by a storied Monarchs of San Jose program from that boasts of trophy-case full of Central Coast Section and NorCal pedigree.
Jesuit had a 17-point lead that was reduced to four by the hard-charging Monarchs. Jesuit’s senior leadership and 10 points from junior guard Brandon Williams now reward the Marauders (24-9) with a Saturday home game in a semifinal against No. 7 Clovis East, which eliminated No. 2-seeded Milpitas, 73-45.
Seeded sixth, Mitty finished 15-14.
Division III
Christian Brothers 67, Carmel 55
Stephan Hewitt and Daniel Powers each scored 15 points and Joaquin Lucero had 12 as the No. 2-seeded Falcons won another inspired game for their recovering coach in eliminating the No. 7 Padres.
CB has played its last two games without beloved coach Jermaine Brown, who suffered a stroke last week. From his South Sacramento hospital bed, Brown spoke to his team at the half of the section D-III championship game at Golden 1 Center, and he spoke to the team at the half on Thursday from a rehabilitation facility in Vallejo.
The Falcons (27-7) will host Palo Alto on Saturday night after eliminating Enterprise of Redding.
CIF Northern California boys basketball tournament
DIVISION I
Oakland Tech 72, Inderkum 66
San Ramon Valley 101, Liberty 62
Lincoln-Stockton 69, Moreau Catholic 45
St. Ignatius 55, Buchanan 52
Saturday semifinals
No. 8 Oakland Tech at No. 5 San Ramon Valley
No. 10 St. Ignatius at No. 3 Lincoln-Stockton
DIVISION II
Clayton Valley Charter 68, Rocklin 54
Destiny Christian 59, Oakland 31
Jesuit 63, Mitty 56
Clovis East 73, Milpitas 45
Saturday semifinals
No. 8 Clayton Valley Charter at No. 5 Destiny Christian
No. 7 Clovis East at No. 3 Jesuit
DIVISION III
King’s Academy 73, Aptos 36
Carlmont 68, University 57
Palo Alto 54, Enterprise 38
Christian Brothers 67, Carmel 55
Saturday semifinals
No. 5 Carlmont at No. 1 King’s Academy
No. 6 Palo Alto at No. 2 Christian Brothers
DIVISION IV
Priory 66, Natomas 65
Berkeley 68, Palma 60
Santa Cruz 84, St. Patrick 61
Lincoln-SF 71, Casa Roble 68
Saturday semifinals
No. 5 Berkeley at No. 1 Priory
No. 15 Lincoln-SF at No. 3 Santa Cruz
DIVISION V
University Prep 70, Gridley 67
Fortune-Sacramento 59, Weed 55
Alhambra 63, Argonaut 62
International 50, Sonoma Valley 48
Saturday semifinals
No. 4 Fortune at No. 1 University Prep
No. 7 International at No. 6 Alhambra
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 10:15 PM.