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Two things were settled in the opening day of the NorCal Championships: there will be a new champion and the Sacred Heart Prep girls' water polo team will have a better finish than a year ago.

The Gators had a hand in both of those results on Friday by knocking off defending champion St. Francis (Sacramento), 8-6. SHP lost its opener last year, but made up for that as P.J. Bigley, Morgan McCracken and Caitlin Stuewe all scored two goals. Junior goalie Kelly Moran turned back nine shots as the Gators improved to 16-5 in their own pool.

The victory moved SHP into the quarterfinals later in the day and the results were the same, but closer. The Gators grabbed a 3-1 first-quarter lead and held a 6-3 halftime advantage before holding on to an 8-7 decision over San Ramon Valley, the defending North Coast Section Division I champion.

Malaika Koshy led the Gators (17-5) with three goals while Bigley and McCracken added two apiece. Moran stepped up again with nine saves as SHP moved on to Saturday's semifinals (11:10 a.m.) against Clovis West.

Sacred Heart Prep, which finished ninth last year, is guaranteed of finishing no lower than fourth on Saturday in the 16-team tourney that features many of the top teams in Northern California.

In other matches, Menlo-Atherton split on the first day, bouncing back from a 13-3 loss to reigning CCS Division I champ Leland to beat two-time defending SCVAL De Anza Division champ Gunn, 7-3.

Castilleja dropped a pair of matches to join Gunn in that department.

2012 NORCAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
FRIDAY
At Sacred Heart Prep
Game 1 -- San Ramon Valley 13, James Logan 1
Game 3 -- Sacred Heart Prep 8, St. Francis (Sacramento) 6
Game 5 -- Clovis 9, St. Ignatius 4
Game 7 -- Clovis West 10, Monte Vista (Danville) 9
Game 9 -- St. Francis (Sac.) 9, James Logan 5
Game 11 -- Sacred Heart Prep 8, San Ramon Valley 7
Game 13 -- Monte Vista 9, St. Ignatius 8
Game 15 -- Clovis West 7, Clovis 6 (OT)

At Menlo-Atherton
Game 2 -- Campolindo 17, Castilleja 4
Game 4 -- Acalanes 5, Davis 2
Game 6 -- Leland 13, Menlo-Atherton 3
Game 8 -- St. Francis (Mt. View) 5, Gunn 3
Game 10 -- Davis 9, Castilleja 2
Game 12 -- Campolindo 7, Acalanes 2
Game 14 -- Menlo-Atherton 7, Gunn 3
Game 16 -- St. Francis (MV) 7, Leland 6

SATURDAY
At Sacred Heart Prep
Game 17 -- San Ramon Valley vs. Clovis, 8:50 a.m.
Game 19 -- Acalanes vs. Leland, 10 a.m.
Game 21 -- Sacred Heart Prep vs. Clovis West (semifinal), 11:10 a.m.
Game 23 -- Campolindo vs. St. Francis (MV) (semifinal), 12:20 p.m.
Game 25 -- Loser 17 vs. loser 19 (7th place), 1:30 p.m.
Game 27 -- Winner 17 vs. winner 19 (5th place), 2:40 p.m.
Game 29 -- Loser 21 vs. loser 23 (consolation final), 3:50 p.m.
Game 31 -- Winner 21 vs. winner 23 (championship), 5 p.m.

At Menlo-Atherton
Game 18 -- James Logan vs. St. Ignatius, 8:50 a.m.
Game 20 -- Castilleja vs. Gunn, 10 a.m.
Game 22 -- St. Francis (Sac.) vs. Monte Vista (Danville), 11:10 a.m.
Game 24 -- Davis vs. Menlo-Atherton, 12:20 p.m.
Game 26 -- Loser 18 vs. loser 20 (15th place), 1:30 p.m.
Game 28 -- Winner 18 vs. winner 20 (13th place), 2:40 p.m.
Game 30 -- Loser 22 vs. loser 24 (11th place), 3:50 p.m.
Game 32 -- Winner 22 vs. winner 24 (9th place), 5 p.m.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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