The game was well in hand when Pinewood’s Elle Ladine grabbed an offensive rebound and lost her footing. She instinctively threw the ball off the backboard and scored as she hit the floor.

That quick-thinking hustle play is an example of why the University of Washington offered Ladine a scholarship and why the Pinewood senior is ranked among the top seniors in the country.

Ladine scored 18 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in helping third-seeded Pinewood beat visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral 62-32 in the first round of pool play of the Central Coast Section Open Division girls basketball playoffs.

Pinewood (20-1) plays at seventh-seeded Palo Alto (20-3) Monday night. The Vikings lost at No. 3 St. Ignatius 61-42 on Friday night.

No. 5 St. Francis (16-7) also lost its first-round game, 58-38, at No. 4 Valley Christian (19-6) and will play at top-seeded Mitty (23-1) on Monday. Mitty owned Half Moon Bay, 84-14.

Sydney Stewart led the Lancers with 22 points and eight rebounds. Jess Oakland added seven points and six rebounds.

In Division I, Nyla Ware made a pair of free throws with 1:46 remaining and Mountain View held off a late rally to beat visiting Salinas 41-39 on Friday night.

The Spartans (14-8) advances to play at rival Los Altos (15-8) on Saturday, with a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Mountain View and Los Altos are playing for the first time since Jan. 11, 2020. The Spartans last played at Los Altos on Dec. 4, 2018.

Los Altos owns a three-game winning streak over Mountain View, dating to February of 2016.

In other D-I games, Sequoia fell to host Monta Vista 49-25 and Menlo-Atherton lost to Independence 38-31.

Sacred Heart Prep, seeded second in the CCS Open Division, got a little bit of payback Friday night, beating Bellarmine 63-43 in the first round of pool play.

Bellarmine handed SHP its first loss of the season, 59-51, in December. The Gators (22-3) shot 36% (28% from 3-point range) in the loss.

It was a much different game this time around.

Bellarmine held a 22-20 lead after one quarter. The Bells were held to 21 points the rest of the game.

Emmer Nichols led SHP with 16 points. Aidan Braccia added 13 points, Sam Norris had 11 and Jake York hit three 3-pointers.

Sacred Heart Prep hosts No. 6 St. Francis (15-9) at 7p.m. Monday. The Lancers lost at Riordan, 61-43, on Friday.

In Division I, Cupertino beat Gunn 53-40 and plays at Palo Alto at 7 p.m. Saturday.

In Division V, Kehillah dropped a 51-49 decision to Thomas More.