NorCal survivors take their best shots in the second round

by Keith Peters

Palo Alto Online Sports

Four local high school basketball teams will take the floor on Thursday night in the second round of the CIF Northern California playoffs. Only one, however, is likely favored to advance to the semifinals on Saturday night.

Since the Pinewood girls are seeded No. 1 in the Division V playoffs, they will be favored each night they take the floor. That doesn’t mean the Panthers have an easy path to the NorCal final and state championship game.

In fact, Pinewood’s game against visiting St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) on Thursday night (7 p.m.) is expected to the Panthers’ most difficult of these playoffs.

Pinewood, however, is a veteran when it comes to the postseason. The Panthers have missed the NorCal playoffs only once since 1998, that one blip coming in 2008 when Pinewood failed to reach the Central Coast Section finals.

The Panthers also have three state Division V titles to their credit. They were ranked No. 2 in the state in their division last week and were No. 1 earlier this season.

Veteran coach Doc Scheppler, who has guided the program to all three state crowns, has another talented team (albeit young). The Panthers (23-6) took only three seniors into the NorCal playoffs, one of which (Rachel Marty) has missed nearly the entire year with an ACL injury. Seniors Emily Liang and Lauren Taniguchi have been solid contributors to a squad that starts four juniors — Kelsey Morehead, Hailie Eackles, Jenna McLoughlin and Miranda Seto.

Everyone shoots threes, which has been a staple for the Panthers throughout the years. They may not have much height — McLoughlin is the tallest at 5-foot-10 — but they press, help out on defense, create turnovers and don’t often make the kind of mistakes that lead to losses.

If Pinewood is still alive after its second-round game, the Panthers likely will host No. 4 Branson on Saturday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the NorCal finals on March 20 at Folsom High.

It is possible that the NorCal title game could be an all-local affair. That depends on No. 3 seed Castilleja (20-9), which opens play Thursday night at home (7 p.m.) against No. 6 Head Royce, a 59-36 winner over Ripon Christian on Tuesday night.

Castilleja is hosting its first-ever NorCal game. The school is also hosted a school-wide pep rally to generate some added excitement. Ted Minnis, who is filling in as athletic director while Jez McIntosh is on sabbatical (he’s still coaching the basketball team as an off-campus coach), was planning on bringing extra bleachers to accommodate an expected basketball game crowd in excess of 400.

Castilleja reached the NorCal playoffs last season for the first time in school history, advancing all the way to the semifinals before finishing with a 23-9 record.

Like Pinewood, the Gators have only three seniors on this year’s team — Eve Zelinger, Tayo Amos and reserve Natalie Morin. Zelinger is the school’s all-time leading scorer and will be sorely missed when this season concludes.

“It’s been great having her,” McIntosh said of Zelinger. “We’ll miss her next year.”

Fortunately for McIntosh, he’ll have junior Natasha von Kaeppler back. The versatile 6-footer could wind up holding all the school records before she’s done.

Castilleja not only received a favorable NorCal seed (bracket opposite Pinewood), but its second-round opponent (Branson) was a familiar one. The Gators beat Branson in a tournament finale earlier this season, 39-36, rallying from eight points down to win.

If Castilleja is able to duplicate that triumph, the Gators more than likely will be on the road Saturday — unless No. 2 seed Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) is upset by University (San Francisco). If University prevails, Castilleja will host University on Saturday. Those teams also have met this season, with the Gators posting a 68-53 triumph.

Thus, it could be a favorable bracket for Castilleja, which would love to reach the NorCal finals and spend the 2 1/2 hours on the road to face league rival Pinewood — with hopes of avenging last Saturday’s 53-32 loss to the Panthers in the CCS championship game.

From here on in, it’s all about making the most of opportunities. That’s what the Sacred Heart Prep and Pinewood boys did on Tuesday in their respective NorCal openers.

It took a timely streak of three-point shooting, some opportunistic defense and flawless fourth-quarter free throw shooting for Sacred Heart Prep to earn its first-ever Division IV NorCal victory, a 62-50 decision over visiting Wallenberg. The victory was SHP’s 15th straight.

In Los Altos Hills, Pinewood made the most if its first NorCal appearance in 14 years by pulling away from Bradshaw Christian, 55-42. The No. 8-seeded Panthers play at No. 1 Branson (22-6) on Thursday night at College of Marin at 7:30 p.m.

The No. 4-seeded Gators (23-5), meanwhile, host a second round game Thursday (7 p.m.) against No. 5 St. Patrick/St.Vincent (Vallejo), a 65-35 winner over No. 12 Calaveras. The victory was the first ever for the Gators at the Division IV level. Prep lost last year’s first-round game and won once (2005) in three tries at the Division V level.

The path to the NorCal final is an extremely difficult one for Sacred Heart Prep, as a second-round win will earn a semifinal date with No. 1 St. Mary’s (Berkeley) on Saturday. St. Mary’s, along with No. 2 Salesian, are considered head and shoulders about the entire NorCal Division IV field and either team could win the state title.

While the Gators aren’t favored to get past Saturday, should they make it that far, Martinelli will have all three McConnell brothers back next season along with six others. The team loses only starter (Cobb) among its seniors. The other is Spencer Rosekrans.

The Pinewood boys, meanwhile, will lose only two seniors off this team, one of which is a big one — 6-6 Max Lippe. He’s one reason why the No. 8 Panthers (20-7) advanced to the second round on Thursday night. Lippe shook off a scoreless first quarter and scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half to lead the Panthers past Bradshaw Christian (Sacramento) in the opening round of the Division V playoffs.