Before Tuesday’s NorCal Division I basketball semifinal with Bellarmine-San Jose, the Menlo-Atherton players got a visit from Atiba Williams, a member of the school’s 1989 Division II state title team.
Inspired, the Bears went out and defeated the top-seeded Bells 50-46 to advance to Saturday’s regional final at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. Tip-off is 4 p.m.
“Atiba told us people said their title was kind of a fluke,” M-A guard Christian Fioretti said. “He told us he wanted us to put M-A back on the map.”
The No. 5 Bears (28-4) square off with No. 7 Berkeley (23-8) in a rematch of a preseason game Dec. 30. Playing in the title game of the American High tournament in Fremont, the Bears held off the Yellowjackets 58-54.
“They press a lot, and they crash the boards hard,” Fioretti said. “Turnovers will be a key for us.”
“They’re quick and physical,” said M-A guard Eric Norton, who scored 16 points in that December game, as did guard Lucas Fioretti. “We have to play our game, then we’ll be all right.”
Division II boys
Also at Sleep Train Arena, it’s a showdown at high noon between No. 1 Serra-San Mateo (24-6) and No. 2 El Cerrito (22-13) for a spot in next week’s CIF state Division II championship.
The Padres got here behind the heavy lifting of its senior trio on the backcourt in the NorCal semifinals.
“Kind of it was the three-headed monster,” said Serra coach Chuck Rapp, referring to Jeremiah Testa, Jake Killingsworth and Lee Jones. “The big three really came up big for us, and that’s what big players do — you know, big players make big plays in big moments. And they all took turns contributing for us, and we basically rode them.”
Last year’s CCS Open champions lost four starters to graduation, but this was not a rebuilding season. In fact, it could turn historic.
“I think we’re still hungry for more,” Rapp said. “We’ve been in this situation as a program before in 2005, when we won in NorCals but lost in the state championship. We’re trying to take this thing as far as we can, and our goal is to win two more games. To try and do something that’s never been done before in the history of the school. We’re trying to do something that is truly significant.”
Division IV girls
A quarter of a century ago, Menlo School-Atherton won its third consecutive Division V state championship in girls basketball. John Paye was the coach and his younger sister Kate was the point guard.
“I still feel young, but that was 25 years ago,” John Paye said. “It was a long time ago.”
On Tuesday, Hannah Paye rekindled some of the glory days shared by her dad and aunt by drilling the game-winning 3-pointer in a NorCal Division IV semifinal, propelling No. 2 Menlo (21-7) into Saturday’s championship game at American Canyon High against No. 1 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (29-5). Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
“It was a typical tournament, March Madness-type of event, where you didn’t know what was going to happen,” John Paye said.
With another state championship within their grasp, the Knights will continue to search for some of that magic from 1991.
Division V girls
A year ago, Eastside Prep-East Palo Alto just missed making history, losing 40-36 to La Jolla Country Day in the Division V state title game. The Panthers (18-11), the top seeds in this year’s NorCal playoffs, face No. 2 St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda (26-8) in the regional final at American Canyon High on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The Panthers are seeking their first state title.
“Getting so close last year motivated us to get back,” Eastside Prep coach Donovan Blythe said. “This is what it’s all about. Every coach should have dreams to be the last team standing.”
The Panthers and Pilots battled in a nonleague tilt Jan. 23 with Eastside prevailing 55-52. Freshman Zion Gabriel had 21 points, while sophom*ore guard Kayla Tahaafe had 12 points. Tahaafe had 25 points in the Panthers’ 62-44 triumph over Urban-San Francisco in Tuesday’s semifinals.
“Zion is a great shooter, but Kayla makes the engine go,” Blythe said. “Teams try to stop Tahaafe, which leaves Gabriel open to shoot.”
The Pilots have a 6-foot-2 center in Ayesa Kearns, who scored 27 points against the Panthers in their previous matchup.
“They have another big girl, but she didn’t play in that game,” Blythe said. “They have that other girl back now. We’re going to fight. You can’t count us out.”
Email John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/dailynewsjohn. Email Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at Twitter.com/dailynewsvytas.
