CCS basketball playoffs: Best of Thursday’s semifinal games
One season after making history by winning two Central Coast Section Open Division playoff games, Milpitas is aiming for a more lasting memory Saturday.
The Trojans can capture their first section championship since 1997 if they beat league rival Los Gatos for a third time.
Milpitas advanced to the Division I title game by beating another league rival, Palo Alto, on Thursday night behind a defense that limited the visitors to 12 second-half points and an offense that got 21 points from Dylan Nguyen and 12 from Pranavram Krishnan.
Final score: Milpitas 61, Palo Alto 30.
“Really proud of that second-half defensive effort,” coach Champ Wrencher said.
Was that a typical night?
“Most of our victories are like that,” the coach added. “We’re able to wear the other team down, and we pick up our offense a little bit more because of our depth.”
Passed over for this season’s Open despite having just one loss, Milpitas (25-1) has dominated through two rounds in Division I, winning by 33 over Sequoia in the quarterfinals on Tuesday and 31 on Thursday.
The championship game figures to be tighter. The Trojans beat Los Gatos 58-52 on Jan. 9 and 65-56 on Jan. 30.
“They key for us is to treat it as a normal game,” Wrencher said. “That’s the thing I’ve been trying to instill in the guys, tonight and Tuesday. There is nothing different that needs to be done. We’ve got to try to not look at the scoreboard and not realize more people are in the bleachers.”
A Milpitas victory on Saturday wouldn’t just be a keepsake for the school. As the coach sees it, it would be something special for the community.
“Milpitas is a very unique place,” Wrencher said. “I love it to death. It warms my heart to see the community out. People from city hall, the school board, as well as our school district and our campus. We’ve got a lot of people in the community that are coming out. This is something that the people in Milpitas can rally around and come watch.”
Milpitas had reached just three previous CCS finals – 1992, 1995 and 1997. The ‘97 team is the only one to hang a section championship banner.
The ‘26 team can change that Saturday.
– Darren Sabedra
DIVISION II
Sophomores step up, lead St. Francis to semifinal win: Everything is seeming to click for St. Francis.
After winning just one of its 14 West Catholic Athletic League games and finishing the regular season 9-16, the third-seeded Lancers will be going to the Division II title game after winning on the road over second-seeded Christopher 63-58.
“I truly believe this team wanted to win and this year has been a learning process. They never shut down,” St. Francis coach Rodney Tention said.
The Mountain View school had three scorers in double figures, led by sophomore Weston Edwards’ 14 points. Fellow sophomores James Wilson and Drew Cumby scored 10 points.
St. Francis will play top-seeded Willow Glen for the D-II title.
– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION III
SHC advances to another final: One of the advantages of playing in the WCAL – even in a down league season like SHC had – is that you face some of the best competition around. The goal obviously is to contend for Open Division championships, which SHC won in 2023. But when that isn’t a possibility, the next goal is to beat whomever they put in your path.
SHC qualified for the playoffs by going 7-3 in non-league play and has comfortably won two games this week to reach the Division III final.
Two days after routing Saratoga in the quarterfinals, the Irish cruised at home past Pioneer 52-35 on Thursday behind 13 points from Cooper Ellis, 10 from Kiran Tate-Day and eight from Jaden Hector.
SHC built a 23-8 cushion after the first quarter and led 35-17 at halftime as it improved to 10-16 overall. The Irish went 1-13 against their WCAL opponents and are 9-3 against everyone else.
The good news: No WCAL team is in the Division III bracket.
Saturday, SHC will play top-seeded Soquel for the title. The Irish will be aiming for their third CCS title since 2023 and 14th overall in 20 championship game appearances.
– Darren Sabedra
DIVISION IV
HMB breezes past Menlo: Half Moon Bay had no problem scoring in its Division IV semifinal at home on Thursday, finishing the first half with 40 points and adding 27 more in the third quarter.
The eruption led to an 83-59 rout of third-seeded Menlo School and a spot in the final Saturday against top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep, a 62-52 winner over fourth-seeded Pacific Grove.
Half Moon Bay, the second seed, got 30 points from Gio Garduno-Martin and 26 points and 15 rebounds from Owen Perez.
“We played really well,” HMB coach John Parsons said.
The Cougars will be making their eighth appearance in a CCS final. They are seeking their first section title since 2018 and fourth overall.
– Darren Sabedra
GIRLS
DIVISION I
Menlo-Atherton cruises past Los Altos: The Bears did not let up.
For four quarters, M-A played crisp, clean basketball. Up-start Los Altos found a rhythm in the final period, but by then it was too late.
M-A cruised to a 58-46 win to advance to the Division I title game against No. 2 Los Gatos.
“When we’re hitting our shots, we’re a tough team to beat,” M-A coach Steve Yob said. “I thought our defense played great. Everyone played tonight and 10 of our players played a lot. So, everyone kind of helped out tonight.”
Senior Luisa Tava scored a team-high 22 points and Lita Fakapelea had 16.
Menlo-Atherton will be advancing to its 14th CCS title game and is seeking its fifth section crown. Yob was the coach when M-A won a CCS Division I title in 2020 and Saturday’s game will be a rematch from last season’s D1 championship match in which Los Gatos edged out M-A.
“Los Gatos is going to want this championship too, so it’s going to come down to who can play all four quarters,” Yob said.
– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION II
Valley Christian wins nail-biter: There was no time to exhale in this semifinal as fourth-seeded Monta Vista matched host Valley Christian basket for basket most of the night.
But in the end, the top-seeded home team had just enough to advance to the championship game Saturday.
The Warriors (11-15) will play third-seeded Aragon in the final.
Anaya Bannarbie had 12 points on Thursday to lead Valley, which also got 11 points from Kenedi Nomura and 10 from Aly Liu.
The Warriors have appeared in seven previous section finals, winning in 2007, ‘08, ‘10, ‘14 and ‘18.
Monta Vista finished 17-9.
– Darren Sabedra
Aragon comes up big late: On the verge of a collapse against Hillsdale, senior Jayda Parangan made sure Aragon’s season wasn’t going to end on Thursday night.
With 90 seconds left, Aragon surrendered its four-point advantage. But with 5.6 seconds left, the Dons put the ball in Parangan’s hands and she delivered.
The senior scored the game-winning basket in a 40-38 victory, pushing Aragon to the Division II final against top-seeded Valley Christian.
“It was crazy,” coach Kristie Hala’ufia said of Parangan’s basket. “We had a great turnout for tonight’s game. It just felt like playing at home.”
Daisy Pantoja Beltran led Aragon with 15 points and Parangan had nine.
The Dons are advancing to their seventh CCS title game, looking for their third section title and first since 2022.
– Nathan Canilao
DIVISION III
Mills turns back playoff rival: For the fourth consecutive year, Mills found itself facing a familiar foe.
To return to the Division III title game, the Vikings had to get through Notre Dame-San Jose, a team that they have seen in the D3 semifinals or finals every single season dating back to 2023.
Buoyed by a big game from senior Layla Wong, Mills downed its playoff rival 43-36 to advance to its fifth straight Division III title game.
“The buy-in from the kids on a daily basis has been the difference for this program,” Mills coach Justin Matsu said. “The standard and the way we play and the way we love one another and care for one another carries us. And I think that’s why we’ve been able to go to five straight CCS championship games and six in the last seven years.”
Wong led the way with 17 points while senior Amaya Moore had nine points and 16 rebounds. Wong played in just her third game after missing most of the season with a dislocated knee.
Mills will play Santa Cruz in Saturday’s championship game, a team they have played twice this season. Mills lost to the Cardinals 60-40 in its first matchup and won 48-36 a few weeks later.
The Vikings played Santa Cruz in the Division III championship in 2023.
“Coach Todd Trowbridge is going to have his kids ready to go. He does a great job with them,” Matsu said. “They’re super physical. They execute their offense really well. They crash the boards really hard, and we can’t allow them to dictate the pace and the physicality of the game. … The team that makes the most hustle plays is going to win this game on Saturday, and we’re just looking forward to tipping it off again.”
– Nathan Canilao