Prep Playoffs: Gray paces Branson to NorCal win

No. 5 seeded Branson cruised to a 64-48 victory against No. 12 Beyer (25-8) in the first round of the NorCal D-III boys basketball playoffs. NJ Gray led the Bulls with 28 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Kaden Fortune finished with 12 points, while Tyler Wells had nine points and five rebounds. Braxton Armstrong had nine points and seven rebounds for Branson. The Bulls (19-15) hit the road to face No. 4 Priory (21-6) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. Priory took down No. 13 Christian Brothers 85-63.

• No. 3 San Marin rolled to a 69-55 home victory over No. 14 Trinity (22-10) in the first round of the NorCal D-V playoffs on Tuesday. Grant Means led the Mustangs with 19 points and four assists, while Kellen Dunning had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Miller Morgan and Jake Beisler had 10 points each for San Marin, while Joey Engler added nine points, four rebounds and four assists. The Mustangs (18-13) stay at home for Thursday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinals against No. 6 Woodland Christian (25-7), which prevailed 63-45 over No. 11 Orland on Tuesday.

Girls basketball

No. 9 Marin Academy made the most of its NorCal playoff debut, cruising to a 43-28 road upset of George Washington on Tuesday night.

MA (19-12) led 20-13 at the half then took control in the third quarter, seizing a 35-16 lead. Sterling Colpitts led Marin Academy with 14 points, scoring 10 in the third quarter. Navah Bailey was 5 of 6 fro the line and finished with 13 points. Wildcats guard Penelope Lee scored all seven of her points in the first half, but controlled the offense throughout the game. Lucy Robinson had nine points to round out the scoring for the Wildcats, who travel to play No. 1 seed Modoc (23-5) at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Modoc had a first-round bye.

• San Domenico could not keep pace with host Palma in the second half of Tuesday’s 70-41 loss in the opening round of the NCS D-V girls basketball playoffs. The No. 14 Panthers (12-15) played to a 25-25 draw in the first half, but scored only 16 points after halftime. Sarah Gordon and Asia Molodynska each had 10 points for the Panthers. Gordon also had five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Molodynska had five steals and two assists.
• No. 9 Branson fell into an early hole and could not recover in a 51-41 road loss in the NorCal D-IV playoffs against No. 8 Miramonte on Tuesday night. The Bulls (20-13) trailed 26-9 at the half. Kate Spaulding led the Bulls with 12 points, while Ava Gordon had 10.