Today’s edition is sponsored by Park46 Real Estate.
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Welcome to the Playbook!
It is time for another week of the 2025-26 prep sports year! The Playbook takes you inside the East Bay Athletic League, writing about outlooks, updates and insights into all the sports, along with profiles of athletes, and opinions regarding controversial issues in high school sport.
The Big Picture is about the two Granada girls’ wrestlers who stood on the medal stand at the CIF Meet this past weekend, including the first state title in Granada history. Also take a quick look at the basketball and soccer teams still alive for the EBAL in the CIF State tournaments.
EBAL Power Rankings have a change at the top in basketball in both the boys’ and the girls’ rankings. What to Watch has the complete first week of CIF basketball and soccer playoffs. The Fast Five is off again this week; starting in with our spring athletes next week.
If you know of a great story, or have any questions, please reach out either by email at acesgolf@aol.com or by phone at 925-200-0719.
From the sidelines,
Dennis Miller, Playbook Editor
Martin caps Mats’ wrestling career with CIF state title
The one thing the Matadors wrestling program had never secured was an individual CIF state title. That is until Saturday, thanks to SJ Martin.
Power Rankings as of March 2.
EBAL BOYS’ BASKETBALL
1. De La Salle (24-7): Spartans finish third in the NCS Open playoffs, beating Dougherty Valley 74-63 for third place. They fell 54-51 to eventual champion Salesian in the semifinals.
2.Dougherty Valley (20-8): Wildcats fall 55-50 to Clayton Valley in the semifinals before losing to De La Salle in the third-place game.
3. Granada (21-8): Matadors beat Amador 53-50 in the D-I semifinals and then come close but fall 79-76 in the title game to Bishop O’Dowd.
4. Amador Valley (18-11): After dropping the semifinal game to Granada, Dons rally back with a 51-43 win over a good Liberty team to take third.
5. Dublin (19-9): Did not play last week.
Others: Livermore (19-10), Monte Vista (17-12), California (14-13), San Ramon Valley (11-15), Foothill (12-14).
EBAL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
1. Carondelet (25-5): Cougars dropped their first two games of the year to San Ramon Valley but finally got a win in the Open finals, 50-49.
2. San Ramon Valley (25-4): Wolves fall in the Open final after beating Carondelet the first two times this season.
3. Dublin (21-8): Did not play last week.
4. California (17-11): Did not play last week.
5. Dougherty Valley (19-8): Did not play last week,
Others: Monte Vista (12-13), Amador Valley (11-14), Granada (9-17), Foothill (9-16), Livermore (11-16).
EBAL BOYS’ SOCCER
1. Monte Vista (15-3-3): Mustangs get to the Open finals but fall 2-1 to Clayton Valley.
2. San Ramon Valley (17-5-5): Wolves advance to the D-I finals but drop a 1-0 decision of Berkeley.
3. De La Salle (15-5-1): Spartans take the third-place game in the Open division with a 4-1 win over Vintage,
4. Granada (11-7-2): Matadors fall 3-1 to Richmond in the D-II semifinals.
5. Amador Valley (12-8): Did not play.
Others: Livermore (12-8), Dublin (10-9-2), Foothill (8-7-3), Dougherty Valley (4-12-1), California (1-15-5).
EBAL GIRLS’ SOCCER
1. Carondelet (15-3-3): Cougars did make the Open finals but fell 3-2 to Bishop O’Dowd.
2. Amador Valley (8-3-3): Dons fell 2-0 to Cardinal Newman in the third-place game of the Open division.
3. San Ramon Valley (13-3-2): Wolves take out Ukiah 2-1 in the semifinals, then beat top-seeded Las Lomas 1-0 in the D-I championship game.
4. California (12-6-1): Did not play last week.
5. Granada (14-4-2): Did not play last week.
Others: Monte Vista (8-6-3), Foothill (4-7-1), Dublin (3-11-2), Livermore (8-11-3), Dougherty Valley (2-12-1).
Today (March 3)
CIF State Soccer Playoffs – Boys’ D-I: Monte Vista (7) at Granite Bay (2), 5 p.m. Everette Alvarez (6) at Clayton Valley (3), 5 p.m. D-II: San Ramon Valley (8) at Clovis (1), 5 p.m. Leigh (7) at De La Salle (2), 5 p.m.
Girls’ D-I: Carondelet (8) at Gregori (1), 5 p.m. Rocklin (7) at Bishop O’Dowd (2), 5 p.m. D-II: Amador Valley (5) at Mitty (4), 3 p.m. San Ramon Valley (7) at Vista Del Lago (2), 5 p.m.
CIF State Basketball Playoffs – Boys’ D-I: Destiny Christian-Sacramento (10) at Dougherty Valley (7), 7 p.m. D-II: Clovis (14) at Granada (3), 7 p.m. Serra (10) at Amador Valley (7), 7 p.m.
Tomorrow (March 4)
CIF State Basketball Playoffs – Boys’ Open: De La Salle at Modesto Christian, 7 p.m. Girls’ Open: San Ramon Valley (5) at Carondelet (4), 7 p.m.
Thursday (March 5)
CIF State Soccer Playoffs – Boys’ D-I Regional Semifinals: Clayton Valley-Alvarez winner vs. Monte Vista-Granite Bay winner, TBD. D-II Regional Semifinals: San Ramon Valley-Clovis winner vs. Vintage-Turlock winner, TBD
Girls’ D-I Regional Semifinals: Gregori-Carondelet winner vs. Saint Francis-Buchanan winner, TBD. D-II Regional Semifinals: Amador-Mitty winner vs. Davis-Las Lomas winner, TBD. San Ramon Valley-Vista Del Lago winner vs. Cardinal Newman-St. Ignatius winner, TBD.
CIF State Basketball Playoffs – Boys’ D-I Second Round: Dougherty Valley-Destiny Christian winner vs. Lincoln-Clayton Valley winner. D-II Second Round: Granada-Clovis winner vs. Oakland Tech-Milpitas winner, 7 p.m. Amador-Serra winner vs. Sacramento-Bullard winner, 7 p.m.
Saturday (March 7)
CIF State Soccer Playoffs – Boys’/Girls’ Regional Finals: To be determined.
CIF State Basketball Playoffs – Boys’ Open Regional Semifinals: TBD. D-I Regional Semifinals: TBD. D-II Regional Semifinals: TBD.
Girls’ Open Regional Semifinals: San Ramon Valley-Carondelet winner at Mitty (1), 7 p.m.
A refreshingly honest approach to Tri-Valley Real Estate
Park46 Real Estate is proudly rooted in our community and fiercely committed to results. As a boutique brokerage, we blend local insight, strategic marketing, and sharp negotiation to elevate every buying and selling experience. Real relationships. Real expertise. Real results. Visit Park46.com.
Pleasanton Preps: Remembering my old Amador coach, Mike Geib
“When former teacher Mike Geib passed away recently, a big chunk of the history of Amador Valley High School, as well as a big part of his legion of former players, went with him.”
Dublin writer pens biography on legendary Stanford women’s basketball coach VanDerveer
Dublin’s Michelle Smith has released her new biography of legendary Stanford University women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer, a book that brought together the two Hall of Famers whose professional relationship dates back some 30 years.
Dennis Miller is a veteran sports writer and editor, covering sports in the Tri-Valley for over 35 years. In addition to being the editor of Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, he has written a weekly column for Pleasanton Weekly and PleasantonWeekly.com, “Pleasanton Preps,” since 2011. Email him at sports@pleasantonweekly.com.
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