Today’s edition is sponsored by The Rose Hotel.
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Welcome to the Playbook!
Each week the Playbook will bring you a story about something related to the current sports taking place locally. With 40-plus years of covering the East Bay Athletic League, the Playbook knows the landscape of local sports and will bring you the ins and outs, as well as the good (and the bad) of prep sports!
The Playbook is delivered each Tuesday into your inbox! It’s free — you just register to get it. Be sure to share with the players and parents of your team so they can get the Playbook each week too! They can do it at www.danvillesanramon.com.
The Big Picture is all about the San Ramon Valley girls’ basketball that took the North Coast Section Open Division title with a freshman, four sophomores, and a junior in their core group of players. Read about how the season developed for this group of younger players.
EBAL Power Rankings are back with a big shake up in girls’ soccer. Check out the basketball and soccer rankings following the NCS playoffs.
What to Watch lets you know where and when our teams to take to the field or the court when it comes to the CIF State playoffs.
Got a great story idea for something coming up in the winter? Let me know at acesmag@aol.com!
From the sidelines,
Dennis Miller, Playbook Editor
Youth movement leads San Ramon Valley to NCS girls’ basketball championship
“The San Ramon Valley girls’ basketball team has become one of the top perennial programs in Northern California, moving into the CIF NorCal Regionals. But on paper something had to be different this season with no seniors in the starting lineup … right?”
Power Rankings as of March 3.
EBAL GIRLS’ SOCCER
1. Monte Vista (10-5-3): The Mustangs take the top spot after their amazing run through the D-I playoffs as the No. 10 seed. They beat Casa Grande, Liberty, Bishop O’Dowd, and Amador. No. 4 seed in CIF State.
2. Amador Valley (13-4-0): The Dons fall 1-0 to Monte Vista in the NCS D-I finals. Seeded No. 6 in the CIF State tournament.
3. Carondelet (17-3-0): Struggled to get by Ukiah in the first round of NCS, then were dumped from the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Acalanes.
4. San Ramon Valley (10-3-0): The Wolves stumbled out of the gates in NCS, falling 3-2 to Liberty.
5. Foothill (8-6-4): The Falcons knocked off Clayton Valley to open NCS, then were eliminated 5-4 by Marin.
The rest: California (7-9-4), Dublin (8-6-3), Granada (7-5-7), Dougherty Valley (5-9-1), Livermore (3-11-1).
EBAL BOYS’ SOCCER
1. Dougherty Valley (19-3-2): The Wildcats bring home the NCS D-I title with the 2-1 win over De La Salle, then go out and get the D-I top seed in D-I of the CIF State playoffs.
2. De La Salle (16-4-2): The Spartans get to the D-I final but fall 2-1 to Dougherty Valley. DLS gets the No. 6 seed in the CIF State D-I playoffs.
3. San Ramon Valley (13-8-3): The Wolves get by Monte Vista in the first round of NCS but then lost 4-0 to De La Salle in the second round.
4. Monte Vista (9-6-2): Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, the Mustangs end up losing to SRV in overtime in NCS.
5. Granada (15-8-1): The Matadors make a run to the D-II championship game before falling, losing 3-2 to Archie Williams. They also get the No. 3 seed in the D-III CIF State playoffs.
The rest: Livermore (8-10-4), California (12-7-6), Amador Valley (4-11-7), Dublin (5-7-6), Foothill (5-11-4).
EBAL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
1) San Ramon Valley (27-3): The Wolves got it done, beating top seeded Acalanes, a team that had beaten San Ramon by 15 earlier in the season, 76-43 to with the Open Division of the North Coast Section playoffs.
2) Carondelet (25-6): The Cougars were once again by San Ramon Valley, this time 66-55 in the NCS Open semifinals. Cam back and beat Cardinal Newman 72-58 in the third-place game.
3) California (21-11): The Grizzlies made it to the NCS D-I finals but fell 45-34 to Bishop O’Dowd. Cal beat Miramonte, Eureka and top-seeded Clayton Valley to reach the finals.
4) Dublin (22-7): The Gaels fell 65-58 in the first round of the D-I playoffs, ending their season.
5) Dougherty Valley (31-11): The Wildcats beat Pittsburg, Branson, and St. Bernard’s — the D-III No. 1 seed to advance to the D-III finals before falling 50-39 to Saint Mary’s.
The rest: Monte Vista (13-16), Granada (12-16), Amador Valley (9-17), Livermore (9-18), Foothill (5-21).
EBAL BOYS’ BASKETBALL
1) De La Salle (27-4): The Spartans take the NCS Open division title, beating Salesian 59-42 in the finals. DLS also beat Dublin in the Open playoffs.
2) San Ramon Valley (21-9): The Wolves fell 77-69 to Salesian but then beat Dublin 59-56 in the third-place game in Open.
3) Dougherty Valley (24-8): The Wildcats were in the D-I playoffs and made the most of it, taking the title with a 69-37 win in the finals. Beat Pittsburg, Ygnacio Valley and Clayton Valley on the way to the title.
4) Dublin (24-7): The Gaels beat Liberty 65-47 to start the Open division playoffs. In the semifinals, they fell 47-37 to De La Salle, then fell in the consolation finals 58-56 to San Ramon Valley.
5) California (23-7): The Grizzlies were picked in the Open division but dropped a pair, falling to San Ramon Valley 77-49, then Liberty 74-48.
The rest: Amador Valley (21-11), Monte Vista (17-12), Granada (8-19), Foothill (13-15), Livermore (15-14).
Tuesday, March 4
CIF State Soccer (5 p.m. unless otherwise noted) Boys’ Division I: Davis (8) at Dougherty Valley (1); Clovis North (5) at Everett Alvarez-Salinas (4); De La Salle (6) at Edison-Fresno (3), 3 p.m.; Bellarmine (7) at Franklin-Elk Grove (2). D-III: Sacred Heart (8) at Archie Williams-San Anselmo (1) at 3 p.m.; Tamalpais (5) at Liberty Ranch-Galt (4); Woodland (6) at Granada (3); Terra Linda (7) at Hillsdale (2).
CIF State Soccer Girls’ D-I (5 p.m.): Bishop O’Dowd (8) at Del Oro-Loomis (1); Mitty (5) at Monte Vista (4); Amador Valley (6) at Rocklin (3); Folsom (7) at Saint Francis-Mountain View (2).
CIF State Basketball Boys’ D-I (7 p.m. unless noted): California (16) at Inderkum (1); San Joaquin Memorial (12) at San Ramon Valley (5); Moreau Catholic (11) at Dougherty Valley (6); St. Ignatius (10) at Dublin (7).
CIF State Basketball (7 p.m. unless noted) Girls’ D-I: Saint Francis (14) at Carondelet (3). D-III: Dougherty Valley (9) at Chico (8).
Wednesday, March 5
CIF State Basketball Boys’ Open: De La Salle (2) vs. bye.
CIF State Basketball Girls’ Open: Pinewood (6) at San Ramon Valley (3).
Thursday, March 6
CIF State Soccer Semifinals Boys’ D-I: Dougherty Valley-Davis winner vs. Everett Alvarez-Clovis North winner, TBD; Edison-De La Salle winner vs. Franklin-Bellarmine winner, TBD. D-III: Archie Williams-Sacred Heart winner vs. Liberty Ranch-Tamalpais, TBD; Granada-Woodland winner vs. Hillsdale-Terra Linda winner, TBD.
CIF State Soccer Semifinals Girls D-I: Del Oro-O’Dowd winner vs. Monte Vista-Mitty winner, TBD; Rocklin-Amador winner vs. Saint Francis-Folsom winner, TBD.
CIF State Basketball Boys’ D-I: Inderkum-California winner vs. Oakland Tech-Redwood winner, TBD; San Ramon Valley-San Joaquin winner vs. Clovis North-Liberty winner, TBD; Lincoln-Clovis West winner vs. Dougherty Valley-Moreau winner, TBD; Dublin-St. Ignatius winner vs. Buchanan-Monterey Trail winner, TBD.
CIF State Basketball Girls’ D-I: Carondelet-Saint Francis winner vs. Mitty-Bishop O’Dowd winner, TBD. D-III: Chico-Dougherty Valley winner vs. Immanuel-East Union winner, TBD.
Friday, March 7 – No events scheduled
Saturday, March 8
CIF State Soccer Boys’ and Girls’ Championships: Matchups, TBD.
CIF State Basketball Boys’ and Girls’ Third Round: Matchups, TBD.
Pleasanton Preps: A last-gasp push I can get behind — ‘Fair racing 2026’
To say when the news broke about there being no horse racing this year at the Alameda County Fair in June and July was a shot to solar plexus is a vast understatement. I have not written much because I almost don’t know what to say…
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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