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Even though the East Bay Athletic League playoffs in basketball are essentially worthless in that the league regular season champion gets the automatic North Coast Section berth, there were still some interesting tidbits you could take away from the four-team tournament played last week.
On the boys’ side, Dougherty Valley took the title with a 70-59 win at De La Salle.
I spoke with Dougherty coach Mike Hansen early in the week and asked him about getting into the playoffs, then subsequently the NCS tournament.
The Wildcats lost 68-66 to Dublin in the last regular season game but still finished 6-3 in EBAL play, getting the second seed for the league playoffs.
As we talked about last week, five teams finished at 5-4 league and only two – Monte Vista and Amador Valley – got playoff berths.
Hansen said, “All we need is a ticket to the dance to have a chance to win it all.”
He got his wish – a ticket to the EBAL dance – and saw his team make the most of it.
The Wildcats opened with a 76-67 overtime win against a talented Amador Valley team to earn a spot in the tournament championship game against regular season champ De La Salle.
With the music still playing at the dance, Dougherty upended the Spartans by a 70-59 win at De La Salle to be crowned tournament champs.
Dougherty lost 75-66 in their regular season meeting with De La Salle but certainly got a measure of redemption with the playoff win.
On the girls’ side, there was little suspense as expected, San Ramon Valley won the title.
What was amazing is how easy the Wolves took the title game with a 70-49 win over Carondelet. It is believed to be the biggest loss the Cougars have suffered since they have been in the EBAL. With their 85-27 semifinal win over California, the Wolves won their two EBAL playoff games by a total of 155-76.
The two should meet for the third time this year in the NCS finals.
Soccer playoffs
The soccer playoffs were different in that the winner got the automatic NCS berth, while the regular season champion gets the most nominees for All-EBAL consideration.
De La Salle and Carondelet both ended the regular season as league champs, giving each the top seed for the playoffs. Neither team walked away with a tournament title and the automatic NCS berth.
On the boys’ side, Monte Vista took the championship with a 2-0 win at De La Salle. Last week I might have considered this an upset, but during the week I talked with few people associated with all programs and everyone one of them told me they thought Monte Vista was the best team in the league.
The Mustangs did get beat 4-1 in the regular season by De La Salle, but they made up for it with the road win to get the automatic berth. Monte Vista got to the finals with a 3-1 at San Ramon Valley.
The girls’ tournament went to penalties after Amador Valley and Carondelet battled through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime without a goal being scored.
Kicks from the spot went nine-deep before Amador goalie Morgan O’Brien stopped a Carondelet attempt, giving the Dons the win.
NCS boys’ basketball
Open Division
The tournament features De La Salle (No. 4 seed) and Dougherty Valley (No. 6 seed).
Tournament play begins Thursday, Feb. 19 with De La Salle hosting No. 5 Moreau Catholic. The winner will face No. 1 Salesian on Feb. 25.
Dougherty Valley travels to No. 3 Marin Catholic on Feb. 19 with the winner facing No. 2 Clayton Valley on Feb. 25.
Division I
Amador Valley (2), Granada (3), Dublin (5), Monte Vista (6), California (7) and Livermore (10) are the EBAL teams in the D-I tournament.
Unfortunately, all but Dublin are in the same half of the draw.
Play opens Tuesday night Dublin playing host to No. 12 Berkeley in a 5:30 p.m. game. The winner takes on the winner of the Freedom (13) at Liberty (4) game on Friday.
Livermore is at California in another 5:30 p.m. game, with the winner facing the winner of Redwood (15) at Amador Valley in a 7 p.m. game. The winners will play Friday.
Monte Vista plays host to Alameda (11) in a 7 p.m. game, Granada hosting Campolindo (14), with the winners of those two games meeting on Friday.
NCS girls’ basketball
Open
San Ramon Valley (1) and Carondelet (2) are the top two seeds, with both receiving a first-round bye which means they won’t play until Feb. 25.
Bishop O’Dowd (5) is at Clayton Valley (4) on Thursday night at 7 p.m., with the winner at San Ramon Valley.
Cardinal Newman (6) plays at Piedmont (3) Thursday night, with the winners at Carondelet on the 25th
D-I
Dublin (2), California (6) and Dougherty Valley (8) are in the tournament.
Play opens Tuesday night with three 7 p.m. starts. Second round action takes place Friday.
Dublin plays host to College Park (15) with the winner moving on to Friday night against the winner of Windsor (10) at Heritage (7).
California hosts Pinole Valley (11), with the winner taking on the winner of Campolindo (14) at Arcata (3).
Dougherty Valley is home against Maria Carillo (9), with the winner moving on to face Redwood (1), who has a first-round bye.
D-II
Monte Vista (12) is the lone EBAL team and the Mustangs travel to Lick-Wilmerding (5) in San Francisco on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
The winner plays the winner of the Sonoma Valley (13) at University (4) game on Saturday.
NCS boys’ soccer
Open
The four teams open play on Saturday in a pair of 7 p.m. games.
De La Salle (4) is at Clayton Valley (1) in one semifinal while Monte Vista (2) is at Vintage-Napa (3). The winners meet Feb. 28.
D-I
San Ramon Valley (2), Amador Valley (10) and Livermore (11) represent the EBAL. All three are in the same half of the bracket.
Play will begin Feb. 18 with San Ramon Valley hosting Mt. Eden (15). The winner plays the winner of Amador at Tamalpais (7), a 3:30 p.m. game.
Livermore is at Analy (6) in a 7 p.m. game with the winner facing Alameda (14) at Ukiah (3) winner.
D-II
Granada (3), Dublin (12) and Foothill (13) are all in the tournament.
Play begins Tuesday night, with the second-round set for Friday night.
Granada hosts Campolindo (14), with the winner facing the winner of Casa Grande (11) at Sonoma Valley (6).
Dublin travels to Castro Valley (5) with the winner facing the Foothill at Terra Linda (4) game.
NCS girls’ soccer
Open
There are four teams taking part in the tournament that begins this Saturday (Feb. 21) and ends the following Saturday.
Amador Valley (4) is at Bishop O’Dowd (1) in one semifinal, with Cardinal Newman (3) at Carondelet (2) in the other.
D-I
The tournament starts Wednesday night, with the second-round set for Saturday.
San Ramon Valley (3), California (7), Granada (9) and Monte Vista (11) represent the EBAL.
San Ramon Valley is hosting Castro Valley (14) with the winner facing the Monte Vista at Berkeley (6) winner in the second round.
Northgate (10) is at California in the first round with the winner squaring off against the winner of the Redwood (15) at Ukiah (2) winner.
Granada is at Clayton Valley (8) and the winner will take on Montgomery (16) at Las Lomas (1) winner.
D-II
Saint Mary’s (11) is at Livermore (6) on Tuesday night. The winner faces the Antioch (14) at San Marin (3) winner on Friday night.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit here.
