Las Positas, West Valley help Coast Conference to strong NorCal showing
CCCAA Men's Basketball Regional Brackets
NorCal l SoCal
No. 13 Hawks upset No. 4 Yuba to advance to regional finals
MARYSVILLE – Las Positas College made history last season by reaching the CCCAA State Championships for the first time. After an impressive upset victory on the road, the Hawks are just one win away from matching the feat.
Isaiah Victor scored a team-high 18 points to go along with 7 rebounds while Jalen Patterson had a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists to help lead No. 13-seeded Las Positas to a narrow 79-76 win at No. 4 Yuba College on Saturday night in the second round of the Northern California Regional Playoffs.
LPC is headed back to the regional finals and will again hit the road to take on Coast Conference foe and No. 5-seeded West Valley College next Saturday, March 4 at 7 p.m. in one of four third-round games.
No. 1 San Francisco hosts No. 8 Columbia, No. 2 San Jose City hosts No. 7 Chabot, and No. 3 Sequoias hosts No. 6 Redwoods with the winners all advancing to the state championships on March 9-12 at West Hills College Lemoore in Lemoore.
On Saturday, the Hawks erased a 37-34 halftime deficit and had to hold off a late Yuba rally to pull out the win. Yuba put together a 7-0 run to tie up the game at 74-74 with 1:22 remaining before the Hawks and Brandon Fisher came up big down the stretch.
Fisher followed a missed three-pointer with a put-back bucket as he was fouled. He calmly sank the free throw to put LPC back out for good, 74-77 with under a minute to play.
On Yuba's next trip down, Fisher came up with consecutive blocks to turn away the 49ers. The Hawks were able to hold off a final Yuba surge to hang on for the win.
Fisher totaled 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Henry Palmer contributed 14 big points off the bench, Even Johnson had 10 points and 6 rebounds while Jordahn Johnson chipped in with 8 points and 11 boards.
West Valley defeated No. 12 Porterville 67-60 at home on Saturday to earn its trip to the regional final. LPC and West Valley have met once this season with the Vikings needing overtime to beat the Hawks in Livermore 94-89 on Dec. 7.
(Las Positas College Athletics)
Mahi magic in second half lifts No. 5 West Valley over No. 12 Porterville
SARATOGA - In one of the most electrifying individual performances in West Valley's storied playoff history, Elijah Mahi shredded Porterville's defense for 28 second-half points to rally the Vikings past the Pirates 67-60 in CCCAA NorCal playoff action Saturday in Saratoga. The second-round win advances the 5th-seeded Vikings (25-4) to a regional final contest against #13 Las Positas (19-11) Saturday (3/4) at West Valley at 7:00pm.
Saturday night, the Vikings found themselves on the short end of a 30-19 halftime score, thanks to a tenacious Porterville defense and a WVC shooting performance as cold as the weather outside the gym. The Pirates, however, were unprepared for the storm that was rolling in at the start of the second half. They simply had no answer for the Elijah Mahi who took the floor after the break.
Elijah Mahi (Courtesy West Valley College Athletics)
Mahi was literally unstoppable in the second half, hitting shot after shot from inside, mid-range and from beyond the arc. He scored West Valley's first seven points of the half and teamed with Jeremiah Dargan, who had five points during the stretch, to pull the Vikings to within 34-32 at the 16:03 mark. A Nick Attanasio three gave WVC a 35-34 lead, its first since it was 5-2. A Dargan dunk off a Ariya Briscoe feed brought the crowd to its feet and extended WVC's lead to 39-34 at 13:42. Mahi continued his personal onslaught a few minutes later, outscoring the Pirates 12-5 by himself from 6:09 to 1:52. Dargan drained a pair of free throws wth :35 left, followed by two from Baron Bracey at :20 and three from Mahi to close it out.
Mahi's second half line showed nine two-pointers, a pair of threes and four free throws; he would finish the night with a career-high 35 points. Dargan was also incendiary in the second half, scoring 12 points, including a pair of Curryesque-distance threes, on his way to 22 for the evening. Julio Phiipps led the 12th-seeded Pirates (17-13) with 18 points, while Cameron Walker finished with 15.
(Matt Folsom, West Valley College Athletics)