Nine local basketball teams in Section playoffs
CONCORD, CA (Feb. 21, 2025) — Clayton Valley Charter’s girls and De La Salle boys headline the nine local teams who were selected last Sunday for the North Coast Section basketball tournament. None of the teams had too much time to celebrate as Section play got underway within 48 hours after the schedule was announced.
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There is no bigger surprise top seed based on pre-season rankings than the Ugly Eagles girls who went through the Diablo Athletic League schedule and playoffs with only two losses, both to the Section’s top-ranked Acalanes Dons.
Coach Damian Young’s team is 21-7 overall and were 11-1 in the DAL. The first-year CVCHS head coach came from the successful Carondelet and Cal Stars programs and is hoping this success will continue as they got a bye into the quarterfinals this Friday in Dan Della Gym when they will host the winner of the opening round game between #8 Dublin and ninth seed Northgate (21-7).
Clayton Valley Charter’s only two losses in its last 16 games were to Acalanes (27-1). The Lafayette team is the top seed in NCS Open and the ninth ranked team in California. During CVCHS’s recent stretch the team notched a pair of wins over Northgate.
The Ugly Eagles lost in the first round of the Division I playoffs last year and in 2022, while failing to make the post-season in 2023.
Open Division
In the girls Open Division, No. 3 Carondelet (23-5) is seeking its first NCS title since winning Open in 2022. The last two years the Cougars fell in the Open semi-finals to the eventual Section winner and then also lost the third-place game.
Last weekend Carondelet lost the East Bay Athletic League tournament championship game to San Ramon Valley. The Cougars only loss in the EBAL regular season was also to SRV, which is seeded second in NCS and would be Carondelet’s semi-final opponent if they win their opener in Richmond at No. 6 Salesian College Prep.
Mt. Diablo (14-12) is making its fourth straight appearance in the playoffs. The Red Devils success in D-5 during the past three years saw them elevated to D-2 this winter. As the 14th seed, they will visit Kentfield to face No. 3 Marin Catholic in the first round. The Devils have also advanced to three straight CIF Northern California playoffs.
De La Salle top seed
De La Salle (25-4) is top seed in NCS Open in no small measure after winning the EBAL tournament in impressive fashion. That seeding gives the Spartans a first-round bye. Should the seedings play out in the semi-finals, the finale will be a rematch with Salesian College Prep, which toppled the Concord school in last year’s NCS championship game.
The Spartans started the season with 14 straight wins before dropping three of five in January. All-everything senior Alec Blair has been on a hot streak for the Spartans, who have won nine of their last 10 games.
Three of the 16 boys teams in Division I are local with Clayton Valley Charter (18-11), Ygnacio Valley (17-10) and Northgate (19-9) all in the field which is headed by No. 1 Dougherty Valley.
The Ugly Eagles come into the playoffs with the most momentum among the locals after three victories last week to win the Diablo Athletic League playoffs, including a semi-final upset of regular season champion Acalanes in Lafayette, reversing the outcome of their league game two weeks prior.
After winning Division 1 titles in 2022 and 2023, CVCHS moved into last year’s Open Division but was 0-2 and this season’s results placed them in D-1, where they host Albany in the opening round.
Ygnacio Valley is eighth seeded and meets visiting No. 9 Monte Vista in the first round.
Northgate is 14th seed and travels to No. 3 Campolindo in Moraga. The Broncos won DAL regular season and playoffs games with the Cougars.
College Park (16-10) rounds out the local contingent in the boys tournament. The No. 7 Falcons host a Division 3 matchup in Pleasant Hill with No. 10 Santa Rosa.
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Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.