OAKLAND – The Oakland Tech women basketball crew is headed to its third straight CIF Northern Regional championship recreation after a 72-34 domination of Priory on Saturday evening.
Oakland Tech received the NorCal Division IV title in 2019 after which proceeded to win the state championship. In 2020, Tech was the NorCal Division II champion, however the state championships have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The CIF didn't maintain Northern Regional or state championships in 2021 for a similar motive.
This 12 months, third-seeded Oakland Tech (19-11) advances to the NorCal remaining in Division III. Tech coach Leroy Harm stated that his crew was not revered in the place it was positioned within the NorCal playoffs. He identified his crew’s non-league schedule.
“Salesian, Clovis West, O’Dowd twice, Lincoln of Stockton,” stated Harm calmly. Then he pointed to his crew’s scores on this 12 months’s Northern Regional.
On Saturday, Tech led No. 7 Priory 26-3 on the finish of the primary quarter and 50-14 at halftime. After the third quarter ended with Tech holding a 68-27 lead, there was a working clock within the fourth quarter.
Oakland Tech defeated No. 6 Dixon 78-38 in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Within the first spherical, Tech defeated No. 4 Homestead 59-43.
“We stay up for going to see the one seed,” Harm stated.
Oakland Tech will journey to face No. 1 Lincoln of Lincoln on Tuesday at 6 p.m. within the NorCal Division III remaining. Lincoln (30-3) defeated No. 12 Central-Fresno 38-35 within the different semifinal.
MORE NORCAL BASKETBALL COVERAGE
- Scoreboard: Saturday’s outcomes, Tuesday’s championship schedule
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- Revenge tour: Mitty women an excessive amount of for Clovis West in Open semis
- Second-half capturing: Naya Epps heats up, leads No. 1 Carondelet into Open remaining
- Finish of the run: High seed Sacred Coronary heart Prep boys upset by No. 13 Clovis North
- Heartbreaker: Cash Williams, Oakland Excessive can’t clear NorCal semis hurdle
- Roundup: Carlmont boys lose on 40-foot shot on the buzzer
It will be very troublesome to have a greater first quarter than the one Tech produced in opposition to visiting Priory (16-10) on Saturday.
Tech, which by no means trailed, took a 5-0 lead on Mari Somvichian’s first three-pointer of the evening. The junior scored 12 of her game-high 19 factors within the first interval. A drive for a lay-in by Priory’s Valentina Saric narrowed Oakland Tech’s result in 7-3 with 5 minutes, 33 seconds left within the first quarter, however Oakland Tech scored the final 19 factors of the quarter for a 26-3 benefit, then outscored the Panthers 24-11 within the second quarter.
“I really feel like we have been actually clicking on all cylinders immediately, sharing the ball,” stated Somvichian, one among six gamers on this season’s squad that have been on Tech’s roster for the 2020 NorCal remaining. “Quite a lot of good issues occur when nobody cares who will get credit score.”
“We made pictures,” stated Harm concerning the first quarter. “Defensively, we didn’t give 14 (Saric) something simple.”
On Dec. 10, Oakland Tech defeated Priory 67-43, and Saric had a team-high 20 factors. The 6-foot senior capturing guard was restricted to 2 factors within the first quarter Saturday and 4 factors within the recreation. Carmela Fontes paced Priory with 10 factors.
Apart from Somvichian, Erin Sellers (13 factors) and Sophia Askew-Goncalves (11 factors) additionally scored in double figures for Tech. Askew-Goncalves additionally had six rebounds and three assists, and teammate Nia Hunter had a balanced stat line with eight factors, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and two steals. Shomira Bidaye had eight factors and 5 rebounds for Priory.