Caruthers girls will play for state title again
Blue Raiders add to decade of dominance
The Caruthers girls basketball program is again proving it is one of the best small school-teams in the state.
The Blue Raiders beat University High School (San Francisco), 58-55, at historic Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco on Tuesday night, which clinched the Division III NorCal Regional title, and advanced them into the Division III state championship game Friday at 2 p.m., at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Their opponent for that game will be the SoCal Regional champion, SoCal No. 5-seed Granada Hills Charter.
After losing in the quarterfinal round of the Division I Central Section tournament to No. 2 seed St. Joseph, the Blue Raiders were seeded No. 14 in the Division III NorCal state bracket, which has meant the Raiders have turned into “road warriors,” as they’ve worked their way into the state final.
They won at No. 3 seed Christopher (Gilroy), 85-52, in the 1st round, at No. 11 seed Heritage (Brentwood), 44-40, in the second round, at No. 2 Central, 36-34, in the regional semifinal, before winning in San Francisco against No. 1 seed University in the regional final on Tuesday.
Caruthers has won five Central Section championships (2015, ’16, ’19, ’20, ’22) in the last ten years, and this is the third time they have been to the state Final Four in the last six years, which included a Division V state championship in 2019.
The program, which has an enrollment of only 672 students, has also been absolutely dominant in their league over the last 11 years, having won 111 consecutive league games, and 11 consecutive league titles.
Archbishop Mitty overpowers Clovis West
It was going to probably take a near-perfect game from the Golden Eagles for the No. 2-seeded Clovis West girls basketball team to upset No. 1-seeded Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) on Tuesday night in the NorCal Regional final in the Open Division, the premiere girls division in the state.
The Eagles head coach Craig Campbell said after their win in the regional semifinal on Saturday, that the Golden Eagles would need to shoot the ball extremely well to have a chance against the Monarchs, and unfortunately, the opposite happened, as the Eagles missed all 11 of their 3-pointers in the first half.
They fell behind 16-0 in the first quarter, and after answering back with a 9-0 run of their own, they would get no closer the rest of the way.
With a roster featuring five players who are at least six-feet tall, including a senior committed to UCONN, and a sophomore ranked amongst the best sophomores in the country, the Monarchs, ranked No. 1 in the country by Maxpreps, won easily 71-34.
This is the third straight year Mitty has eliminated the Golden Eagles in the Open Division state playoffs.
Clovis West finishes the season at 31-3 overall.
Bullard boys fall in Division III
The final boys basketball team from our viewing area still alive in the state playoffs was also eliminated on Tuesday night, as No. 6-seeded Bullard lost at No. 1-seeded Santa Cruz, 61-56, in the Division III NorCal Regional final.
The game was tied at 56 with about two minutes to go, but a couple late buckets by Kirby Seals of the Cardinals turned out to be the difference.
Tim Amundsen’s Knights finish the season at 26-9 overall.
