CCS Open Semi-Finals Tonight! Who you Got?!?
CCS Open Semi-Finals are tonight with a doubleheader at Independence HS starting at 5:30pm.
Three (3) WCAL teams remain in Bellarmine, Riordan and Cinderella - SHC! M-A proved it belongs in the Open with its win last Friday vs Serra.
CCS Open Semi-Finals
@Independence HS
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4) Menlo-Atherton vs (8) Sacred Heart Cathedral 5:30pm - Most intriguing game of the night with M-A's versatile, well-coached and athletic group vs. SHC - a huge upset winner over #1 Mitty. The Bears style of play mirror that of the top WCAL schools as they may be undersized, but are well-coached, confident, play tight physical D, all can dribble, pass and shoot the ball and it bench is deep and athletic. On the other side, the Irish saw this type of play virtually the past 14 games in league, so nothing surprises them. Defense and overall execution wins out tonight. Some interesting scenarios are in play - How does SHC exploit their height? Will M-A continue their hot shooting and will their depth win out? Or will it be the luck of the Irish?
Winner: Menlo-Atherton
(2) Riordan vs (3) Bellarmine 7:30pm - The third and potentially not the last game against these 2 squads where Riordan took the first two games each by double-digits. The Crusaders have matched up well against the Bells with their speed, length, athleticism and guard play. That worries me! It's always hard to beat a well-coached and deep Bells team. Interestingly, both teams went small last Friday night - Riordan for strategy to counter SF's attack and the Bells out of necessity as it was without its big, Cole. The Bells need to slow down the Crusader attack and force them to play 35 seconds of defense. Riordan needs to be able to execute should it fall into the Bells' deliberate pace of play. Riordan D can force the issue to make the game more uptempo, but will need its bench to make contributions. Not sure the status of Riordan's, Clark, so the rotation needs to be ready.
Winner: Riordan.
Prep2Prep CCS Open Semi-Finals Preview:
http://www.prep2prep.com/feature.aspx?ArticleID=26901
Thursday’s consolation games
No. 1 Archbishiop Mitty (17-8) vs. No. 5 Serra (17-8)
No. 6 St. Ignatius (12-14) vs. No. 7 St. Francis (13-12)
2019 CCS Basketball Playoffs/Brackets site:
http://www.cifccs.org/Playoffs/winter_playoff_brackets_-_info