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The San Ramon Valley girls’ basketball team came into the North Coast Section Open Division championship game 28-1 and the top-seed for their game with Cardinal Newman.
But to those in the basketball community, the Wolves were the underdogs.
How could that be?
The Wolves had done everything to earn the top seed over the course of the season, so how is it possible to not be favored to win the title?
Two words – Taissa Queiroz.
The junior player transferred into the Santa Rosa school from Brazil where she was one of the top players for Brazil in the 2023 FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Standing right at 6 feet tall, Queiroz joined the Cardinal Newman team in the Cardinals’ 19th game of the season, and over the course of the next 10 games they won by an average of almost 50 points a game, outscoring their opponents 728-230.
But San Ramon Valley didn’t rack up their lofty record by running away from a challenge. Last Saturday afternoon at Dublin High, the Wolves fought throughout the title game before losing 61-55.
It was an inspiring effort that saw San Ramon Valley battle back from a double-digit deficit to hold a 50-46 lead with 4:30 to play.
Queiroz may have had only 13 points, but there were some big ones at the end. The key was her presence on the court forced the Wolves defense to adjust, double teaming at times.
The adjustments let sharp shooters like Katie Schat and Leah Mauritson with good looks at the basketball from the 3-point line, and several times they made the Wolves pay.
But behind efforts from players like Avery Knapp and Sofia Bowes under the basket, and Sierra Chambers and Tera Chan in the backcourt, the Wolves kept battling.
There was talk following the loss that the Wolves may drop into the D-I playoffs for the CIF State Tournament, but those thoughts centered on the idea that there would be five teams in the northern part of the bracket.
CIF took six, and as expected the Wolves were the No. 6 seed.
It may be a break for San Ramon Valley as they stay on the other side of the bracket from top-seeded Archbishop Mitty.
Mitty is 23-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.
San Ramon Valley will open Tuesday night at No. 6 St. Mary’s (Stockton) in a 7 p.m. game. SRV fell 53-48 at St. Mary’s in the third game of the season.
After the loss the Wolves ran off 26 wins in a row before their loss last weekend. They are playing far better now than early on.
Awaiting the winner would be a NorCal semifinal with No. 2 Clovis West. A game the Wolves would have a solid chance to go in and win as well.
Cardinal Newman was seeded fourth and will host Folsom on Tuesday. The winner will get Mitty on Saturday night.
Boys Open
De La Salle lost 52-43 to top seeded Salesian in the NCS finals and was seeded No. 4 in the Open Division for state.
The Spartans will play host to No. 5 Modesto Christian in the first round on Tuesday. Win there and the Spartans will get another shot at No. 1 Salesian in the NorCal semifinals.
Boys’ D-I
Dougherty Valley completed their NCS run by taking the title with a 64-61 win over Dublin in a sold-out gym at the Gaels home court.
For winning NCS, the Wildcats were given the No. 14 seed and a game Tuesday night at No. 3 Mitty in San Jose.
Dublin is the No. 16 seed and will travel to face top-seeded Clovis West.
Granada, who competed in the NCS Open playoffs, was seeded No. 4 in D-I, and will host No. 13 Inderkum on Tuesday night. If successful, the Mats would play the winner of St. Ignatius (5) and No. 12 Rocklin.
San Ramon Valley, who lost to Salesian and Branson in the NCS Open playoffs, was seeded second and will play host to No. 15 Vanden in the first round.
If the Wolves win, they would then host the winner of University (7) and Monterey Trail (10) in the second round.
Girls’ D-I
Carondelet was seeded No. 4 and will host No. 13 Los Gatos in the first round Tuesday.
Girls’ D-II
California, who fell 56-48 in the NCS D-I finals to Salesian, were given the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 Oakland Tech Tuesday night.
If the Grizzlies hold serve, they will play the winner of Vanden (2) and San Domenico (15) in the second round.
Boys’ D-I soccer
Dougherty Valley saw its impressive run through the NCS tournament end with a 1-0 overtime loss to Berkeley in the finals.
The performance was enough to give the Wildcats the No. 1 seed in the CIF NorCal Boys Soccer Championships in the D-II tournament.
Dougherty will host Valley (Sacramento) Tuesday night at 5 p.m. The semifinals are set for Thursday, with the regional finals on Saturday.
Monte Vista, who fell to eventual champion Berkeley 1-0 in the semifinals, was awarded the No. 8 seed in the D-I playoffs and will open Tuesday at Jesuit (Sacramento) at 3 p.m.
Girls’ D-I soccer
San Ramon Valley had been among the top teams in the section all year and the Wolves validated their spot among the elite with a 2-1, double overtime win over Carondelet.
The Wolves were seeded No. 3 in the NorCal Girls D-I playoffs and will host Leigh of San Jose on Tuesday in 5 p.m. start.
Amador Valley, the EBAL champ and EBAL playoff champ that was eliminated 5-1 in the NCS semifinals by SRV, was seeded No. 7 and sent on the road to No. 2 Del Oro (Loomis) for a 5 p.m. game.
CIF wrestling
The EBAL girls had three wrestlers advance to the placing rounds this past weekend in Bakersfield.
Maci Stemmons of Monte Vista finished third in the 135-pound weight class, beating Kayla Edwards of Rancho Buena Vista 8-2 in the third-place match.
Stemmons went unbeaten until getting pinned at 2:59 by eventual champion Danica Kelly of Scotts Valley. Kelly went on to pin her opponent in the finals as well.
Mason Harsch of Monte Vista finished fifth at 125, defeating Karma Pugh of Buchanan 5-1 in the 5th-place match.
Lana Nguyen of Dublin won the 7th-place match 12-3 over Kyli Stanley of Granite Hills.
Finally, Lauren Nguyen of Granada fell 8-2 in the 7th-place match at 100 pounds.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/express/sports/.
