The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Hang Time: Willow Glen's Rayvon Jackson skies for two in playoff action against Aragon.

Panthers in CCS finals

Rams hoping to make playoffs also

By Dick Sparrer

Presentation is playing for a championship, and Willow Glen might be.

That's the way things stack up heading into the final rounds of the Central Coast Section basketball playoffs this week.

Presentation knocked off Watsonville and Monta Vista last week to advance to the championship round of the girls' CCS Division I playoffs. The Panthers, 21-6 for the year, will meet season-long nemesis Mitty (25-2) in the title game on March 6, 6:30 p.m., at the San Jose Event Center.

The Willow Glen boys, meanwhile, opened the CCS Division III playoffs with wins over Aragon and Del Mar to advance to the semifinals this week.

The Rams, 23-5 for the year, will take on Capuchino (16-11) on March 4, 6 p.m., at Bellarmine with the winner advancing to the CCS Division III title game on March 7, 4 p.m., at the Event Center.

Dion Saunders tossed in 41 points in two games to lead the Rams to back-to-back wins over Aragon and Del Mar last week.

Saunders poured in a game-high 29 points to lead Willow Glen to the 64-54 win over Aragon to open CCS play. Cory Warren supported with 12 points for the winners and Rayvon Jackson and Nich Holt canned 10 points apiece. Holt buried a pair of three-pointers. Manny Myers added two points to round out the scoring for the Rams.

Willow Glen led the Dons by just four at the half, but outscored Aragon by seven in the third period to take control of the game.

The Rams played another group of Dons later in the week and pulled out a thrilling 43-41 win over Del Mar.

Jackson had the hot hand for Willow Glen, leading the Rams with 13 points. Saunders was close behind with 12 points, and Holt drained three threes to finish with nine.

Myers added five points, including a three-pointer, and Warren finished with four.

Mustangs fall

The Pioneer girls lost their CCS playoff opener 54-27 to Gunderson. The Mustangs were led by Amy Thornhill, who popped 11 points, and Maryanne Wahhab, who added six. Pioneer wrapped up a 15-10 season.

Panthers win two

The Presentation girls won twice last week to move into the CCS title game.

Molly Shanley tossed in 15 points, including a three-pointer, to lead the Panthers to a 61-40 win over Watsonville. Presentation dominated the game for three periods before coasting to the win in the fourth.

Freshman Sara Werner chipped in with 12 points for the Panthers and Cheyenne Brown tossed in 10. Megan Moniz added eight points, Rosanna Moreno hit six, Sarah Incerty had three, Rebecca Cadman, Jessica Borello and Jaleh Donaldson scored two each and Cassie Bienneman hit one.

The Panthers came back to beat Monta Vista in an overtime thriller, 62-55.

Werner led the Panthers with 16 points and Moreno popped 12. Borello added 10 points. Moniz hit nine, Donaldson eight, Brown four and Bienneman two.

Presentation opened up a 10-point lead in the first period and took a 12-point edge into the final period. Monta Vista fought back to tie it 51-51 by the end of regulation, but the Panthers outscored the Matadors 11-4 in the extra period to win it and advance to the finals against Mitty.

The Panthers have been unable to defeat the Monarchs in three tries this season. The most recent loss came when Presentation battled Mitty in the championship game in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

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