Monte Vista splits semi-finals

It was a packed gym at Monte Vista High School on Wednesday as a pair of top seeded squads looked to advance to section title games. The Monte Vista boys team continued its banner year with a 46-39 win over De La Salle.

After losing the regular season series, the Spartans fought all they could, but it just wasn't enough as Monte Vista pulled out a victory to clinch a spot in the North Coast Section championship game on Friday night against Freedom.

Monte Vista struggled shooting the ball in the first half, as guard Grant Jackson finished the game with seven points on just 1-for-7 shooting. There were some bright spots that helped send the Mustangs to the title game, including Cal Poly signee Trevor John who scored 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting and center Spencer Rust who had 11 points and six rebounds on 4-for-7 shooting. Overall, they scored just enough points to win this very defensive game.

As for De La Salle, it was a struggle to break away from Monte Vista all night long. Sophomore guard Devin Asiasi wasn't a huge factor on offense as he only scored five points, but he was a monster on the boards with a game high 10 rebounds. Post Patrick Marr had 12 points on 3-for-8 shooting and guard Justin Hill added 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting.

Monte Vista improves to a dominate record of 27-1 on the season. Its only loss came at the hands of their rival San Ramon Valley in an away game. They were challenged at times by the Spartans, but they were never truly looking at defeat. Now with one game left in the section playoffs, the Mustangs will look to cap off a dream season with a win over Freedom in the title game. Freedom beat San Ramon on Wednesday to advance.

Deer Valley 65, Monte Vista 57: The Mustangs looked like they were the better team throughout the first half, but Deer Valley hung in there to go to the break at a score of 28-25 Monte Vista. The second half was completely opposite as the Wolverines outscored the Mustangs, 24-13 in the third quarter, led on offense by guards Sierra Dixon and Maranne Johnson who lit up the scoreboard.

After Deer Valley got a 10 point lead, they were able to hold onto it throughout the fourth quarter to shock Monte Vista, 65-57. The Wolverines got great play from their two scoring leaders, as Dixon went for 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting and Johnson added 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting and three assists. The Wolverines also got great play from post Alejandra Cephas as she went for eight points, three rebounds, and two blocks on 4-for-9 shooting.

As for Monte Vista, they shot a decent 40 percent from the field on the night, gaining great play from seniors Madi Burroughs and Lily Wissinger. Burroughs went for 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting and Wissinger went for 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting. The Mustangs would have been out of the game much earlier, if it hadn't been for junior Amanda Daily who was constantly knocking down three pointers in the second half. Daily ended up with 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting, which included four three pointers.

Deer Valley will face Berkeley on Friday night at St. Mary's College.