Morgan Cheli, center, accepts her McDonald’s All American jersey at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Morgan Cheli was selected from more than 729 nominees from across the country to play in the 2024 McDonald’s All American Games in Houston. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
BOYS OPEN DIVISION: SALESIAN VS. HARVARD-WESTLAKE
Records: Salesian 31-1; Harvard-Westlake 32-3
Tipoff: Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 8 p.m.
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: First meeting between the teams in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present).
Storylines: Calling this matchup between an individual superstar and a team would be a gross oversimplification, but it wouldn’t be wrong. … Salesian, the No. 1 seed in NorCal, doesn’t have a player averaging more than 10 points per game, whereas McDonald’s All-American Trent Perry headlines defending Open Division state champ Harvard-Westlake. … Salesian and longtime coach Bill Mellis exorcized their NorCal Open demons in this postseason. Winless in five previous Open appearances, the Pride beat Modesto Christian and Archbishop Riordan to reach the program’s first Open state final and fourth state title game overall. The Pride beat Price-Los Angeles in the Division IV game in 2012 to capture their most recent crown. … The Richmond program, lauded for its tenacious defense, has held every opponent to under 70 points and has kept 16 opponents to under 50. … Since losing 68-66 in overtime to St. John Bosco at the Damien tournament, Salesian has won 19 consecutive games. … Aaron Hunkin-Claytor is a Hawaii commit and the only Salesian player that has a star ranking on 247Sports. … Amani Johnson and De’Undrae Perteete are two other seniors who guard every position for a team that goes 10-deep in the rotation. … Alvin Loving IV, a junior, is a corner 3-pointer specialist, and his late triple helped send Salesian to the regional title. … Harvard-Westlake beat St. Joseph-Santa Maria in the state final last season and had to survive another gauntlet of SoCal powerhouses to get back to Sacramento. … Harvard-Westlake defeated Roosevelt in the Southern Section and SoCal Open brackets, and also beat Centennial-Corona, Sierra Canyon, St. John Bosco and Carlsbad during the playoffs. … USC commit Perry is the headliner, but guard Robert Hinton is also a four-star who will play at Harvard next season. … Salesian is the fourth Bay Area school to play in an Open boys final, joining Archbishop Mitty (2013), Bishop O’Dowd (2014, 2015) and De La Salle (2016). O’Dowd in 2015 is the only NorCal boys team to win an Open crown. — Joseph Dycus
GIRLS OPEN DIVISION: ARCHBISHOP MITTY VS. ETIWANDA
Records: Archbishop Mitty 30-0; Etiwanda 31-3
Tipoff: Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 6 p.m.
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: Second meeting between the teams in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present). In the Open final last season, Etiwanda beat Mitty 69-67.
Storylines: Mitty is on the verge of its second undefeated season, matching the school’s 1998-99 team that captured the Division I state title to finish 31-0. … In the Open Division era, which began in 2013, the Monarchs are 0-3 in the elite classification’s championship games, losing to Clovis West 44-40 in 2017, Sierra Canyon 85-61 in 2022 and Etiwanda on a shot at the buzzer last season. … Two previous girls teams have brought undefeated records to the Open state final, Windward in 2013 and Sabrina Ionescu-led Miramonte in 2016. Both teams lost. … Mitty, led by sophomore superstar McKenna Woliczko and McDonald’s All-American Morgan Cheli, ascended to No 1 in the national rankings after it defeated Long Island Lutheran 73-72 at the Nike TOC in Arizona on Dec. 21. … Etiwanda lost to Long Island Lutheran 82-62 at a showcase in Springfield, Mass., on Jan. 15. The Southern California school has won 15 in a row since then. … USC-bound Kennedy Smith is Etiwanda’s McDonald’s All-American. In the state final against Mitty last season, the 6-1 power forward had 30 points, 13 rebounds and six steals. … But in Etiwanda’s 54-51 regional championship victory over Sierra Canyon on Tuesday, Grace Knox, a 6-3 five-star transfer from Nevada, led the way with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Etiwanda also got 12 points from Aliyahna “Puff” Morris and 10 from Arynn Finley. Smith had seven points, all in the final quarter. … Mitty, which has hardly been threatened since its run through elite competition over the holidays, was dealing with injuries down the stretch. But the Monarchs are at full strength now and have a roster loaded with players who have been on the state championship stage. Some twice. For them, they hope three times is the charm. … Mitty beat Folsom 82-71 — its closest game since edging Long Island Lutheran — and Clovis West 71-34 to reach Sacramento. — Darren Sabedra
BOYS DIVISION I: SAN RAMON VALLEY VS. ST. JOHN BOSCO
Records: San Ramon Valley 29-7; St. John Bosco-Bellflower 27-7
Tipoff: Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 8 p.m.
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: First meeting in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present)
Storylines: Can San Ramon Valley duplicate what it did in 2015 and bring home a Division I state championship to Danville? … Nine years ago at Cal, the Wolves outlasted Chino Hills 79-71 in double overtime to win the program’s only state title in three appearances. … This season’s team — a perfect mix of talent and chemistry — has had some amazing moments. The Wolves finished first in their division for the second consecutive season at the Damien Classic in SoCal. They prevailed at De La Salle to capture the East Bay Athletic League tournament. They beat Granada in the North Coast Section playoffs and again in the NorCal regional final. They spotted Mitty a 13-0 lead, then edged the Monarchs in the regional semifinals. … From EBAL co-player of the year Seamus Deely to Luke Isaak, from Mason Thomas to Matthew Diekmann, from coach Brian Botteen’s X’s and O’s to an engaged student section, the Wolves have had the right pieces to win nearly 30 games. … Three of SRV’s four regional games have been decided by three points each. Only Monterey Trail — an 85-66 triumph — provided an opportunity to breathe comfortably. … SRV’s most lopsided loss of the season was by 15 points to NorCal Open champion Salesian in the section playoffs. Salesian’s only loss all season was to St. John Bosco, 68-66 in overtime on Dec. 29. … Is that a sign of what is to unfolded on Friday? … St. John Bosco is a battle-tested team that reached Sacramento as the No. 1 seed in the SoCal bracket. The Braves beat Windward 65-63, Damien 63-59 and Mater Dei 71-68 to advance. … Their top scorers are 6-4 Brandon McCoy Jr., 6-6 Kade Bonam, 6-5 Elzie Harrington and 6-3 Jack Turner. … Bosco has made one previous trip to a state final, beating Folsom 63-54 for the Division II crown in 2014. — Darren Sabedra
GIRLS DIVISION I: BISHOP O’DOWD VS. BISHOP MONTGOMERY
Records: Bishop O’Dowd 24-6; Bishop Montgomery-Torrance 22-5
Tipoff: Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 6 p.m.
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: Played one another for the first time in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present) in December. Bishop Montgomery won 57-33.
Storylines: Bishop O’Dowd is making its sixth trip to a state title game — all since 2011 — but its first since 2019. … The Dragons lost to Rosary Academy in the Division I final that season. A rematch was set to be played in 2020, but the state finals were canceled because of the pandemic. … Since losing to national powerhouse Archbishop Mitty on MLK Day, few teams have been hotter than O’Dowd. The Oakland private school has won 14 of its last 15, the only loss coming against San Ramon Valley in the NCS Open playoffs… O’Dowd defeated St. Francis, St. Ignatius and Oak Ridge to reach the NorCal final. Sophomore guard Devin Cosgriff made a shot with a few seconds remaining to beat Carondelet in the regional championship game. … The Dragons will try to win their fourth state title and first in Division I. They were the first Open champion in 2013. … Sophomores Cosgriff, Jayla Stokes and Kiara McCoy headline a deep and talented O’Dowd backcourt, and senior point guard Savannah Jones brings experience. … Bishop Montgomery won four consecutive D-IV state titles from 2000-03 and then waited 21 years to return to the top. … The Knights defeated Santiago-Corona and La Jolla Country Day to advance to the SoCal final. … Bishop Montgomery nearly squandered a 16-point fourth-quarter lead, holding on to win 71-68. … Guard Sophia Dignadice and Tiara Jones are two of the Knights’ top players. — Joseph Dycus
BOYS DIVISION II: OAKLAND TECH VS. CENTENNIAL-BAKERSFIELD
Records: Oakland Tech 29-5; Centennial-Bakersfield 28-7
Tipoff: Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 4 p.m.
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: Second meeting between the teams in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present). Centennial defeated Oakland Tech 74-49 in 2008.
Storylines: Oakland Tech is playing in its third state title game in program history. Westchester-Los Angeles defeated the Bulldogs in the 2002 and 2003 Division I final. … Oakland Tech had to vanquish its bitter rival Oakland for the fourth time in six weeks to win NorCal. .. When the programs met in the Division III regional final, Oakland won a neutral site game at nearby Laney College. This season, the Bulldogs hosted an all-Oakland final played in front of local royalty, including former Oakland High star Damian Lillard. … ArDarius Grayson scored 34 points and Xan Meyer-Plettner and Ahmed Gulaid each had big games as Tech beat Oakland 73-66. Grayson, Gulaid and sharpshooters Asher Kramer and Saddiq Alarbesh can score from the perimeter, but whether or not the 6-foot-7 Plettner and 6-5 Gulaid can hold up defensively could make the difference. … Tech got the No. 2 seed in Division II and defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral, Jesuit-Carmichael and Del Oro to reach the NorCal final. … Centennial, not to be confused with the Corona school that won the 2021 and 2022 Open championships, upset No. 1 seed Heritage Christian to reach Sacramento. .. Centennial has three players taller than 6-4, and 6-6 senior Rippen Gill averages 18.7 points per game. … Tech should expect the Golden Hawks, who average almost 20 steals per game, to trap and press on defense. — Joseph Dycus
BOYS DIVISION V: ATHENIAN VS. VERDUGO HILLS
Records: Athenian 27-8; Verdugo Hills 25-11
Tipoff: Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, noon
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: First meeting between the teams in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present).
Storylines: Athenian, a small private school in Danville, took advantage of being the top seed in the NorCal Division V bracket and won home games against Mt. Shasta, International and San Domenico to advance to Sacramento. … Athenian’s offensive trio of Surya Devasenapathy, Evan Lucas and Teni Salako is the engine of the offense. Devasenapathy leads Athenian in scoring at 16.4 points per game, followed by Lucas (16.1) and Salako (9.5). … Athenian will be making its first appearance in a state final. … “Our boys believed that they belong, we just happened to be a small little private school that nobody heard of until we started having success,” coach Jordan Boreman said. … It is no surprise that Verdugo Hills, a public school from Los Angeles, made it to the state finals. The Dons came in third in a very competitive league. … Verdugo Hills is led by Alexander Martinez, who is averaging 15.6 points per game. Three other Verdugo Hills starters average double-digits in points: Georges Abdulnour (13.8), William Gharabekyan (11.4) and Gianmarco Figueroa (11.2). … Verdugo Hills is also making its first appearance in the state finals. … It is 10-6 this season at neutral sites. — Nathan Canilao
GIRLS DIVISION V: OAKLAND VS. MONTGOMERY-SAN DIEGO
Records: Oakland 22-10; Montgomery 25-11
Tipoff: Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 10 a.m.
How to watch in Bay Area: NFHS Network
Series history: First meeting between the teams in the MaxPreps era (2004 to present).
Storylines: Oakland comes into the Division V final having won seven of its last 10 games. … Its duo of Ojiugo Egeonu and Daijha Teague is the heart of the offense. The two combined for 45 points in Oakland’s NorCal final win over Crystal Springs Uplands. … While Oakland has been impressive at home this season, winning seven of its eight games, the Wildcats not been bad away from its own gym. They are 15-9 on the road or at neutral sites. … It has been an impressive run for first-year coach Nita Simpson, who helped Oakland reach its second state title game in five years. The Wildcats won the Division III crown in 2019. … Montgomery has been one of the top teams in the San Diego Section this season, beating the likes of Immanual and Escondido Charter en route to a state championship appearance. … Sophomore power forward Paula Zumstein is averaging 18.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Zumstein has made a good duo with guard Jordan Whitehead, who is averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting 41% from the three-point arc. … Montgomery will be making its first appearance in a state title game. … The Aztecs are currently No. 15 in the MaxPreps San Diego Metro rankings. — Nathan Canilao
Originally published at Darren Sabedra, Joseph Dycus, Nathan Canilao