The Sports Informant

Entering Saturday’s Northern California Regional Final games at Arco Arena, the Sac-Joaquin Section had five teams vying for a title, with all five alive for a shot at competing in the California state championship the following weekend.

When the dust settled in Sacramento on March 20, though, only one local team stood standing tall, as Oak Ridge High secured the Division I NorCal title, while the others fell in defeat.

The Oak Ridge Trojans beat Berkeley on Saturday night, 52-42, securing a spot in the title game of the 2010 CIF State Girls Division I Basketball Championships Presented by Farmers this upcoming weekend against No. 1 SoCal seed and champ Poly, Long Beach in Bakersfield. Thanks to 19 points from Caitlin Welsch and 16 from Sara James, the Trojans sailed to victory and looked prime for the coveted state title.

Oak Ridge has its work cut out with its next opponent as Poly comes in with a 27-2 record and a dominant performance in the SoCal bracket. Poly cruised to the SoCal title with easy victories over Washington Prep, 71-27, Stockdale, 81-50, Summit, 80-53, and Clovis West, 68-53, respectively.

Still, Oak Ridge is no slouch. With the All-American James, and a great cast of players around her, the Trojans look ready for a battle.

Below is a breakdown of how the rest of the brackets resulted, including the area’s four other teams coming up short in the NorCal Final.

Division I Girls

Oak Ridge will face Poly High of Long Beach on March 27 at Rabobank Arena at 6 p.m.

Division I Boys

NorCal champion Newark Memorial will face SoCal Champion Westchester at 8 p.m. on March 27 at Rabobank Arena.

Division II Girls

NorCal champion Carondelet will face SoCal champion Mater Dei on March 26 at Rabobank Arena at 6 p.m.

Division II Boys

Unlike the games that led Woodcreek to the Sac-Joaquin Section title and a run all the way to the NorCal Final game, 6-foot-11-inch Mike Kurtz couldn’t block a shot when needed, giving St. Francis the final opportunity it needed to pull off a last-second win.

With 47-46 lead in the waning seconds, St. Francis’ Patrick Crowley pulled up for a 7-footer over Kurtz and nailed the shot to give his team a 48-47 win. The victory put St. Francis in the state championship game on March 27, to be played in Rabobank Arena at 6 p.m. on March 26 against SoCal champion Lincoln of San Diego.

Division III Girls

In a replay of the Sac-Joaquin Section title game, local squad Sacramento High faced another Sac-Joaquin Section team in St. Mary’s, with a very similar result. After suffering a blowout loss at Arco Arena in the section championship, the two faced off again for the NorCal Regional Final at Arco Arena on March 20, with St. Mary’s, the No. 1 team in the nation, cruising in a 70-45 win.

St. Mary’s can complete its dream season with a state championship, as it faces SoCal champion Bishop Amat of La Puente on March 27 at Rabobank Arena at 1:30 p.m.

Division III Boys

Sacramento High’s boys’ team was also still alive for a state championship game berth before Saturday’s games, but was derailed on March 20 in Arco by Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland, 57-50.

Sacramento, the defending NorCal champs from a year ago, was in the hunt for a return to the state championship, where it lost a season ago.

Bishop O’Dowd will now face SoCal champion Serra on March 27 at 3:30 p.m. at Rabobank Arena.

Division IV Girls

St. Mary’s of Berkeley won the NorCal Final, beating McKinleyville on March 20, 52-37. It will face SoCal champion Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood on March 26 at 3:30 p.m. at Rabobank Arena.

Division IV Boys

St. Mary’s of Berkeley needed overtime secure a NorCal Regional Final victory over Salesian on March 20 at Folsom High School, earning a shot to play SoCal champion Price High on March 26 at 1:30 p.m. at Rabobank Arena.

Division V Girls

Local team Bradshaw Christian saw its fantastic season come to an end with a defeat at the hands of Pinewood in the NorCal Regional Finals on March 20.

The game, played at Folsom High School, saw Bradshaw Christian keep it close, but the team was unable to overcome Pinewood’s surge and fell short, 53-47.

Pinewood now moves on to face SoCal champion St. Anthony in the state championship at Rabobank Arena at 9:30 a.m. on March 27.

Division V Boys

Branson beat University San Francisco in the NorCal Regional Final on March 20, 62-44, to advance to the state championship, where it will face SoCal champ Lutheran on March 27 at Rabobank Arena at 11:30 a.m.