Madera South plays for regional soccer title. Seven area basketball teams still alive
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Eight Fresno-area high school teams are in regional action Saturday night, a schedule topped by the Madera South boys soccer team playing for the Division III Northern California regional championship.
Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco is the opponent at 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium on Olive Avenue.
Seven local basketball teams are still alive and playing in regional semifinals; four are at home. All the games start at 6 p.m.
Unlike basketball which plays to a state championship, the California Interscholastic Federations cuts off soccer at the regional level.
Madera South beat Ceres 2-0 on Tuesday then won 3-2 Thursday at University-San Francisco when Angel Avila scored in the 83rd minute.
Second-year coach Enrique Garcia spent six seasons leading the Madera South JV. Garcia said his former coach, Cristino Armiento, asked if he’d be interested in coaching and “he threw me straight to the head JV coach alone.”
The Stallions were 15-7-3 last season under Garcia then blossomed to this year’s 24-5-1 with a top-seeded run to the Central Section D-III title and now the regional final appearance.
“We prepared for Valley this year and to have hosted Valley was a dream,” Garcia said. “Now we get to host a championship game in the same year is just the dream continuing.
“The message to the boys is to enjoy the moment. We have worked hard with long hours, late nights, tough physically and mentally trainings to get to where we are. All that hard work won’t mean much if we don’t enjoy and live the moment. It is the last time we will touch that field. There won’t be another practice or game on that field, so enjoy and leave it all on the field.”
Basketball
Here are the remaining Fresno-area basketball matchups in the Northern California and Southern California regional semifinals.
Clovis West girls – The No. 1 Golden Eagles host No. 5 Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the SoCal Open Division. Clovis West advanced with a 61-55 come-from-behind victory over No. 8 Redondo Union.
San Joaquin Memorial girls – The 12th-seeded Panthers upset No. 4 Eastside College Prep-East Palo Alto 51-42 in NorCal D-II on Thursday, earning a date at top-seeded Menlo School.
Immanuel boys – The Eagles, seeded No. 5 in NorCal D-IV, will host No. 8 Mission-San Francisco. The Eagles defeated No. 13 Brookside Christian-Stockton 74-69, while Mission upset No. 1 St. Mary’s-Albany.
Sierra Pacific girls – The defending state D-V champions moved up to D-IV this season and continue to march as the No. 4 seed, beating Linfield Chrsitian-Temecula 54-41 Thursday. Next is a trip to SoCal No. 1 seed Northview-Covina.
Caruthers girls – The third-seeded Blue Raiders beat Mariposa County 52-40 Thursday in NorCal D-V. Next up is No. 10 Gridley, which upset No. 2 Willows.
Dinuba boys – The No. 2 Emperors beat last year’s state runner-up, Argonaut-Jackson, 62-49 Thursday and will face No. 6 Lincoln-San Francisco in NorCal D-V.
Sierra girls – It’s been a busy week for the Chieftains in SoCal D-V starting with a play-in game Tuesday (they beat Tulare Union 59-56) and continuing with wins at Locke-Los Angeles (71-25 Wednesday) and at Coalinga (62-60 Thursday). After a day of rest, Sierra is at No. 2 Ramona-Riverside.
