Central Section girls basketball championship preview: Big runs send teams to a title game
The Central Section high school girls basketball championships are set.
Games in Divisions I-V will take place at 6 p.m. Friday at the school’s home sites.
The Open Division final will take place at 3:30 p.m. Saturday when top-seed Clovis West hosts No. 3 Bakersfield.
Here is a look at championship matchups and a recap of how the semifinal games went Wednesday evening.
Division I
No. 2 San Joaquin Memorial will host No. 6 Clovis for the section championship.
Memorial trailed Buchanan 21-13 in the second quarter Wednesday evening before rallying and going on a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 61-48 victory over top-seeded Buchanan. Memorial won the Division II section championship in 2019.
The Cougars also rallied.
Clovis trailed No. 2 Central 33-18 in the third quarter before outscoring the Grizzlies 19-0 for a 54-43 victory.
It will be the first meeting this season between Memorial and Clovis.
Division II
No. 4 Sierra Pacific will visit No. 3 Porterville for the title, but the Golden Bears needed overtime to get the championship.
Sierra Pacific and top-seed Sierra went back and forth in the first half before the Golden Bears outscored the Chieftains 14-4 in the second quarter for a 31-25 halftime lead.
Sierra stormed back in the third quarter before the game went to overtime.
The Golden Bears outscored the Chieftains 7-4 in overtime for a 66-63 victory.
Porterville defeated No. 7 Roosevelt 68-40 in the other semifinal game.
Division III
Top-seed Caruthers will host No. 2 Orcutt Academy for the section championship.
The Blue Raiders, however, were threatened by the upset-minded No. 4 McFarland.
Caruthers trailed 21-15 at halftime, but that didn’t last long.
The Blue Raiders took a 28-27 late in the third quarter and never looked back by going on a 6-0 run and went on to a 67-42 win.
Orcutt Academy defeated No. 3 West 47-39.
Division IV
Top-seed Corcoran and No. 14 Madera will play for the section title in Corcoran.
The Panthers rolled to an 88-50 victory over No. 4 Coalinga.
Three Corcoran players scored in double figures, led by Aaliyah Thompson who had a game-high 33 points.
No. 14 Madera, dubbed by the school as the “Cardiac Coyotes,” pulled out a 49-45 victory over No. 15 Redwood.
Rhynne Mitchell led Madera with 23 points and made two free throws to seal the game.
Aaliyah String finished with 10 points including a putback to break a 45-45 tie.
Madera’s other playoff victories came against No. 2 Fowler 56-50 and No. 11 Mission Oak 58-55.
Division V
No. 1 Highland and No. 14 Immanuel meet for for the section championship in Bakersfield.
The Eagles went to Bakersfield and defeated No. 7 South 45-34.
Immanuel led by as many as 15 points.
Highland defeated No. 12 Washington Union 43-38 in the other semifinal.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 4:01 PM.
