Basketball roundup: El Capitan boys pull major upset to reach semifinals for first time
Just two nights after picking up their first playoff victory in program history, the El Capitan High boys basketball team pulled another upset.
The Gauchos are headed to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals after knocking off No. 2 Placer 67-54 on Friday night.
“I’ve got to pinch myself right now to pull that one off the way we did,” said El Capitan coach Adrian Hurtado, whose team improved to 19-10.
Senior guard Diego Ultreras excelled on both sides of the court for the No. 10-seeded Gauchos. Ultreras held Placer’s leading scorer Emmett Rose, who is second in the state with 131 3-pointers made and averaging 21.8 points per game, to just one 3-pointer and five points on the game.
Meanwhile, Ultreras led El Capitan with 23 points.
“I think the biggest reason we won was our defense,” said Hurtado, pointing out the effort of Ultreras and Jay Ervin. “I think our scouting report was right on. We took their best players out of the game.”
Elias Ruiz added 12 points for the Gauchos and Braylen Centeno scored 11.
One decision Hurtado made that he believed played a factor in the big win was traveling with the team the night before and staying in a hotel. After his days playing college basketball, Hurtado knows how traveling long distances on the day of the game can affect a team.
“I didn’t want to have to leave at 11 a.m. just to beat traffic over here and just hang out here all day anyway,” Hurtado said. “So we found a hotel that could accommodate us and give us a late checkout. So we thought, ‘Hey, we’re going to go play the No. 2 seed. We’re going do whatever we can to give our boys the right opportunity.”
The Gauchos will travel to Sacramento on Tuesday to face No. 6 Burbank (23-8), which upset No. 3 Roseville 70-62, with a trip to the Sacramento Kings’ Golden One Center for the section title on the line.
“I don’t think words can describe it right now,” Hurtado said. “It’s a great feeling, just because we’ve been at it for so long, and there’s been some great players in my program who haven’t been able to get this far. I feel like we’re not only doing it for this team, but we’re doing it for a lot of other kids, who are kind of living through our kids right now.”
Stone Ridge Christian 85, Sacramento Adventist 33 — The top-seeded Knights (21-8) began their quest for back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section VI championships with a rout of No. 8 Sacramento Adventist.
Daijon O’Neil led the way for SRC with 24 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Jaiden Sahota added 18 points, three assists and two steals and Marcus Parker scored 16 with four rebounds and three steals.
The Knights will host No. 5 Elite on Tuesday in the semifinals. Elite knocked off No. 4 Victory Christian 66-47.
Central Section
Chowchilla 65, Taft 58 — The No. 5-seeded Tribe upset top seed Taft in the Central Section Division VI semifinals on Friday night.
Chowchilla advances to the section championship game on Friday against No. 6 Fowler at Selland Arena in Fresno at noon. The Tribe will be trying to capture its first section championship since 1999.
Zane Smith paced Chowchilla with 20 points, including making 10 of 12 free throws. Tristan Beardsley added 17 points.
The Tribe improves to 19-12 on the season. Chowchilla defeated Fowler 66-63 on Feb. 11.
Girls Basketball
Whitney 54, El Capitan 44 — After raising the bar for future Gaucho teams with a season of firsts, the No. 4 seed El Capitan lost to the two-time defending champions Thursday night in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs.
Mady Dietz and Alexis Valenzuela scored 12 points for the No. 4-seeded Gauchos, who finished with a program best 25-5 record.
El Capitan also clinched a share of its first Central California Conference title in school history and won its first playoff game in program history with a 68-58 victory over Grace Davis in the first round.
“It’s so exciting,” said senior Shantelle Magana. “It really brought up our energy in the playoffs. This is a special group of girls.”
This season’s success can pave the way for bigger things, with only one senior on the team.
“I think our girls were naive to think we can win every game this year,” said El Captian coach Tyler Dietz. “That was a good edge for us.”
