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Live updates: 2024 CIF State boys basketball playoff regional finals — Scores, matchups, game times (3-6-2024)

The top Open Division seeds advance, Harvard-Westlake will defend its state championship after a comeback win over Roosevelt, will face Salesian which powers past Riordan

Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports

The 2024 CIF State boys basketball regional playoff finishes up are done and half of the 12 top seeds advanced through, including both in the Big Daddy, defending champion Harvard-Westlake and Salesian in the Open Division. 

Reigning SBLive State Player of the Year Trent Perry scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half as Harvard-Westlake fought back from a double-digit halftime deficit to defeat Roosevel, 53-59. 

Harvard-Westlake edges Roosevelt, punches ticket to second straight CIF State Open final

The Wolverines now play Salesian (31-1), the state's No. 3 ranked team, which won its 19th straight game while also coming back from an 11-point first-half lead to beat red hot Riordan, 49-44. The nationally-ranked squads will play in the state's final game, 8 p.m. Saturday at Golden 1 Center. 

Salesian fights back, wins first CIF Northern California Open Division title with comeback win over Riordan

The rest of the lineup looks this way: 

Division 1: Elzie Harrington (24 points) and Brandon McCloy (14) each hit four free throws in overtime as St. John Bosco won the Southern California championship with a classic 71-68 overtime victory over more known football rival, Mater Dei. The Braves, who won only their second regional, now face San Ramon Valley, a 58-55 winner over league rival Granada as Mason Thomas had 17 points and Luke Isaak added 16. Tipoff Friday will be 8 p.m.

St. John Bosco beats Mater Dei 71-68 in overtime inferno to take second SoCal regional — live update recap

Division 2: Host Oakland Tech got the ultimate payback with a 73-66 win over Oakland a year after Oakland won the D3 regional crown over Tech en route to a state title. With Oakland's most famous recent alum Damian Lillard in the house, Tech's ArDarius Grayson did his best impression of the Milwaukee Buck All-Star guard with 34 points. He'll lead the Bulldogs into Saturday's 4 p.m. game against Centennial-Bakersfield (28-7), the seventh seed, which surprised No. 1 and host Heritage Christian, 68-56, Michael Gutierrez hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points and Rippen Gill added 15 to offset a 25-point night from Dillon Shaw. 

Oakland alum Damian Lillard (middle) was amongst a packed house Tuesday at Oakland Tech, which recorded its fourth win of the season against the Wildcats.   / Photo: Eric Taylor

Division 3: Mike Lindsay had 23 points leading red-hot Alemany (24-15) to their 10th straight win, 74-63 over Bosco Tech. It is the Warriors' second regional title, the other was in 2012 when it won the state D3 title. They will now take on top Northern California seed Santa Cruz, (27-6), a 61-56 winner over Bullard, 4 p.m. Friday.  Ben Dotten had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Demarco Hunter 13 points and Kirby Seals 12 for Cardinals, who won their lone state title in 2005 under legendary coach Pete Newell Jr.   

Division 4: Ryan Roth struck for 25 points and Kavon Collins 13 as road weary Monterey (24-6), the 14th seed, won their third straight NorCal game more than three hours from home en route to a 73-52 win over Union Mine, holding the Diamondbacks 25 points below its average. The Dores will play top SoCal seed Chatsworth (20-14), a 62-47 SoCal winner over Cleveland, as sophomore Alijah Arenas, coming off a 53-point explosion Saturday, had 21 points and 16 rebounds and Taj Unuakhalu added 17 points and 17 rebounds. Monterey and Chatsworth tip off at noon Saturday. 

Division 5: Third SoCal seed Verdugo Hills escaped with a 56-53 win over fifth seed North-Bakersfield, and will now play top NorCal seed Athenian-Danville, a 57-46 winner over San Domenico. Gianmarco Figueroa had 15 points for Verdugo Hills and Surya Devasenapathy led Athenian with 15 points. The two regional champs square off noon on Friday. 

There are six regional finals in the South and six more in the North, with those winners advancing to the CIF State Championship games Friday and Saturday at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA Sacramento Kings. 

Check back here through the night with updated scores and live updates. Below are the brackets along with a review of each round previously reported here. 

(Check the brackets below for the latest matchups, game times and scores)

THE BRACKETS

Enjoy coverage from the first three rounds: 

Saturday

In nearly the shocker of the season, Carlsbad led most of the way, but came up short in a 73-72 to defending state champion and no. 1 seed Harvard-Westlake, a team it lost by more than 40 points in November. 

Harvard-Westlake will face Roosevelt, which defeated St. Joseph-Santa Maria 58-41. 

In Northern California, top-seed Salesian righted some postseason wrongs with a convincing 64-52 Open Division win over Modesto Christian and will face, second seed Riordan, a 69-57 winner over Clovis North. Zion Sensley scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half for Riordan. 

Live update summary: Salesian has too much in 64-52 NorCal Open semifinal win over Modesto Christian

In Northern California Division I, Granada, the defending champion, upset top-seed and host Clovis West, 70-53 and will face East Bay Athletic League rival San Ramon Valley, a 52-49 winner over Central Coast Section power Mitty. 

CIF State basketball playoffs: Cleveland, Chatsworth set for All-City Section regional final (3/2/2024)

Top Division 1 Southern California seed St. John Bosco hung on to defeat Damien, 63-49, and will now face third seed Mater Dei, a resounding 79-71 win over defending state D1 champion Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. 

CIF Regional Boys Basketball Championship semifinal: Previews, history from all 24 games

Highlights: Alijah Arenas, son of Gilbert Arenas, scores 53 points in CIF State playoff game

Thursday

The matchups were stout in Division 1 play, especially in Southern California where four Top 25 state teams, St. John Bosco vs. Windward and Mater Dei against Centennial took center stage. 

In the game of the night in Southern California, Bosco pulled out a 65-63 win over Windward, while Mater Dei had little trouble with Centennial, 86-64. 

Other SoCal winners were 12th-seed Damien and seventh-seed Notre Dame, the defending state champions, which posted a 58-49 victory over upstart Rolling Hills Prep. 

  • In NC D1 play, third-seed Mitty knocked off No. 6 Clayton Valley Charter, 48-37, San Ramon Valley was dominating in a 85-66 win over Monterey Trail and top seed Clovis West held off Serra, 68-64, thanks to 15 points from Jackson Young and 14 each by DJ Stickman and Zach Chauhan.  
  • In the NorCal game of the night, Cortevious Taylor put in a putback at the buzzer to give fourth-seed Granada a wild 68-66 win over visiting and fifth-seed St. Ignatius, which led by 16 early. 
  • In D2, ninth seed Oakland and No. 2 Oakland Tech could be on another collision course to meet for the NorCal finals after quarterfinal wins. Oakland came back from an early deficit to beat No. 16 seed Clovis East, 58-51 while Oakland Tech held on to beat Jesuit, 58-56. Tech and Oakland met in last year's NorCal D3 finals, won by Oakland, which went on to win state. 
  • In Southern California, D2, 12th seed Bakersfield Christian and No. 14 King/Dree each advanced, but they'll have tough semifinal games against No. 1 Heritage Christian and No. 7 Bakersfield Centennial, respectively. 
  •  In D3, third seed Alemany and fourth seed Bosco Tech advanced in SoCal, but so did upstars No. 7 University City and No. 8 San Marcos. In NorCal D3, three of the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals, Santa Cruz, Justin-Siena and Ygnacio Valley, along with No. 6 Bullard. 

Check the brackets below throughout the night for updates, results and scores.

Carlsbad vs. St. Pius X: Live updates from CIF State Open Division playoffs

Wednesday

And what a remarkable night it was. Drama. Thrilling finishes. Buzzer beaters. Overtime. Heartbreak.

In Northern California, sixth seed Branson of Ross traveled more than 200 miles to Fresno to face third seen Clovis North, while fourth seed De La Salle hosted Modesto Christian. 

In Southern California, San Diego Section power and fourth seed Carlsbad hosted St. Pius X, while perhaps the most interesting team in the tournament, St. Joseph of Santa Maria, the defending Northern California Open champion, traveled to third-seed Sierra Canyon. 

All games tipped off at 7 p.m.

Modesto Christian and St. Joseph each were on the road to win at the buzzer. 

A flip shot in the lane by Gavin Sykes, who scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, glanced off the rim, kissed the glass and fell gently through the nets at the horn to give the Crusaders a 51-49 win over De La Salle. Modesto Christian now travels to Contra Costa College to face top-seed Salesian (29-1) on Saturday's semifinals. 

Tounde Yessoufou (26 points)) hit a game-winner at the horn to give St. Joseph a 69-68 win over Sierra Canyon., which they thought they had won on a dramatic 3-pointer by Ethan Johnson. St. Joseph now travels to second seed Roosevelt of Eastvale for a semifinal game. 

Host Carlsbad and Clovis North stayed home and had no easier time. Carlsbad fought from behind to knock off  St. Pius X 75-72 in overtime that could have gone to a second overtime but a highly contested 3-pointer at the buzzer by David Mack missed. Carlsbad now plays at defending state Open champ and No. 1 seed Harvard-Westlake. 

And Clovis North survived a 49-48 game over Branson, getting a stop on the Bulls' last possession. Jordan Espinoza scored the go-ahead basket after a feed from Connor Amundsen, who had a team-high 14 points. Semetri Carr led Branson with 17 points and 10 rebounds but Clovis North held Illinois-bound Jase Butler to nine points.  

In a word, "wow!" CIF officials no doubt are celebrating four of the most intense first-round games imaginable. 

Live updates: Modesto Christian at De La Salle boys basketball, CIF Open NorCal opener

Central Section teams like St. Joseph are placed in either the South or the North region by the CIF depending on team strength and travel schedule. 

Carlsbad shocks Faith Family Academy in Holiday Classic National Division finale

Tuesday

First-round play in Division 1-5 play opened Tuesday up and down the state. Four rounds culminate March 8-9 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento with the state finals.  

The biggest news out of the South early was No. 15 seed Rolling Hills Prep shocking No. 2 JSerra Catholic 41-39 in Division 1 first-round play. But Price of Los Angeles did one better as the 16th seed, beating top Division 3 seed Dinuba by double digits, 60-50. 

Not to be outdone up North, but Central Section's Clovis East, the 16th seed, went on the road to San Jose to take down No. 1 Branham in Division 2. 

CIF State basketball playoffs: Rolling Hills Prep stuns JSerra; Notre Dame sends a message

Just up the road in Danville, Division 2 Sac-Joaquin Section champion Vanden gave second seed San Ramon Valley all it could handle but came up short 67-64 in a Division 1 contest. 

Vanden tied the game at 61-61 in the final minute, but Mason Thomas went baseline for a layup before four free throws from Luke Issac put the Wolves up six. 

A 3-pointer by Tyler Thompson closed to 67-64 with five seconds left, but Thomas caught a three-quarter court pass from Seamus Deely, and ran out the clock giving the Wolves (26-7) the hard-earned victory. 

In other D1 Northern California play, Central Coast Section runner-up Mitty had little trouble with NCS D1 champion Dougherty Valley, 77-54.  

Southern California seventh seed and defending state D1 champion Notre Dame Sherman Oaks had no trouble with 10th seed Torrey pins, winning 89-47. 

Salesian wins 11th CIF North Coast Section boys basketball title with 52-43 Open victory over De La Salle

Defending state champion Harvard-Westlake (South) and Salesian (North) were the obvious top Open Division picks after claiming Southern and North Coast section championship, respectively. 

Carlsbad beats Montgomery, captures San Diego Section Open Division title: Live updates, recap

The other open teams in the South are: No. 2 Roosevelt, No. 3 Sierra Canyon, No. 4 Carlsbad, No. 5 St. Pius X and No. 6 St. Joseph-Santa Maria, a Central Section power that last season played in the North and won the Open, losing to H-W in the state finals.

The other North Open teams are: No. 2 Riordan, No. 3 Clovis North, No. 4 De La Salle, No. 5 Modesto Christian and No. 6 Branson. 

Top seeds in other divisions are: Division 1 — St. John Bosco (South), Clovis West (North); Division 2 — Heritage Christian (S), Branham (N); Division 3 — Dinuba (S), Santa Cruz (N); Division 4 — Chatsworth (S), Santa Teresa (D4); Division 5 — San Pedro (S), Athenian (N).

Defending state champions in each division are: Harvard-Westlake (Open), Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks (D1), San-Joaquin Memorial (D2), Oakland (D3), Valencia (D4) and Lynwood (D5). Defending NorCal D6 champ is San Francisco Waldorf.  

Harvard-Westlake edges Roosevelt to win first CIF Southern Section Open Division title

Published
Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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