The Justin-Siena girls basketball team advanced to a North Coast Section playoff semifinal for the second season in a row, last year in Division 4 and this year in Division 2, as the top-seeded Braves defeated No. 9 Pinole Valley 58-36 at Clark Gym on Saturday night.
Lauren Keller had 19 points to lead the Braves, who won their 18th game in a row and improved to 26-2. Dylan Zapolski had 16 points, Jordan Washington 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Madyson Carson 7 rebounds.
Head coach Andy Bettencourt said Naveena Jackson, Sophia Dominici and Caiden Grimmer played "phenomenal defense all night on Pinole's two dynamic guards," Dannyae Turner and Khaya Jackson.
"Pinole Valley is a good, talented team that is very well coached," he added. "We knew we had to bring it tonight and our players responded with a phenomenal defensive effort and physicality."
Justin-Siena will host No. 4 seed Moreau Catholic of Hayward (21-7) in a semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Mariners dispatched No. 5 seed McKinleyville on Saturday, 34-27.
Meeting in Wednesday's other semifinal will be No. 2 University (19-9) and No. 3 Marin Catholic (19-11). University defeated the Braves in last year's Division 4 semifinal.
Berkeley 1, Vintage 0
The 13th-seeded Crushers (13-3-5) lost their Division 1 opener on a second-half goal by No. 4 Berkeley (18-3-1) on Wednesday night. The Yellowjackets will host No. 5 Ukiah in Saturday night's quarterfinal.
Piedmont 2, Justin-Siena 0
The top-seeded Highlanders (8-8-4) blanked the 16th-seeded Braves (6-14-1) in a Division 4 opener Wednesday night. Piedmont will host No. 9 Urban, a 2-1 winner at No. 8 Petaluma, on Saturday night.
Mission San Jose 60, St. Helena 43
The 10th-seeded Saints (22-5) came up one short of tying the school record for wins in a season with Wednesday night's Division 4 loss in San Jose. Had they won, they would have visited Middletown for the rivals' fourth meeting of the season. Instead, it will be the Warriors (16-11) visiting the Mustangs at 7 p.m. Saturday.
El Cerrito 61, American Canyon 53
The 14th-seeded Wolves (14-16) led 15-14 after one quarter on Wednesday night, but the No. 3 Gauchos (22-7) raced ahead 33-21 by halftime. El Cerrito on Saturday night will host No. 11 St. Patrick-St. Vincent, which stunned No. 6 Casa Grande 57-53 to deny an all-Gauchos quarterfinal.
Boys Basketball
Del Norte 43, Justin-Siena 34
The third-seeded Warriors (15-11) defeated the No. 14 Braves (8-16) in a NCS Division 5 opener in Crescent City on Tuesday night, overcoming a 21-19 halftime deficit. Del Norte will host No. 11 seed Sonoma Valley (15-14) in a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Friday. The Dragons advanced with a 54-52 victory at No. 6 John Swett in Crockett.
Kelseyville 83, Calistoga 35
The fifth-seeded Knights (17-10) outscored the No. 12 Wildcats (15-5) 19-5 in the first quarter, took a 40-17 lead into halftime, and put them away with a 33-7 third quarter in Tuesday night's NCS Division 5 opener in Kelseyville. The Knights will visit No. 4 seed College Prep (15-11) after the Cougars routed Credo 66-42 in Oakland, where they will host Kelseyville at 7 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals.
Girls Basketball
International 39, Calistoga 26
In another Division 5 opener Tuesday night, seventh-seeded Jaguars (15-6) dispatched the No. 10 Wildcats (14-10) in San Francisco. International will visit No. 2 seed St. Patrick-St. Vincent (12-14) for a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Friday.
University 47, American Canyon 45
In Division 2, the 15th-seeded Wolves (21-10) lost a heartbreaker to the No. 2 Red Devils (18-9) at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco on Wednesday. University will host No. 7 Campolindo on Saturday night.
Justin-Siena to host Spartans
Also at 7 p.m. Saturday in a Division 2 quarterfinal, No. 9 seed Pinole Valley (19-11) will visit No. 1 seed Justin-Siena (25-2) after 60-59 squeaker over No. 8 Lick-Wilmerding (16-14) on Wednesday. The Braves had a first-round bye.
Girls Soccer
Amador Valley 5, Vintage 0
Undefeated only eight days before, the 13th-seeded Crushers (12-2-6) saw their season end against the No. 4 Dons in their Division 1 opener Wednesday night in Pleasanton. Amador Valley (10-1-2) hosts No. 5 Tamalpais in Saturday's quarterfinal.
Kennedy-Fremont 4, Justin-Siena 0
The 12th-seeded Braves (6-11-1) ended the season in a Division 4 opener at Tak Fudenna Stadium with their eighth shutout loss Wednesday night. Fifth-seeded Kennedy-Fremont (10-6-1) will visit No. 5 Sonoma Valley, a 10-0 winner over Kennedy-Richmond, in Saturday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal.