LAKEPORT — Clear Lake High School boys basketball begins a new adventure Tuesday night at home against McClymonds High School of Oakland in the opening round of the NorCal Region of the CIF State Championships. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at the Clear Lake High gym.
Clear Lake (26-3) is the No. 3 seed in the 16-team Division V field. The NorCal and SoCal regional winners play for the state title on either March 8-9 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Just like the recently completed North Coast Section Division V championships won by the University Red Devils, the team that beat Clear Lake 79-62 in the semifinals last week in San Francisco, the NorCal playoffs are a two-week process. First-round games are Tuesday, quarterfinals are Thursday, semifinals are Saturday, regional finals are Tuesday, March 5, and the state championship game is either Friday, March 8 or Saturday, March 9.
“Absolutely, we are thrilled with that,” Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon said of the Cardinals drawing the No. 3 seed behind No. 1 Mt. Shasta (29-1) and No. 2 Dinuba (24-8). “I really did not know what to expect. Our primary focus was to get another home game and we did that.”
Clear Lake would also host a quarterfinal-round game if its beats McClymonds (10-17) on Tuesday night. De Leon said he’s not looking that far ahead.
“This team we’re going up against is no ordinary No. 14 seed,” De Leon said. “From what we have been able to find out about them, they’re going to be really, really good. They’re an athletic, quick team and we’re going to have to play extremely well to move on.”
McClymonds competes in the Oakland League, which features such teams as Oakland Tech, Skyline, Castlemont, Fremont and Oakland.
“If we were fortunate enough to get by them we would play another one at home,” De Leon said. “That would me more icing on the cake for us. Making the state tournament is just remarkable. It’s a really special season.”
Clear Lake will have been off for the better part of a week when it takes the floor against McClymonds, which reached the finals of its league tournament and nearly knocked off league champion Oakland Tech before falling 56-51 on Saturday night.
Asked if the layoff has been beneficial, De Leon said, “That’s a really good question. I think it will help us. It will give up the opportunity to regroup and come out with a whole different level of energy.”
The Clear Lake-McClymonds winner draws the No. 6 Lincoln (22-10)-No. 10 Durham (19-10) in the quarterfinal round.
Clear Lake’s boys have never advanced past the opening round of the NorCals. They lost at home to Quincy in their last NorCal appearance in 1989.
NorCal notes: Stuart Hall and University, the top two seeds in the North Coast Section Division V playoffs, were moved up into Division III for the NorCals. Stuart Hall beat University three times during the regular season and Bay Counties League-West Tournament, but it was University returning the favor with a 63-46 victory in the sectional championship game on Saturday night at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco.
