SAN FRANCISCO — Regardless of what happens Saturday night when Clear Lake High School plays Stuart Hall in the championship game of the North Coast Section Division 5 boys basketball playoffs at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco at 7 p.m., expect the Cardinals to have plenty left in the tank when the NorCal tournament opens Tuesday with first-round games.
While the spotlight is clearly on Saturday’s sectional final as Clear Lake (26-3), a winner of 18 straight, pursues its first section championship since 1989 when Ken Hook coached the Cardinals — and he’s still a fixture in the crowd during the team’s latest playoff run — it’s worth noting that Clear Lake stands a good chance of being a top seed in the NorCals, perhaps the No. 1 seed, with a win over Stuart Hall (23-7). And what that means in practical terms is the Cardinals might not have to travel even once in the NorCals playoffs, which stretch over a week and a half leading up to the state championship game March 13 or March 14.
That’s pretty exciting stuff, even for a team and a coach that reached the semifinals of the sectional playoffs and the quarterfinals of the NorCals a year ago while compiling a school-best 27-4 record. A win Saturday night would give them at least that many victories this season, and counting.
Ever mindful of another long postseason run this season, Clear Lake head coach Scott De Leon said he has taken precautions to make sure the Cardinals don’t overtax themselves.
“I kind of feel we ran out of a gas a little bit last year,” De Leon said.
Since the second half of Clear Lake’s North Central League I campaign this season, De Leon has limited team practice to no more than 75 minutes. And it appears to be paying dividends.
“We’re fresher … we look fresher,” De Leon said. “We seem to have quite a bit of energy.”
Enough energy that the Cardinals have scored 65, 80 and 72 points in each of their first three section games.
Their semifinal-round opponent on Wednesday, San Domenico of San Anselmo, beat Stuart Hall in the first of three meetings with the San Francisco team this year. San Domenico won the initial encountter 56-41 on Jan. 7 at Stuart Hall High School. The Knights came back to win the next two meetings, 35-31 on Jan. 24 and 60-50 on Feb. 12 The teams compete in the Bay Counties West, which was won by University, the same team that defeated Clear Lake in the sectional semifinals last year in San Francisco. University bumped up to Division 4 this season and lost on Wednesday in the section semifinals.
“He told me we’re right there with them,” De Leon said of what San Domenico head coach Mike Fulton relayed to him about how the Cardinals matched up Stuart Hall minutes after Clear Lake’s 72-58 win over the Panthers on Wednesday night in Lakeport.
Exactly where the No. 2-seeded Cardinals stand in relation to the No. 1-seeded Knights will be answered in just a few hours. No speculation will be necessary after that.
