Feb. 11, 2009

NCAL 8th Grade Race Will Go To Wire

The Nevada County Athletic League's 8th grade basketball season is going down to the wire.

Thanks to wins Thursday by Weimar Hills and Union Hill, the stage is set for an 8th grade hoops showdown next Tuesday at Union Hill which will help decide the regular season NCAL champion.

On Thursday in Grass Valley, Weimar Hills cinched at least a share of the NCAL crown by defeating Gimore      , The Warriors are now 10-1 on the NCAL season and with a win over Union Hill will wrap up the outright crown and also cinch the No. 1 seed for next week's season ending NCAL Tournament.

Union Hill, on the other hand, will be looking to reverse a 50-41 loss to Weimar Hills back on June 26. If the Bearcats can upend the Warriors, the two teams would share the conference championship but Union Hill - by virtue of its win in the second round of league play - would earn the No. 1 seed for the tourney.

In the 7th grade division, Weimar Hills wrapped up the outright NCAL title by rallying from a 15-point deficit to pull out a thrilling 48-47 win on overtime. It marks the second straight season that the Warriors have retained the 7th grade NCAL perpetual trophy.

Here's a recap of Thursday's action:

8th Grade

Weimar Hills  53 Gilmore 39, at Gras Valley- Weimar cinched at least a share of the league title thanks to fine all-around efforts from Michael Wilson, Jack Baldoni, Chancey Trentman, Blake Rwslings and Wes Woodward.

Union Hill 42 Magnolia 24, at Grass Valley - Sparked by a strong team defensive effort, the Bearcats clamped down on the Rattlers and ended up with an impressive 18-point win. Both Kyle McCombs and Jake Berger tossed in nine points each for UH while Mike Tapia contributed eight and Austin Latter seven.

Pleasant Valley 59 Seven Hills 52 at Lake Wildwood - In a game that could end up determing the No. 3 seed for the NCAL tourney, host Pleasant Valley followed a big 28-point scoring spree by John Henry Jones to ease past the visiting Raiders. Nolan Stefani fired in 17 more point for the winners that led 26-24 at halftime. Garrett O'Callaghan sank 16 points for Seven Hill and Lucas Vojak added 14.

NCAL 8th Grade

                     W   L

Weimar Hills  10   1

Union Hill       9     2

P. Valley        6     5

Seven Hills     6     5

Magnolia        4     7

Forest Lake    2    9

Gilmore         1    11

7th Grade

Weimar Hills 48 Gilmore 47 (OT) , at Grass Valley - Shorthanded Weimar Hills, playing without two key players and trailing by as many as 15 points in he first half, rallied to force overtime and then outpointed the Bombers 6-5 in the extra session for the win. Pat Beninga scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the winners while Ray Henry and Jake Breeler each added 12 points apiece. Breeler hit one of two free throws with three seconds left in regulation which tied the game at 42-42. For Gilmore, Jericho Mendez' 19 points included a game-ending halfcourt three-pointer. Meanwhile Jess Sutton added 16 more.

Magnolia 35 Union Hill 15 at Union Hill - Magnolia, leading just 10-9 at halftime, limited the host Bearcats to just six second half points in the win. Magnolia, now 5-6 in league play, was sparked by John Voter and Ryan Wagner with six points each and Wyatt Mitzell with five.

NCAL 7th Grade

                      W    L

Weimar Hills   10    1

Seven Hills       8    3

Gilmore           7     5

Forest Lake     6     5

Magnolia         5     6

Union Hill        3     8

P. Valley        0     11