A pair of Coast Conference teams that are annual entries on NorCal playoff brackets square off Saturday night in Saratoga with a CCCAA State Championship Tournament berth on the line. The 5th-seeded West Valley Vikings (25-4) host the #13 Las Positas College Hawks (19-11) at 7:00pm in one of four NorCal Final contests. The winner advances to the state tourney at West Hills-Lemoore College March 9-12. Both the Vikings and the Hawks were 2022 state finals participants, with WVC advancing all the way to the state title game against another Coast team, City College of San Francisco.
The ultra-competitive Coast will be on display Saturday in the form of two teams that can score, play state-of-the-art defense, and are without peer when it comes to rebounding. Both teams average 80+ points and 40+ rebounds per game. West Valley's defense has the statistical edge, giving up just over 60 points per game to LPC's 79.8.
Individually, the teams feature two of the state's premier players - WVC's Elijah Mahi and LPC's Jordahn Johnson - along with strong supporting casts and deep benches. Mahi led the Vikings with 17.6 points-per-game, to go with 6.8 rebounds and almost three assists per game. Johnson has logged a team-high 18.2 PPG and 11.7 RPG for the Hawks.
WVC's Jeremiah Dargan follows Mahi on the team stat sheets with 14.2 PPG, six RPG and a team-high 3.8 assists-per game. Malik Patton tops WVC with 7.3 RPG. LPC's Jalen Patterson averages 14.9 PPG, four RPG and seven APG.
Both teams had to overcome adversity in last Saturday's second round games. West Valley rallied from a 30-19 halftime deficit behind 28 second-half points from Mahi to stop #12 Porterville 67-60 in Saratoga. Mahi finished with 35 points, while Dargan dropped 22. Las Positas climbed out of a 37-34 halftime hole to upset #4 Yuba 79-76 in Marysville. Isaiah Victor led the LPC stat sheet with 18 points, six boards and two assists, while three other Hawks reached double figures in scoring.
The Vikings and the Hawks met in Livermore on December 7, with WVC taking a 94-89 OT win. Dargan and Ariya Briscoe paced West Valley with 21 and 20 points, respectively, while Mahi finished with 17. Johnson had 33 points and 11 rebounds for Las Positas.
Tickets for Saturday night's game are available (debit/credit cards only) at the gate or through the Tickets tab on this website. The game will be livestreamed on the WVC Athletics YouTube channel, which can be accessed by clicking on the YouTube icon at the upper right of the website home page.