OAKLAND >> Ardarius Grayson, Oakland Tech’s senior star guard, didn’t celebrate when the final horn sounded. He high-fived his teammates, flashed a calm smile and went to sit on the bench. This was business as usual.

His free throw sealed the top-seeded Bulldogs’ 66-60 win over Oakland to win the Oakland Section championship on Wednesday at Fremont High. Tech now waits for its next opponent when the state tournament bracket is released on Sunday.

Grayson finished with 13 points, his second consecutive game where he struggled to score. In the teams’ last meeting two weeks ago, a 60-50 Tech victory, he needed 23 shots to score 17 points. But Tech prevailed with its physicality, tough shot making and ability to get stops.

And because it had the best player on the floor.

Grayson’s passing, penetration, defense and his refusal to lose was too much for the No. 3 Wildcats (22-8) again on Wednesday.

“Tech did what they were supposed to do,” Oakland coach Orlando Watkins said. “They’re the champs, and they’re the champs for a reason. They had a great game plan, weathered our storm in the beginning and proceeded to kick our (expletive) the rest of the game.”

— Devin Bradshaw

Pinewood, Mitty to meet again for CCS crown

LOS ALTOS HILLS >> As the final seconds ticked off the clock in No. 2 Pinewood’s Central Coast Section Open Division semifinal win over No. 3 Priory, the chants commenced.

“We want Mitty! We want Mitty!”

The Panthers will get their shot at the No. 1 Monarchs on Friday after pulling away from Priory in the second half en route to a 48-32 win.

“They’ve been pointing to that all year, so that’s where we wanted to be,” Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said. “We’re here.”

The Panthers (23-3) last knocked off Mitty in the Open final in 2021. The Monarchs have won nine of 12 titles since the Open Division was introduced in 2013.

Pinewood had some trouble putting away Priory (22-5) early on, scoring just eight points in the first quarter and leading 25-19 at the halftime break. But the Panthers turned it on in the third quarter, taking a commanding 38-24 lead and ensuring the final eight minutes were drama-free.

So will it be good enough to dethrone the mighty Monarchs tonight at Santa Clara University?

“They’ll step up,” Scheppler said. “We didn’t play a really fluid game offensively, but when you bank two 3s, that’s good luck. I’m really proud of the girls. Defensively, we took away all their stuff. We did a great job forcing them to take tough shots.”

— Christian Babcock

Salesian boys back in NCS Open Final

ALBANY >> Salesian junior Carlton Perrilliat did it all for the Pride in their win over San Ramon Valley at Albany High School on Wednesday night.

Perrilliat scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists to lead Salesian to a 77-69 win in the North Coast Section Open Division semifinals. The Richmond school will play De La Salle for the second straight year in the Open Division championship game on Saturday at Dublin High.

“My teammates just fed me,” Perrilliat said. “My teammates were looking for me down there, and I was just open. They gave me great passes, and I was just able to finish.”

Perrilliat was a force on the defensive end as well, taking on the assignment of guarding SRV’s prolific guards on the perimeter. He finished with two blocks and two steals.

— Nathan Canilao

Acalanes girls too much for Cardinal Newman

LAFAYETTE >> Slashing to the basket at will, K.K. Lacanlale sliced apart visiting Cardinal Newman with what seemed to be dozens of precise cuts in Wednesday’s NCS Open Division semifinal.

Her sharp moves, both with and without the ball, made it obvious that the 11-day break Acalanes enjoyed between league play and the playoffs had not taken the edge off of the Dons’ potent offense.

The result was a no-doubt-about-it 78-52 rout over Newman, one in which the top-seeded Dons shredded their North Bay guests in a second-half evisceration to advance to the program’s first Open Division title game.

“It feels like all of our hard work is paying off,” said Lacanlale, who won the NCS D-II title as a freshman.

Lacanlale scored 13 points, including eight straight for Acalanes in the third quarter to help blow the game open. She also looked to set teammates up on many drives and finished with 10 assists.

Acalanes will play second-seed San Ramon Valley — which took down Carondelet 66-55 in the other semifinal — at Campolindo High on Saturday night.

— Joseph Dycus

DLS withstands Dublin’s rally to reach final

What looked like a routine playoff victory for De La Salle on Wednesday night quickly turned into a gut-check for the top-seeded Spartans.

De La Salle was seemingly in complete command on its home court in Concord against fourth-seeded Dublin, up by 16 points midway through the third quarter.

The Gaels closed the third quarter on a 12-0 run and opened the fourth with a 3-pointer from Jaiden Jones.

The home team’s 16-point cushion was down to one.

But De La Salle eventually composed itself, thanks to stout defense and hot shooting down the stretch by Ibrahim Monawar, and survived 47-37 to advance to the NCS Open Division championship game for the fourth consecutive season.

Monawar scored 10 of his team-best 14 points in the fourth quarter. Alec Blair, who was just named East Bay Athletic League player of the year, added 13 points. The Spartans also got eight points and 15 rebounds from David Balogun and six points each from Braddock Kjellesvig and Bryce Patton.

— Darren Sabedra

SRV girls win, advance to another Open Title Game

San Ramon Valley’s 66-55 NCS Open Division girls basketball semifinal victory over Carondelet left a sleep-deprived John Cristiano exhausted.

The SRV coach had spent Tuesday night “playing the game through” in his mind, trying to account and plan for every possible tactic coach Kelly Sopak’s Cougars could throw at his Wolves.

“It’s kind of like a boxing match,” Cristiano said. “They throw punches, we counter, we adjust, they adjust, and then at the end of the game, it’s just like who can execute the best?”

At the end of the third of three rounds between the EBAL rivals — a regular season and league championship showdown predated the matchup — San Ramon Valley prevailed once again to give the Danville school a season sweep.

Alyssa Rudd, recovering from an illness, scored 12 second-half points and grabbed 15 rebounds for SRV. Sophomore guard Ella Gunderson dominated the fourth quarter and scored a team-high 25 points.

“Ella had the best game of her life,” Cristiano said. “I told her after the game, she’s on my Mount Rushmore.”

— Joseph Dycus