It took a full team effort for Dublin on Thursday night.

In front of a raucous crowd in Brentwood, No. 4 Dublin held high-powered Liberty to just five points in the fourth quarter en route to a 65-47 win in the first round of the North Coast Section Open Division playoffs. Dublin will play at De La Salle in the Open Division semifinals on Wednesday.

“That’s a good team right there,” Dublin coach Tom Costello said. “We made a lot of winning plays and I thought we weathered the storm well.”

Dublin junior forward Jaiden Jones led the Gaels with 18 points and six rebounds. Cameron Anderson scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Miles Pollard totaled 14 points and senior Ramir Raymore had 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Senior forward Andrew Vixon led No. 5 Liberty with 18 points and five rebounds.

“A key thing with this team is that our chemistry is so great,” Jones said. “We played for each other for so long and just coming together makes a huge difference.”

After taking a 31-25 lead at halftime, Dublin found a second gear at the end of the third quarter.

Pollard knocked down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the period, giving Dublin a 50-42 lead entering the final eight minutes.

In the fourth, it was all Dublin.

A pair of free throws from Raymore capped a 9-3 run to open the quarter. After a quick layup from AJ Jones, Liberty cut the Dublin lead to 12 with just over three minutes to go. But that would turn out to be the Lions’ final points of the game.

A two-handed slam from Anderson to push the Dublin lead to 14 was the dagger as the Gaels locked up the home team to seal the victory.

“It was about mental toughness,” Raymore said about stopping Liberty in the fourth quarter. “The toughness was going to be there at the end of the day. We just had to be together as a team.”

While Liberty is no longer in contention for an Open Division title, the Lions will have another playoff game on Wednesday when they play California for fifth place in the six-team bracket. The game will be crucial in deciding where both teams will be seeded in the CIF NorCal playoffs.

Dublin will see a familiar opponent in the semifinals. De La Salle beat Dublin both times this season, but each team was not at full strength when they played each other.

De La Salle edged Dublin 53-49 in the first matchup, but did not have Oklahoma commit Alec Blair. In the second matchup that took place in the East Bay Athletic League playoffs, Dublin fell 54-41 without Anderson.

Jones believes the Gaels have learned from their mistakes and will be much better going into Wednesday’s game.

“We’re going to game plan and adjust and just get ready for this one,” Jones said. “We just got to go out and conquer. We got to beat that green school.”

— Nathan Canilao

CARONDELET: COUGARS READY FOR SRV RUBBER MATCH >> Third-seeded Carondelet’s junior point guard Sophia Ross did not mince words after her Cougars routed host No. 6 Salesian 83-55 in the first round of the North Coast Section Open Division playoffs on Thursday night.

The matchup at rival and second-seeded San Ramon Valley was set, and there is no opponent the Concord school would rather play. How badly does Ross want to beat the Wolves?

“Really bad, because it’s been way too long,” said Ross, who led Carondelet with 19 points. “I feel like my whole career at Carondelet, we’re 0-6 against them, so I’m really trying to get that revenge, that get-back. I know we’re ready for it.”

San Ramon Valley beat Carondelet (24-5) in a regular-season matchup and in the East Bay Athletic League tournament championship game. Coming off the EBAL loss, the Cougars looked focused from the start against Salesian and led 25-17 after one quarter.

Salesian, as the Tri-County Athletic League champion, was the host despite being the lower seed. Playing in the Pride’s tiny gymnasium — its floor is a few feet shorter than Carondelet’s — was actually a boon for the visitors.

“This is a much smaller court than what we play on every day, so we figured the tightness of the gym would help us, and it did,” Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak said.

Carondelet’s size advantage was magnified as it played at 2-2-1 trap that seemed to cover every inch of the court. Despite the lack of space, Jamia Sawyer scored a team-high 15 points and Vanessa Parilla put in 12 for Salesian (20-9).

Forward Layla Dixon scored 12 for Carondelet despite being in foul trouble. The Cougars led 46-28 at halftime and were never threatened in the second half.

While Carondelet will travel to Danville, Salesian will play Piedmont in a consolation game as it stays ready for NorCal play. All teams in the Open Division advance to regionals.

— Joseph Dycus

PIEDMONT: HIGHLANDERS PUSH CARDINAL NEWMAN TO LIMIT >> The youthful Highlander girls, seeded No. 5 in the Open after starting mostly freshmen and sophomores, traveled to perennial North Bay powerhouse Cardinal Newman and gave the fourth-seeded private school everything it could handle in a 51-45 loss.

Andrea Martin scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jenelle Solis scored 12 and dished out five assists and Briana Webb scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds.

Piedmont led 24-17 after one half, but reigning NCS Open Division champ Cardinal Newman pulled away to start the second half. The Santa Rosa school led 47-35 with only three minutes left.

Piedmont then embarked on a furious comeback attempt, cutting the deficit 49-45 on a 10-0 run. But a rash of misses at the free-throw line did in the Highlanders.

“We missed 14 free throws and that only was tough to overcome,“ Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere told the Bay Area News Group in a text.

Even though the Highlanders’ rally came up short, Piedmont’s season isn’t over. It will play host to Salesian on Wednesday. Cardinal Newman will travel to top-seeded Acalanes on Wednesday.

— Joseph Dycus

SAN RAMON VALLEY BREEZES PAST CAL >> The SRV boys made it look easy on Thursday night.

The Wolves jumped on California early and cruised to a 77-49 win in the first round of the NCS Open Division playoffs. SRV bounced back after falling to De La Salle at home in the East Bay Athletic League semifinals last Thursday.

Luke Isaak led SRV with 21 points. Mason Thomas had 11, followed by Thomas Conley with 10. Elliot Conley totaled nine points and nine rebounds.

Thomas, a senior, reached 1,000 points for his career, becoming the third SRV player in the past two seasons to reach the milestone.

“He’s such a unique player that makes him a threat for other teams,” SRV coach Brian Botteen told the Bay Area News Group on Thursday night. “He’s the most humble kid I’ve ever met. ... He’s one of the great point guards in our school’s history.”

SRV will play Salesian at Albany High School in the semifinals on Wednesday. SRV played Salesian in December at the Gridley Invitational and lost 70-68.

“We’re going to go out there and have some fun,” Botteen said. “We’re going to play good basketball. It’s a freelance style and sometimes we make mistakes. But our guys compete. ... We’re going to enjoy tomorrow, get some shots up and get focused this weekend.”

— Nathan Canilao