POST-HOLIDAY TOURNAMENTS ARRIVE - Petaluma Argus Courier

POST-HOLIDAY TOURNAMENTS ARRIVE

West Coast Jamboree’s large field included 8 North Bay girls teams

Santa Rosa point guard Eva Franklin is introduced along with the Panthers’ starters before their Jan. 16 game against Healdsburg. Kent Porter — The Press Democrat

Montgomery’s Marvella Cortes competes against Cardinal Newman during a 2024 game in Santa Rosa. Abraham Fuentes — For The Press Democrat

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By Kienan O’Doherty

The Press Democrat

Now in its 25th year, the annual West Coast Jamboree girls basketball tournament tipped off Saturday in the Bay Area, with several teams from the North Bay set to compete in a field of nearly 100 participating schools.

This year’s 12 tournament brackets feature teams drawn from around the country for one of the premier girls basketball competitions in Northern California. With games taking place across seven venues — primarily in the East Bay — it’s one of the nation’s largest hoops tournaments for girls teams staged each year.

While the jamboree isn’t drawing as many teams as its pre-pandemic high of 136 in 2019, or event last year’s 104 squads, there are still 96 teams set to compete — and eight of them hail from Sonoma and Napa counties.

Those teams are Casa Grande, Maria Carrillo, Montgomery, Petaluma, St. Vincent, Santa Rosa, Ukiah and Vintage.

After Saturday’s opening games, the tournament continued Monday and Tuesday.

Each bracket of the tournament is named for a different gemstone. In the Amber bracket, Santa Rosa (9-0) looked to build on its perfect start to the season when the Panthers take on Fairfield (7-3) in Saturday’s opener.

Petaluma (0-11) competed in the Emerald bracket. The Trojans faced Cesar Chavez High of Stockton (2-12) on Saturday.

The Jade bracket features Vintage, which is enjoying a strong start to the season at 6-3. The Crushers faced Stevenson (3-3) out of Pebble Beach to open bracket play.

Ukiah enters the Opal bracket at 7-3 overall and on a three-game winning streak. The Wildcats took on Murrietta Valley (5-8) in their opener, with the Nighthawks having lost their past two games.

The Topaz bracket includes three Sonoma County teams: Maria Carrillo (7-3), Casa Grande (5-5) and St. Vincent (5-2).

The Pumas, who have won their last two games, opened the tournament against Franklin of Elk Grove (4-7) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Emerald High. Also at 2:30 p.m., Casa faces Pacheco of Los Banos (6-5) at Livermore High.

Back at Emerald, St. Vincent faced off with Ferndale after the Casa game.

The final North Bay team in the tournament, Montgomery, will be playing in the Turquoise bracket. The Vikings (2-7) had lost their last four games and were looking to get back in the win column. They were set to have their first chance against Anderson (3-8), a team that was on a six-game losing streak. That game tipped off at 7 p.m. Saturday at Livermore High.

The West Coast Jamboree, while putting on dozens of games around the Bay Area, also serves as a fundraiser for annual scholarships. During its 25 years, the tournament has raised more than $30,000 to help participating student athletes with college expenses, and the schools that host the games have shared in more than $1 million in revenue generated during the tournament’s history, organizers note.