The Redwood High girls basketball team and host Clayton Valley Charter battled it out down the stretch of a must-win game for both teams on Friday night. Maya Saibel hit the biggest shot of the night, a corner 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds that proved to be the dagger in a 72-65 victory in the North Coast Section Division I third-place game.

Saibel’s shot gave the Giants (23-9) a seven-point lead that proved to be the final margin. The Giants had lead for most of the fourth quarter but the Ugly Eagles (22-9) had been within two points inside the final minute.

The victory guaranteed the Giants a spot in next week’s NorCal playoffs while a loss would have signaled the end of their season. The seeding meetings for basketball and soccer are set to take place on Sunday.

In addition to her clutch 3-pointer, Saibel scored a team-high 20 points — including the 1,000th of her varsity career. Kitty White added a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while also providing five assists and four blocks.

Redwood lost to Clayton Valley Charter 70-44 in its second game of the season on Nov. 30. The Giants trailed 52-51 late in the third quarter n Saturday but Drew Schultz was run over while shooting a 3-pointer right before the buzzer. Schultz, a freshman, made all three free throws to give Redwood a 54-52 lead going into the final 8 minutes.

Brooke Denler and Ainsley Gallagher had eight points apiece for the Giants while Molly Gallagher and Hindi Copeland were key to Redwood’s defensive effort.

• Marin Catholic captured the NCS D-II championship with Saturday’s 64-55 victory over top-seeded Justin-Siena in Napa. The third-seeded Wildcats advance to the NorCal Regional playoffs, pending Sunday’s seeding. The complete game story will appear in Monday’s Marin IJ and online at www.marinij.com.

Boys basketball

Marin Catholic was looking to avenge an earlier loss, but University had too much firepower during Saturday’s 65-49 victory over the Wildcats in the NCS Division II third-place game at Kezar Pavilion.

Henry Dibble paced the No. 11 Wildcats (16-16) with 13 points, while Joe Hammond added 11 points, three assists and four steals. Oliver Myers chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Lucas Lau led the No. 4 Red Devils with 16 points.

• San Rafael’s rally ran out of gas in the second half during a 62-50 loss to No. 6 Berkeley as the No. 5 Bulldogs finished fourth in the NCS D-III playoffs. The loss dashes San Rafael’s chances of a NorCal Regional playoff berth.

The Bulldogs went into the half with a four-point deficit, but couldn’t close the gap as the Yellowjackets outscored them, 21-12, in the third to put the game out of reach.

Gio Brovelli led the Bulldogs (19-11) with a 21-point effort, ending his incredible career with 1,359 points. Will Healy added 12 points and four rebounds, and Wyatt Tornello contributed eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Boys tennis

Branson’s Finn Higgins rallied after a challenging first set against San Marin’s Oliver Pool for a 7-5, 6-2 victory at the top of the singles ladder to set the tone for the Bulls’ 5-2 victory over San Marin on Friday. The Bulls swept singles play with victories from Mason Ogborne, Gian Carlo a Marca and Ryder Teagle. San Marin picked up a pair of doubles wins, including a three-set victory by Paden Hou and Alexander Christfort, 0-6, 6-2, 10-7.

Prep swimming

The Tam High girls edged Archie Williams, 94-89, on Thursday with victories by Julia Ulvestad (200 free), Elle Philp (100 fly) and Annika Hakes (100 breast). The Peregrine Falcons won both the 200 medley and 200 free relays, while the Red-tailed Hawks won the 400 free relay. On the boys side, Nathan Greenberg won both the 200 free and 100 free to help Archie Williams beat Tam, 97-78. Tam’s Jasper Feldman won the 200 IM and 100 fly.

Tam won the diving competition with Natalie Dean, Maisy Tommei, and Amelia Robson taking the top three places in order.