The look on Gio Brovelli’s face — a mix of anger and determination — cracked into a smile only for a moment after he laid the ball into the hoop on Tuesday night.

Brovelli lit up the scoreboard with 23 points as the San Rafael High boys basketball team made a successful return to the North Coast Section Division III playoffs with a 56-41 victory over No. 12 Piner at Terra Linda High for the Bulldogs’ first postseason victory in seven years.

“For a lot of years, Gio’s been putting in a lot of work and wanting to win, and now the winning is finally there,” first-year San Rafael head coach Colin Hamilton said. “It takes a lot of mental effort to focus on winning and, to Gio’s credit, he’s done a great job.”

San Rafael, seeded fifth, will host No. 13 Mt. Eden at Terra Linda on Friday at 7 p.m. Mt. Eden (18-9) was a 56-38 winner against No. 4 Cornerstone Christian on Tuesday.

Brovelli was a freshman on the 2021-22 Bulldogs squad that last competed in the postseason. San Rafael lost to Piedmont on the road, 74-45, in the first round of the NCS playoffs to end a 12-15 campaign that year. The Bulldogs’ last NCS victory came in 2018 against Analy, 46-35.

“Our goal all season was making MCALs, that was all we talked about,” Hamilton said. “Once we did that, we’ve just been having fun. It’s all been icing on the cake. Knowing that we’ve already accomplished our big goals, it’s taken some of the pressure off.”

Piner (19-10), which finished second to Rancho Cotate in the North Bay Redwood League, had already taken a win from San Rafael, 64-58, on Dec. 23. The Bulldogs led by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter in that game, but lost focus and allowed the Prospectors to strike for the win.

Hamilton was not going to let his players forget that loss.

“That game was a few days before Christmas. I didn’t open any presents. I didn’t really celebrate Christmas, because it was that devastating,” Hamilton recalled. “Going forward after that game, whenever we had a lead in the fourth quarter, I would bring that Piner game up and I would say ‘Guys, remember Piner. This has to be different.’ But if we don’t go through that loss in December, we’re not here right now. We would not be the same team we are now.”

Just as San Rafael looked to break out early Tuesday, Piner’s defense reeled the Bulldogs back in, exposing some sloppy ballhandling by San Rafael.

Piner gave the Bulldogs a scare in the second quarter as the Prospectors went on a 10-0 run that included eight points from Brendan Walker, who finished with a team-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds. Artful dodger Tyler Coester stole the ball at midcourt and drove to the hoop for a layup to bring Piner to within one point. Moments later, Walker soared above the crowd for a putback that gave Piner its only lead of the game, 15-14.

Sophomore Wyatt Tornello, who scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half, used his large 6-foot-2 frame to great effect in the paint.

The Bulldogs were able to draw out the Piner defense and get the ball inside to Tornello, who scored back-to-back layups to restore San Rafael’s lead to 17-14.

The Prospectors didn’t let San Rafael junior Luke Shapiro find his comfort zone, as he was held to just four points in the first half, all in the final minute before halftime to help the Bulldogs to a 21-17 lead.

“I have two game plans,” Hamilton said. “I have the one on the board, and there’s the other one where I trust these guys to do the job. I trust Luke and Gio in game situations. They put in the work and they put the team on their shoulders. Gio and Luke have no fear. They rise to the occasion.”

Shapiro found his shooting touch in the third quarter with seven points, including the 3-pointer he’d been looking for all night, to give the Bulldogs a 12-point edge. Shapiro finished with 11 points and five assists.

Sophomore Will Healy anchored the San Rafael defense, pulling in 15 rebounds. Tornello grabbed 10 rebounds and dished five assists.

“These guys have grown up a lot,” Hamilton said. “They’ve all gotten a lot smarter. Their basketball IQ is up and the trust level is up. … I’ve watched them all grow up, and they’ve watched me grow.”