Leigh was in position for more late-game magic in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs.

When Brody Le buried a 3-pointer while drawing a foul and then made the foul shot, the visiting Longhorns held a two-point lead on Thursday over top-seeded Palo Alto in the fourth quarter.

But unlike Tuesday, when Cade Robertson hit a half-court shot at the buzzer in overtime to beat Mountain View, fifth-seeded Leigh’s section playoff run came to an end.

After the four-point play, Palo Alto scored the next eight points and went on to a 40-35 victory to advance to the Division I final on tonight against Carlmont at Mission College.

Isaiah Phillips curled around a screen and sank a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to put Palo Alto in front 34-33.

Justin Fung followed with a steal and a drive to the hoop for a layup that made it 36-33. Phillips extended the margin to 37-33 when he made 1 of 2 free throws and Jorell Clark’s lay up gave the Vikings a 39-33 advantage.

Palo Alto (22-4) returns to a CCS final for the first time since it captured back-to-back Division I crowns in 2019 and 2020.

The loss prevented Leigh (16-10) from reaching a second CCS final in program history. The Longhorns won the Division III title in 1991.

— Darren Sabedra

Mills gets rematch with Notre Dame-SJ

Mills’ bid for back-to-back CCS Division III championships was spoiled last season by Notre Dame-San Jose, which beat the Vikings in overtime 52-47 to celebrate the title.

It was an emotional loss for Mills and its coach, Justin Matsu, as the team dedicated its season to Matsu’s father, Dave, who died of a stroke a few months earlier.

Dave was Mills’ longtime coach. He had shared the coaching duties with Justin when Mills beat Santa Cruz for the CCS Division III title in 2023.

As recently as Tuesday, Justin visited his father’s gravesite before Mills’ quarterfinal win to reflect on the program and his dad’s legacy.

Thursday, second-seeded Mills breezed past Santa Cruz 60-30 to reach the Division III final for the fourth consecutive season. Sofia Kwan had 16 points to lead the way.

Today, the Vikings get a rematch against Notre Dame as the top-seeded San Jose team advanced with a 63-28 win over Pioneer.

The final will be held at Santa Clara High at 1 p.m.

“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Justin Matsu said in an email. “They’re a great team and very well coached. Ali (Bueno) does a great job with them and has them playing really well this year. Our girls understand the task at hand.”

— Darren Sabedra

TKA boys cruise into CCS D-IV final

The team some thought belonged in the CCS Open Division is stating its case in the section’s Division IV bracket.

The King’s Academy, the top seed, had little trouble with No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep on Thursday night in Sunnyvale, earning a comfortable 64-50 win and advancing to the championship game against No. 2 Carmel. A 17-5 run made the difference as the Knights pulled away in the third quarter.

Alex Osterloh led all scorers with 18 points for SHP (16-10), followed by Alex Straser with 14.

Karan Kolappa paced TKA (22-4) with 15 points, and Caedmon Dickson and Boss Mhoon each scored 14.

It was TKA’s third win over SHP this season. The Knights face Carmel at 3 p.m. today at Santa Clara High School.

– Christian Babcock

Menlo-Atherton girls overpower Evergreen

This one was decided early.

Menlo-Atherton scored the first 12 points of the game and was never seriously threatened Thursday in a 56-37 victory over host Evergreen Valley in a CCS Division I girls basketball semifinal.

M-A, the No. 3 seed, moves on to play top seed Los Gatos today for the CCS D-I championship at Mission College at 3 p.m.

“That was our goal from the start of the season,” said point guard Eve Amram, who scored 13 points against Evergreen Valley. “Now we’re one game away.”

Thursday’s semifinal was a game of runs with M-A’s longer and more frequent.

After that initial 12-0 run to begin the game, Evergreen scored the next eight points only to see M-A reel off 10 in a row to make it 22-8.

Trailing 27-14 at halftime, the Cougars came out and scored the first six points of the third quarter to make it 27-20. But that was as close as they would get. The Bears proceeded to put the game away, outscoring the home team 17-3 to go up 44-23.

M-A’s 1-3-1 zone defense was a decisive factor, preventing good looks at the basket and making penetration difficult.

“We wanted them taking outside shots,” M-A coach Steve Yob said. “They’re a really quick team, really fast, they can get to the basket. We wanted to keep them out of the paint, make them shoot from outside and our girls did a really great job on defense.”

— Glenn Reeves

Los Gatos girls punch ticket to D-I title game

As expected, Los Gatos will have a chance to win another section title.

The Wildcats, a clear favorite in the girls Division I bracket as the top seed, took care of business in the semifinals with a 56-35 win over No. 4 Salinas.

Now the Cats (19-8) will meet No. 3 Menlo-Atherton in the D-I championship game after the Bears beat No. 2 Evergreen Valley 56-37 in San Jose.

The two teams have not met this season. Los Gatos posted a perfect 12-0 record in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division, while M-A (19-7) finished first in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division, going 10-2 in league play.

— Christian Babcock

Menlo girls on cusp of four in a row

Apparently, there is no stopping Menlo School in the CCS Division IV girls bracket.

The top-seeded Knights extended their playoff winning streak to 11 games on Thursday night with a 51-26 victory at home over fourth-seeded Notre Dame-Belmont in the semifinals.

Today, they will aim for their fourth consecutive Division IV title when they play Harker, the opponent they defeated to capture the 2022 crown.

In the semifinals, Ruiqi Liu led Menlo with 20 points and seven assists and Karen Xin added 17 points as the Knights improved to 17-8.

Menlo had split two previous meetings this season against Notre Dame-Belmont in West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division play, winning 45-33 on Jan. 31 and losing 52-42 on Jan. 14.

The rubber match was no contest.

Menlo led 22-5 after the first quarter, 34-11 at halftime and 46-15 after three quarters.

— Darren Sabedra