Woodcreek teams, Valley Christian fall in semifinals

Woodcreek High School's boys and girls basketball teams lost Sac-Joaquin Section semifinal round playoff games Tuesday night, as did Valley Christian. Jesuit 51, Woodcreek 43 The Woodcreek boys, the No. 4 seed in Division II, hit the road to Jesuit to play the No. 1 seed. Woodcreek played the Marauders tough, as they trailed 38-37 head into the fourth quarter. That's when the Timberwolves got away from what was working offensively, as they only scored six points in the fourth quarter. "I thought we played really hard and for the most part took care of the ball, but we had some opportunities in the fourth quarter and didn't put the ball in the basket," Woodcreek coach Drew Hibbs said. "We just got away from what we do. I give credit to Jesuit. They play good defense and play a different type of zone defense that we had some issues with." Zach Bualat scored 14 points to lead Woodcreek, while Max Vanlaningham and Michael Kirby Jr. each scored 11. The Timberwolves will still qualify for the NorCal playoffs and could make some noise there. A year ago, they were seeded 15th and went on the road to play the No. 2 seed Milpitas and lost by one point in overtime. "I'm not scared about going on the road and playing a tough team," Hibbs said. "We can play with anyone." Antelope 75, Woodcreek 58 The top-seeded Titans played host to fifth-seeded Woodcreek and got the best of them. Woodcreek coach Malcolm Thomas was proud of his team's performance despite the loss. Much like the boys, Woodcreek played well until the fourth quarter, as they trailed by only three points with eight minutes remaining. "We started off the game very well, as we led 15-6 after the first quarter and were down by four at halftime," Thomas said. "We traded runs in the third quarter and were only down three heading into the fourth. "We got into foul trouble and they were capitalizing at the free throw line, and then they started hitting threes. Amaya Grant, Chloe Preuss and Summer Hennessy all fouled out and Kate Hull and Ariel Thomas had four fouls each. "My girls played extremely hard and executed well for the majority of the game. I'm super proud of them. Antelope has tremendous athletes and a great coach." Grant led the Timberwolves with 18 points, while Preuss finished with 12. Sacramento Adventist 75, Valley Christian 66 A slow start is the only thing that kept Valley Christian from upsetting Sacramento Adventist in Tuesday's semifinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI basketball playoffs. The Lions trailed big after the first quarter 25-9 but outscored Sac Adventist 57-50 the rest of the game. "They were up by as many as 24 points, but we got it down to four points late in the game and missed two open threes, two contested layups, four free throws and a few putbacks in the final three minutes," Valley Christian coach Brad Gunter Jr. said. "They hit free throws in the final minute to make the final nine-point deficit. "I couldn't be prouder of the guys for battling. This was the worst season in my 25 years in terms of injuries, sickness and missed court time. We run the "System" and were only able to run it in 10 games this season. We went from No. 10 ranking to the No. 5 seed because we got all of our guys back late in the season. The goal was to get healthy, get in the playoffs and try to get hot quickly. We did all that, but just came up short." James Schevchuk led the Lions with 28 points, while Josh Becker finished with 11.