During March Madness in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, victories by the #12 seed over the #5 seed are fairly common, but upsets of that variety are not nearly as frequent in high school sports. However, the 12th-seeded Dublin Girls Basketball team channeled some of that March Madness magic in mid-February as they went on the road to post a 51-32 win at #5 Granada on Tuesday night in the North Coast Section Division 1 Basketball Championships.
The Gaels received a variety of contributions to propel them to victory. One key element was another stout defensive performance, something that has been the trademark of the squad all season as it has held opponents to 40 or less points on 12 occasions (10 of them victories). Rachel Grier was a dominating presence for Dublin inside, and she also hit a three-pointer at the buzzer heading into halftime to give the Gaels what proved to be an insurmountable 30-10 lead. Freshman Sophia Ignacio once again led the Gaels in scoring, with other key offensive contributions coming from Soha Ahmed and Karina Virk.
In the other half of the bracket, #13 Clayton Valley Charter pulled off a 57-41 upset win of their own over #4 Freedom. As the higher seed at #12, this combination of events gives Dublin an unanticipated home game in the NCS Quarterfinals TONIGHT at 7:00 p.m. The winner will advance into the NCS Division 1 semifinals at #1 Monte Vista or #9 Castro Valley. More significantly, whoever wins Friday night’s NCS Quarterfinal between the Gaels and Ugly Eagles will earn an automatic berth into the CIF NorCal State Tournament.
Dublin and Clayton Valley Charter last squared off in the 2019-2020 season, with the Ugly Eagles winning both times (including the opening round of the NCS playoffs).
Tickets for tonight’s game are $12 for Adults and $5 for students and can be purchased here. ASB stickers, Digital Sports passes, and League passes will not be accepted and the game will not be live-streamed on GaelsTV due to NCS restrictions.
