The Cloverdale Eagles soared into the North Coast Section Division V playoffs as the No. 1 seed on Wednesday when they hosted St. Vincent of Petaluma in a first-round game at Cloverdale High School.
Results of that playoff opener weren’t available as the Reveille went to press. If the Eagles won that game, they’ll be home Saturday to take on either No. 8 seed Redwood Christian (13-13) of San Lorenzo or No. 9 International (19-7) of San Francisco in the quarterfinal round.
The semifinals are March 1 and the Division V championship game is the weekend of March 3-4.
Cloverdale (21-6), the North Central League I runner-up this season, entered the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak. The Eagles closed out their regular-season league schedule with a 71-56 victory at Fort Bragg on Feb. 14, then beat Clear Lake 61-40 and St. Helena 60-50 to capture last weekend’s NCL I postseason tournament at Mendocino College in Ukiah.
Cloverdale coach Steve Bernardi said he wasn’t expecting the Eagles to pull down the No. 1 seed in a 16-team Division V field that includes such schools as No. 2 seed Branson (20-8) of Ross, No. 3 Head-Royce (16-8) of Oakland, and No. 4 Bentley (17-9) of Lafayette.
“It shocked the hell out of me,” Bernardi said. “I thought for sure they would give it (the top seed) to one of the private schools.”
Key for Cloverdale in the section playoffs, according to Bernardi, will be tightening up its defense, rebounding better and taking good shots on a team full of good shooters.
“Shot selection for us is critical,” Bernardi said. “We have to make good decisions.”
That wasn’t a problem for Cloverdale in its win over Fort Bragg or against Clear Lake in the opening round of the postseason tournament. Against Fort Bragg, Jordan Persons and Luke Pope led the Eagles with 19 points apiece while Emmett Lawson added 13, Jayson McMillan nine and Christian Chavez seven.
“Luke and Jordan played great games,” Bernardi said. “I was very happy with the ball distribution and the shot selection.”
Against Clear Lake, the Eagles again benefited from a balanced attack led by Lawson with 14, McMillan with 13, Pope with 12 and Persons and Gage Hoover with eight apiece.
“We played good defense in that game,” Bernardi said. “To hold Clear Lake to 40 points, a good shooting team like that, isn’t easy to do.”
While the Eagles were expecting a rematch with league champion Kelseyville in the tournament championship game, it never materialized. That’s because the Knights were upset by St. Helena 57-50 in a first-round game.
“We really wanted that game (against Kelseyville),” Bernardi said of a team the Eagles split their two league contests with this season, each winning at home. “I thought we might come out a little bit flat against St. Helena and that’s what happened.”
Flat or not, the Eagles found a way to beat the Saints for a third time this season. McMillan did most of the damage with 23 points, Persons added another 13 and Pope had 12.
“St. Helena is a dangerous team,” Bernardi said. “They’re big and they’re just a point guard away from being a really good team.”
Preparing for St. Vincent (16-10) in the sectional opener, Bernardi said the Eagles aren’t about to overlook any team in the Division V field, not even the 16th-seeded Mustangs of Petaluma.
“I would never take a St. Vincent team lightly,” Bernardi said. “We’re not good enough to take anybody lightly. We’re not deep and that means a lot of things can go wrong if you’re not careful.”
