Forget about silver linings and all of that stuff. The Cloverdale Eagles, the top seed in the North Coast Section Division V boys basketball playoffs, are done for the season after falling 53-44 to No. 8 seed Redwood Christian of San Lorenzo on Saturday in the quarterfinal round at Cloverdale High School.
“That last one leaves a sour taste in your mouth,” Cloverdale coach Steve Bernardi said of the loss. “It’s not the kind of game you want to end the season with.”
Redwood Christian (15-13) barely survived a first-round game with No. 9 seed International of San Francisco, winning 43-40 in opening-round action on Feb. 22. Redwood moves on to the semifinal round and will face No. 4 seed Bentley High School of Lafayette (that game took place on March 1).
First-round struggles were also part of Cloverdale’s playoff story in 2017 as the Eagles barely survived against No. 16 seed St. Vincent of Petaluma, winning 55-53, at Cloverdale High School.
Against Redwood Christian in the quarterfinals, the Eagles never found their shooting groove and finished the game 6-for-22 from two-point range and 5-for-22 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“You’re not going to win many games shooting like that,” Bernardi said. “We were just not ready to play. We came out flat and couldn’t hit a shot.”
Gage Hoover’s 12 points led the Eagles, who wrap up the season at 22-7. While many teams would take that record and be quite happy, Cloverdale sets its bar appreciably higher and the Eagles were counting on a longer playoff run given their status as the No. 1 seed.
“We got outplayed and outcoached,” Bernardi said. “If the kids aren’t ready to play that’s my fault.”
In their 58-56 first-round win over St. Vincent, the Eagles were led by Jayson McMillan’s 21 points. Jordan Persons added 14 more and Luke Pope had 12.
“They banked in three 3s against us,” Bernardi said of the Mustangs. “It seemed like everything went against us, the basketball Gods weren’t happy with us.”
Pope’s clutch shooting down the stretch saved the day for the Eagles, according to Bernardi. “He made some big shots at the end.”
Bernardi said St. Vincent played well and pushed Cloverdale to the limit. “Give them credit for doing a good job against us,” Bernardi said.
