Cloverdale will host No. 8 St. Vincent in quarterfinals on Feb. 18
With league pennant in hand, the NCL1 champion Eagles have their sights set squarely on the next task at hand — a successful run in the North Coast Section Division 5 basketball playoffs.
Cloverdale, the top seed in the 16-team playoff bracket, took its first step toward that end in the NCS home opener on Feb. 15 against No. 16 Upper Lake, swamping the Cougars with a big first quarter in an eventual, 87-62 rout.
The dominating win pushed the Eagles’ remarkable season record to 24-1, setting up a quarterfinal home clash with No. 8 seeded St. Vincent de Paul this Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. The Mustangs (15-10), members of the North Bay League Redwood Division, advanced on Tuesday with a 49-42 win over No. 9 Technology and figure to pose a good challenge for Cloverdale in this game.
Fast start lifts Eagle
Tuesday’s NCS playoff opener featured a raucous home crowd and plenty of excitement, a huge contrast to the limited fan capacity of games for the previous month.
The Eagles used the added “juice” to jump out to a 26-11 lead at the end of one before settling for a 45-30 halftime advantage. Cloverdale padded the lead in a 30-point third quarter to expand the cushion to 75-52, emptying their bench in the final period en route to an 87-62 win.
Senior Dylan Muller turned in another in a string of outstanding performances, pouring in a team-high 30 points. Other leading scorers included senior Gabe Wlodarczyk (17 points), senior Joe Faso (15 points) and junior Caden Axell (12 points).
