NCS basketball championships: Benicia boys Cinderella run ends with title, Northgate girls come up short

Boys basketball

No. 6 Benicia 53, No. 1 Montgomery 50: Benicia’s Cinderella run had the perfect storybook ending as the Panthers upset the top team in NCS Division II on the road to win the North Coast Section Division II championship. 

Benicia fell behind early, ending the first quarter down 20-10. But the Panthers played Montgomery even for the next two quarters and took the lead in the fourth. Bencia’s defense held strong down the stretch, not allowing Montgomery to get back into the game in the final minutes. 

Montgomery scored just eight points in the fourth quarter and missed three shots to cut the four-point lead Benicia had with under 30 seconds left in the game. Kenneth Brown had a game-high 15 points for Benicia. 

Ayden Thompson scored 14 points and Jackdan Eyike added 10 points in the win. Steven Carter, who is in his 13th year as head coach of Benicia, won his first championship as the lead man for the Panthers. 

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to two points midway through the fourth.

However, Redwood was able to pull away again thanks to a big night from leading scorer Kitty White, who put in a game-high 23. 

Amelia Schrag scored a team-high 22 points for the Broncos, and teammate Hana Neuman put in 12 points. Northgate (23-10) will learn where it is seeded in NorCal play on Sunday.