March 5, 2013

Devin Ugland
GOAZCATS.com West Coast recruiting analyst

While the California Interscholastic Federation boys basketball Southern Section tournament is loaded with solidified and Arizona recruits, the Northern Section is a bit thin on the amount of prospects for the Wildcats, but the potential impact of the NorCal guys if off the charts.

Northern California Open Division Bracket

No. 6 Modesto (Calif.) Christian (28-3) at Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O'Dowd (26-3) *Game will be played at Chabot College - One of the most coveted players in the class of 2015, Ivan Rabb, will look to lead Bishop O'Dowd through the Open Division state playoffs as he has done all season long for the Dragons.

Rabb has proven to be not only one of the most skilled sophomores in the country, but also one of the best players in the country regardless of class. The 6-foot-9 forward has offers from Arizona, California, Kansas, North Carolina and N.C. State. Rabb has help in the form of 5-foot-10 sophomore point guard Paris Austin.

O'Dowd is one of the hottest teams heading into the state tournament. The Dragons are riding a 19-game winning streak, including a CIF North Coast Section Division III championship win over El Cerrito (Calif.). O'Dowd's last loss was back on Dec. 28 against Mundelein (Il.) at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic.

Modesto Christian is a senior-laden squad led by University of the Pacific signee Raymond Bowles, fellow Pacific commit T.J. Wallace and Zerrion Payton. The Crusaders also have a pair of talented underclassmen in junior Tyras Rattler and freshman Christian Ellis who contribute to Modesto's success on a regular basis. Modesto enters the Open Division playoffs after winning the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship.

No. 7 Newark (Calif.) Memorial (23-7) at No. 2 San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty (26-4) - The No. 6 player in the Rivals150, and one of the top unsigned players in the class of 2013, Aaron Gordon, leads Archbishop Mitty into the Open Division playoffs. Mitty won the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division championship over San Mateo (Calif.) Serra for the fourth straight year. Gordon, who is deciding between Arizona, Kentucky, Washington and Oregon, scored 24 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, dished out eight assists and swatted four shots for the Monarchs in that title game.

Newark defeated Dublin (Calif.), 74-60, in the CIF North Coast Section Division II title game behind senior guard JoJo Zamora and junior Joey Frenchwood, and will look to them to try and stop the explosive Gordon and Mitty.

Northern California Division I Bracket

No. 11 Palo Alto (Calif.) (23-3) at. No. 6 Concord (Calif.) De La Salle (24-4) - Arizona signee Elliott Pitts leads the ever-fundamental De La Salle team into the Division I playoffs after a 51-48 semifinal loss to eventual North Coast Section Division I champion Antioch (Calif.) Deer Valley.

De La Salle's first round opponent, Palo Alto, is led by senior guard Aubrey Dawkins. Dawkins is averaging 19 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season for the Vikings. Dawkins is joined in the back court by fellow senior Aldis Petriceks who is averaging 13 points per game. Palo Alto lost to San Francisco (Calif.) Archbishop Riordan in the first round of the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs.

Devin Ugland
GOAZCATS.com West Coast recruiting analyst

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