Serra grabs top seed in CCS

The Central Coast Section Division I championship will run through San Mateo – at least on Saturday.

Serra was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the newly released brackets, which were announced on Monday night. The Padres (23-6), the West Catholic Athletic Conference regular season champions, will face No. 8 Palma at 1 p.m. on Saturday in San Mateo.

"I'm proud of our team for earning the No. 1 seed," said Padres coach Mat Keplinger. "We don't know a ton about Palma, aside from them being well-coached and they have a really good arm."

Then again, he said, there are never any easy outs in the CCS tournament.

"All opponents are quality at this point," Keplinger said. "We're happy to still be playing and playing at home."

The Division I bracket features five WCAL teams, including No. 2 Valley Christian, No. 4 St. Ignatius Prep, No. 5 Saint Francis and No. 6 Bellarmine, which shocked the Peninsula last week by winning three straight road wins to capture the WCAL tournament.

That win probably knocked Menlo-Atherton – a 20-win league winner in the PAL Bay Division, an A league, according to the CCS – to the Division II bracket.

"That's 100 percent what happened," said Bears coach Jordan Paroubeck. "It looked like four WCAL teams would be in. Since they took co-champs, that bumped (Bellarmine) up. ... We're shocked we're not in DI. I wanted DI, but we're set up for success in D2."

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the seeding announcement was Sacred Heart Cathedral (12-16) getting the No. 6 seed in Division II. The Irish, along with Mitty will battle the likes of Capuchino and Menlo-Atherton in a Division II bracket that figures to be highly competitive.

"We're grateful for the opportunity to play another day," said Sacred Heart coach Gregg Franceschi. "We knew it would be tight with only even at-large bids available, and to be paired up with a quality team like Hollister is exciting."

In all, seven of the eight WCAL schools were seeded in the top two Divisions. Riordan is the only WCAL school not to hear its name called on Monday.

The Division III bracket features No. 2 Sequoia, which will open with a Los Altos squad that had won 19 games this year, including an early-season victory at Saint Francis.

"Los Altos is a very good team so we'll need to play our best," said Sequoia coach Mike Doyle. "But overall, we're happy to be where we are."

If the Ravens (15-12) can survive that first round, there is a chance they'd play The King's Academy, a six seed, in the semifinals. King's and Sequoia tied for third with Carlmont in the PAL Bay Division and split their two league games.

Carlmont (13-14) grabbed the top seed in the Division IV bracket, which also features No. 7 Hillsdale. Meanwhile, Menlo School, the PAL Ocean Division champion, is the No. 1 seed in Division V and could face second-place Terra Nova, the No. 4 seed in the second round.

Terra Nova went the entire season without playing a game in Pacifica. It did host a senior day last week at Westmoor High, the closest thing to a home diamond because its field is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation. It will host Piedmont Hills at Westmoor on Saturday.

"We're certainly excited to host," said Terra Nova coach Jared Milch. "Piedmont Hills looks like they had a great season as well, so it should be a competitive game."

Here are the complete brackets. All first-round games will be played on Saturday.

Division I: No. 6 Bellarmine (17-13) at No. 3 Los Gatos (23-4), 1 p.m.; No. 7 Soquel (25-1) at No. 2 Valley Christian (23-6-1), noon; No. 5 Saint Francis (19-9) at No. 4 St. Ignatius Prep (17-9-2), 3 p.m.; No. 8 Palma (21-6) at No. 1 Serra (23-6), 1 p.m.

Division II: No. 6 Sacred Heart Cathedral (12-16) at No. 3 Hollister (18-8), 4 p.m.; No. 7 Pioneer (14-16) at No. 2 Menlo-Atherton (20-7), 1 p.m.; No. 5 Wilcox (19-8) at No. 4 Mitty (13-14), 3 p.m.; No. 8 Capuchino (17-10) at No. 1 Leigh (21-6), noon.

Division III: No. 6 The King's Academy (13-11) at No. 3 Willio Glen (21-6), 4 p.m.; No. 7 Los Altos (19-8) at No. 2 Sequoia (15-12), 1 p.m.; No. 5 Christpher (15-10) at No. 4 Palo Alto (14-13), noon; No. 8 Santa Cruz (15-11) at No. 1 Carmel (17-10), noon.

Division IV: No. 6 Homestead (12-15) at No. 3 Scotts Valley (12-15), 1 p.m.; No. 7 Hillsdale (12-13) at No. 2 St. Francis SCP (13-14), 3 p.m.; No. 5 Branham (13-10) at No. 4 Mountain View (16-11), 11 a.m.; No. 8 Santa Clara (24-3) at No. 1 Carlmont (13-14), 11 a.m.

Division V: No. 6 Santa Teresa (10-15) at No. 3 Harbor (15-12), 1 p.m.; No. 7 Lincoln (22-5) at No. 2 Monterey (9-17), 1 p.m.; No. 5 Piedmont Hills (18-9) vs. No. 4 Terra Nova (18-6-1) at Westmoor High, 1 p.m.; No. 8 Soledad (10-16) at No. 1 Menlo School (18-8), 2 p.m.

Division VI: No. 6 Fremont (21-7) at No. 3 Monte Vista Christian (21-4); No. 7 North Salinas (19-5) at No. 2 South San Francisco (21-5), 1 p.m.; No. 5 Thomas More (18-9) at No. 4 Sobrato (19-6), 11 a.m.; No. 8 Design Tech (13-8) at No. 1 Stevenson (16-8).