It will be a busy Tuesday with three soccer games in the NorCal playoffs and one girls’ basketball game in Chico.
Girls soccer
Six Northern Section Schools made the NorCal regionals, and three earned a first-round home game.
Eastern Athletic League and Division I Northern Section Champion Chico High is home Tuesday night and will face Homestead in the first round of the Division II NorCal Girls soccer playoffs.
The Panthers became the second Northern Section team to earn a Division II seed in the NorCal regional playoffs. Last year, Pleasant Valley made it only to lose in penalty kicks.
This year, the 17-1-1 Panthers enter the playoffs as the fourth seed and will play No. 5 Homestead. (14-5-2) at 5 p.m. The Mustangs hail from Cupertino and have won three consecutive games. The Panthers haven’t lost a game since a 6-1 loss to Rocklin on December 15, going 12-0-1 in the span.
A victory by the Panthers over the Mustangs will set up a second-round game at either No. 1 St Francis. or they could host No. 1 Casa Grande.
The Panthers have won two NorCal Regional Championships.
Pleasant Valley lost to Chico in the Northern Section championship game last Thursday night, 1-0, and is also home on Tuesday night. The No. 3 seed in Division III NorCal Girls, the Vikings (17-2-3), will host Rio Americano. (13-3-2) at 4:30 p.m. at Asgard Yard.
A Vikings victory would mean they would host No.7 Cardinal Newman or play at No. 2 Los Gatios on Thursday. The Vikings have hosted one NorCal championship game, a 5-1 loss to Chico in 2020 before COVID-19.
Live Oak was seeded eighth in the Division IV Norcal playoffs and will play at Marin Catholic. In 2022, Marin Catholic defeated Pleasant Valley 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs but would later lose to Chico High in penalty kicks in the NorCal Regional Final.
The other three northern section teams in the playoffs were seeded in Division V, with University Prep getting the highest seed at No. 4. The Panthers will host Oakland Tech at 5 p.m.
Hamilton High School will be traveling to San Francisco to take on Lowell on Tuesday night.
University Prep will get the Hilmer-Caruthers winner If it wins, while Hamilton will play the winner of Winters- Ripon winner if it wins.
Boys soccer
As with the girls’ side of the bracket, six schools made the NorCal Regional playoffs, but only one will play at home. Eastern Athletic League and Northern Section Division I champion Pleasant Valley is the No. 4 seed in Division III and will be hosting Natomas on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
That game will follow the girls’ playoff game against Rio Americano. The Vikings (15-4-3) haven’t lost since Dec. 20, a 1-0 defeat to Oak Ridge. Natomas hasn’t lost since a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Valley on January 12.
If the Vikings win, they will travel to Newark Memorial or host Everett Alvarez on Thursday night.
Chico High School also was seeded in Division III and was given the number seven seed. They will play at No. 2 Ukiah, and a Panther victory would send them on the road Thursday night at either Hollister or Cardinal Newman.
In Division IV, NorCal play, University Prep was seeded 8th and will play at No. 1 University. The other three Northern California schools were all placed in Division Five.
Gridley got the highest seed at five and will play at No. 4 Summerville (Tuolumne) on Tuesday night. If the Bulldogs win, they will either play at top-seed Stevenson of Pebble Beach or host Esparto on Thursday.
Williams, No. 6, will travel to Oakland to take on No.3 Skyline, while No.7 Winters is at No. 2 Washington of San Francisco.
Girls basketball
Nine schools made the postseason from the northern section, and five got a first-round home game. Pleasant Valley (23-7) is leading the way, earning the No. 3 seed in Division II. They open regional play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against #14 Vista de Lago (23-8) out of Folsom.
A Viking victory would mean they would play.at home on Thursday against No. 6 Buchanan or No. 11 Antelope.
Chico High School also got seeded in Division III and will play at No. 1 Branham of San Jose on Tuesday night. If the Panthers. (21-9), beat 22-3 Branham, it will play at either Monta Vista or Maria Carrillo on Thursday night.
Fellow EAL school Foothill also made the regional and will play in Division IV and will host Menlo School on Tuesday night.
Also in Division IV with Foothill are No. 10 West Valley at No. 7 Diablo, No. 6 University Prep will host No. 11 Riverbank, and No. 12 Colusa at Alisal.
Boys basketball
Ten Northern Section teams made the playoffs, but none of the schools close to Chico will open at home.
Pleasant Valley, coming off a heartbreaking Northern Section championship game loss to Enterprise, will play at No. 4 Ygnacio Valley on Tuesday night to open NorCal Regional Division III play.
If the 22-8 Vikings, the 13th seed, win Tuesday night, they will play Thursday night at either Carmel or Venture Academy out of Stockton.
Enterprise earned the eighth seed and will host West Park on Tuesday.
Durham made the Division V Norcal Regional playoffs and will play at Summit Shasta on Tuesday night. Summit Shasta is out of Daly City and is 22-4 on the year. The Trojans are the No. 12 seed, and a victory would pit them against either International or Bradshaw Christian on Tuesday night.
Other Northern Section teams in the Division V playoffs are No. 8 Mount Shasta, which will host McKinleyville; No. 6 Colusa, which will host Fortune Early College of Sacramento; and No. 10 Orland at No. 7 Futures of Sacramento.
Gridley made the NorCal Division VI playoffs as the No.11 seed and will play at Lincoln of San Francisco on Tuesday night. Also, in Division VI, Foothill. was seeded No. 5 and will host Urban of San Francisco.
