Battle-Tested Las Positas Set For Regional Final Off Upset Win

For all the big wins he’s experienced as head coach at Las Positas College, James Giacomazzi will surely consider Saturday night’s triumph over Yuba among the most satisfying.

Here it was, a pivotal road playoff contest in a hostile environment against a talented team that was unbeaten at home. But guess what happened, the road dog barked. Loudly. The No. 13-seeded Hawks held off a late No. 4 Yuba push to seal the upset, 79-74, and advance to the CCCAA Northern Regional finals.

Yuba had won 20 in a row. It was a heavy lift for the Hawks, who got a big effort off the bench from Henry Palmer (14 points) and 18 points and seven boards from Isaiah Victor. Jalen Patterson had a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. They found a way.

“We were in a situation where even the kids said it, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got nothing to lose. Let’s go out and play our butts off and see what happens,” and now we know what happens. It was a great game all the way around,” Giacomazzi said. “It got real exciting at the end, maybe too exciting.”

Next comes another major road test at No. 5 West Valley (25-4) of the Coast-South, when Las Positas (19-11) will attempt to avenge a 94-89 loss in overtime on Dec. 7. Hawks star Jordahn Johnson had a massive double-double in the close defeat with a season-high 33 points (13-17 FG), 11 rebounds and three blocks.

The Hawks are a win away from advancing to the eight-team CCCAA State Tournament for the second straight year, and the second time ever. Las Positas’ district sister school Chabot, seeded seventh, is also heading to the South Bay for a Regional final against No. 2 San Jose on Saturday. It would be something special if both local squads advanced to the State Elite Eight.

“I mean Holy Cow, maybe you have an opportunity for the sister schools to be together in the Final Eight, right? That would be pretty amazing. It hasn’t happened before, so why not now? Giacomazzi said.

Clearly the Hawks are battle-tested. They tied for third in powerful Coast-North Conference and bested upset-minded Diablo Valley 84-79 in the first round of the playoffs.

Johnson had eight points and 11 rebounds against Yuba while battling an ache.

“Jordahn kind of gutted through the game; his ankle was kind of bothering him,” Giacomazzi said. “We checked him (Monday) and it’s actually much better than it was even on Saturday. So he was kind of hobbled a little bit, but he fought through and almost had a double-double even still against a really good player in RJ Smith who they have inside, and he’s a big guy. They had three of them, three big guys, so I thought he did a great job.”

The Hawks also got a lift from Nay’Veon Reed (7 points, 3 rebounds), a freshman forward out of Newark Memorial High, who did not play against Diablo Valley. Reed (ankle) was hobbled going into the playoffs, but was “ready to go (against Yuba) and I thought he played great,” Giacomazzi said.

Looking ahead, Giacomazzi describes West Valley as “another familiar opponent.”

Interestingly, Giacomazzi and Vikings head coach Danny Yoshikawa have a lengthy history.

“Coach Yoshikawa and I go way back, even as players when I played at San Jose City College and he played at West Valley, even as competing athletes, so it goes back that far to the ‘90s,” Giacomazzi said. “I have a lot of respect for him and his program. He’s got good players, real good players and a good team.”

West Valley’s only losses this season have come to North No. 1 seed CCSF by a point, South No. 3 seed East Los Angeles and North No. 2 San Jose City (twice).

“It’s like Holy Cow! They didn’t lose to anybody that’s not going for a State Championship run,” Giacomazzi said. “They’re very good. We are familiar with their personnel and their style of play, so now it’s a matter of execution and who’s gonna make plays. It should be another good one.”

The Hawks look at playing in the Coast-North is like having a playoff game every night, so even though they may have stubbed their toe a bit in conference play, the level was high overall. The 13th seed is deceiving. Overlook them at your peril.

“All you need to do is get hot at the right time,” the coach said.