Las Positas Ready To Host Diablo Valley In NorCal Playoffs

LIVERMORE — Las Positas College men’s basketball coach James Giacomazzi knows his team will have its hands full when it hosts Diablo Valley College Wednesday night to open the CCCAA NorCal Regional Playoffs at The Nest.

The 13th-seeded Hawks (17-11) and No. 20 Vikings (18-10) will tip off at 7 p.m. for the right to face No. 4 Yuba (26-2) in the second round.

“They’re a very good team and a connected team and they’re really dangerous because they shoot the ball so well,” Giacomazzi said of the Vikings. “They know their roles, they play hard, play together and finished with a pretty good record in conference play, so I’m sure they’re feeling pretty confident, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Indeed, Tony Costello Court should be jumping for the contest, with two highly competitive teams, a DJ bringing the beat, a play-by-play announcer live streaming the game on NorCal Sports TV, and an air of excitement that always comes with playoff basketball.

Diablo Valley, which finished second in the Big Eight and has won six of its past seven, bested Las Positas 84-75 on Dec. 9 in a nonconference game in Livermore.

The Hawks boast three First-Team All-Coast North Conference selections, topped by Jordahn Johnson, a repeat pick who led the conference in scoring (18.6 ppg) and rebounding (11.7 rpg) despite being the focal point of opponents. Also making the First Team were Isaiah Victor and deft distributor Jalen Patterson.

Victor is averaging 16.4 ppg and 3.0 RPG while shooting 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from 3-point range. Patterson led the conference in assists (2nd in state) at 7.0 apg, all while scoring 15.4 ppg, averaging 3.9 rebounds, and shooting 35.2 percent from 3. Johnson, Victor and Patterson logged a lot of minutes and “had to carry a lot of the weight for our team while trying to be successful,” Giacomazzi says.

Last year, Las Positas finished second in the Coast-North Conference with its best conference mark of 12-2 and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time, earning its best overall record of 27-4. The Hawks were ranked as high as No. 3 in the state.

This season due to injuries and a few bumps in the road down the stretch in a demanding conference, Las Positas finished in a three-way tie for third with a 7-7 record, along with Ohlone and Foothill. NorCal No. 1 seed City College of San Francisco and No. 7 seed Chabot finished one-two in the conference, both at 13-1.

How tough is the Coast-North? Consider that seven out of its eight teams made the playoffs — the most of any conference. College of San Mateo entered conference play with a 10-4 record and wound up in seventh place.

“When you look at conference strength and ours is No. 1 by far in Northern California and one of the top in the whole state, you have to play well every night or you’re going to lose,” Giacomazzi says. “Not only do you have to have players, not only do you got to be talented and good, but if you don’t play well you’re gonna lose.”

Thus, that makes the play of CCSF and Chabot even more impressive.

“It’s really hard to do what Chabot and San Francisco did this year. Our hats are off to those two programs for the success they had in this conference because it’s not easy,” Giacomazzi said.

Since being hired at Las Positas, Giacomazzi has guided teams to the Regional playoffs in seven straight seasons, not counting 2020-21 which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before his time at LPC, Giacomazzi also enjoyed success at Cosumnes River, where he was Big 8 Coach of the Year twice and won two conference titles, among other accomplishments.