For the fourth year in a row, the road to the 3C2A Men's Basketball Championship tournament goes through Saratoga. Defending champion and 2nd-seeded West Valley opens the 2025 NorCal regionals against #18 Sierra at Bob Burton Court Saturday at 7:00pm. While this is the first playoff appearance for Sierra since 2017, this 2025 squad is a different breed of Wolverine.

The Wolverines (15-14) posted an impressive 79-77 road win at #15 Shasta in the opening round of the playoffs Wednesday. Sierra held a 42-29 halftime lead and then hung on for a tense two-point victory. They finished fourth in a highly-competitive Big 8 Conference that sent four teams to NorCals.

West Valley, on the other hand, recorded its second-consecutive 12-0 mark to capture the Coast-South title by two games over rival San Jose City. The combined Coast-South/Coast-North boasts seven playoff squads, six of which are still playing. The Vikings were the fifth team in 3C2A history to go undefeated when they won the 2024 championship with a 33-0 record. They are 6-0 in NorCal playoff contests, all at home, since 2022.

Coast-South MVP Jake Davis leads WVC scorers with 14.5 PPG, along with 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, a team-high 1.6 steals and a 50% three-point shooting average. Coast-South 1st-teamer Robel Zemmo was arguably the sixth man of the year, averaging 11.2 points and nearly two assists. Caleb Asante, an Coast-South 2nd-team selection and member of the All-Freshman squad, shot a team-high 66%, averaged 11.3 PPG and pulled down a team-high 5.2 boards per game. CJ Willenborg, a Coast-South Honorable Mention selection and All-Freshman teamer, is a deadly three-point shooter and was second in scoring at 11.9 PPG.

Aaron Biebel, the Coast-South Defensive Player of the Year, helped the Vikings outscore opponents an average of 79.8 to 61.1 (85.0 to 56.8 in conference action). WVC outrebounded opponents 38.2 to 24.1 (40.8 to 21.7 in the Coast-South) and held a 17.4 to 8-9 assist advantage. Viking post player Moulaye Soumare joined Biebel on the All-Defensive Team and shot 50.9% and averaged 4.5 rebounds. The Vikings shot 48.2% as a team, 40.7 from long range.

All-Big 8 guard Garret Dutro paced the Wolverines with 19.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 1.6 steals per game. Dutro is a scorer, rebounder and defender who can lead the fast break. Fellow All-Big 8 forward Dontrell Johnson is a force in the paint who seems to be everywhere. The 6-5 first-year player averaged 15.3 PPG and 6.3 RPG. Luka Popovic hands out a team-high 3.3 assists. The Wolverines outscored opposition 71.1 to 67.1, whil holding a narrow 35.2 to 34.5 rebounding advantage. They shot 42.5% as a team, 34.5% from beyond the arc.

These teams are not unfamiliar with each other. On Dec. 19, West Valley held off Sierra 70-64 at the Tristan Hill Tournament at San Joaquin Delta College. Asante and Davis led WVC with 17 points each, while Dutro paced the Wolverines with 20.

The winner of Saturday's game faces the winner of the semifinal between #10 Feather River (18-10) and 7th-seeded Skyline (22-6) in a NorCal final slated for March 8.