Back again: Archbishop Mitty takes down SRV to reach sixth consecutive NorCal Open Division championship game
SAN JOSE — Archbishop Mitty is very used to reaching CIF NorCal Open Division championship games.
The Monarchs won’t have to change that up at all after a comfortable 74-46 win over San Ramon Valley in the NorCal Open semifinals, giving Mitty its sixth consecutive berth in the Open title game.
You could almost say it seems preordained at this point – Mitty in the Open championship. Just don’t say that within earshot of coach Sue Phillips.
“Never get used to it,” Phillips said. “No, never. It’s a tremendous accomplishment knowing the gauntlet of the Open Division to be in the game again for several years now, and it’s just a testament to the work.
“I told someone this the other day. We work 11 months out of the year for these two weeks. And it’s truly a fact that we are stacking days way back when. So I feel like the hay is in the barn at this point. And fortunately, we have laid a tremendous foundation of work and terrific competitive habits.”
SRV (26-5) has been the consensus second-best team in the Bay Area all season long, and the Wolves were looking forward to testing themselves against the best.
They aren’t good enough to match up with Mitty right now. But SRV coach John Cristiano thinks this game will serve as a pivotal learning experience for his up-and-coming squad.
“At the beginning of the season, it was one of our goals on our goal board,” Cristiano said. “It was 30 games, 25 wins, league championship, NCS Open Championship, and then state against Mitty. We were hoping it would be in the championship game. But this team, everybody will come back but one. And we got some new kids coming in, and the kids that we got are just going to get better. I’m excited about next year.”
The future is very much now for Mitty (27-2), which is one win away from reaching the CIF Open Division championship game for the fifth consecutive year.
With a loaded senior class that includes five-star Iowa signee McKenna Woliczko and fellow future Division I players Devin Cosgriff and Emma Cook, the Monarchs’ window is wide open this year.
But it won’t stay that way much longer.
“I don’t think it’s really clicked in with all of us yet that the next game is never guaranteed,” said Woliczko, who led all scorers with 22 points. “It’s one and done. So once that happens, once we get to hopefully state, then I think it’ll finally click with us. But we’re gonna try not to worry about it.”
In the meantime, Woliczko got a chance to match up with a player that many think could follow in her footsteps to some degree – SRV freshman forward Presley Uchikura.
The 6-foot-1 freshman is already on the national radar in the 2029 class and has looked up to Woliczko for years. On Saturday, she got her first – and maybe only – chance to compete against her.
Though Woliczko is clearly the superior player at this point, Uchikura showed some skill and promising signs of growth, blocking Woliczko’s shot at one point and fearlessly driving at her on the way to the rim multiple times.
“It was great,” Uchikura said. “I feel like I learned so much playing against her. The way that she moves, the way that she is with everybody and her team. There’s a lot that I feel like I could work on. It was definitely exciting. It was a great way to go out.”
Cristiano has seen the comparison coming. He thinks this opportunity will serve Uchikura well over the next three years.
“Presley was at the game where McKenna injured herself, and she talked about it for a month,” Cristiano said. “Like, ‘Oh my god, I was so upset she hurt herself. That’s my favorite player. I just love her. Blah, blah, blah.’ So I hope she and McKenna had a chance to say hello and meet. Because I see a lot of McKenna in Presley, and Presley is going to work so hard. And next year, you’ll see her go from here to (another level).”
You can count Woliczko among those who were impressed. She even tried recruiting Uchikura to her AAU team.
“She seems like a great girl,” Woliczko said. “Hopefully she’ll play for Team Kidd this coming season. But yeah, she’s super nice and she’s a great athlete.”
Mitty will face Clovis West for the NorCal Open championship on Tuesday in San Jose. The Monarchs also got 15 points from Maliya Hunter and 12 from Tiera McCarthy.
Ella Gunderson had 16 to lead SRV, and Hania Bowes added 11. Senior San Jose State signee Alyssa Rudd scored nine in her final high school game.
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