Piedmont Hills went a step further Wednesday night than any previous boys basketball team in school history. The Pirates (28-3) beat Freedom 56-47 in the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation Northern regional Division I playoffs. <\/p>\n
The victory was Piedmont Hills' first NorCal win in school history and set a school record for most wins in a season. <\/p>\n
Piedmont Hills advances to play Sheldon in the quarterfinals Saturday. <\/p>\n
The Pirates got rid of any bad taste that might have lingered from a 45-30 loss Saturday to Bellarmine in the Central Coast Section final. <\/p>\n
\"The Bellarmine game was much more physical,\" Piedmont Hills coach Pete Simos said. \"Freedom plays more of an open-court game. That allowed us to get in more of a groove offensively.\" <\/p>\n
Alex Aguilar led all scorers with 21 points. <\/p>\n
\"He's had some big games down the stretch,\" Simos said. \"That's why he's our guy.\" <\/p>\n
J.J. Espanola scored 14 points despite sitting out nearly the entire third quarter with four fouls. <\/p>\n
James O'Neal led Freedom (22-8) with 17 points, 12 in the second half. Jelani Hardaway added 10 points. <\/p>\n
Freedom closed the first quarter on a 14-1 run to turn a 9-2 deficit into a 15-10 lead. But Piedmont Hills scored the first 11 points of the second quarter, and Freedom never regained the lead. The combination of Piedmont Hills switching defenses from man to zone and a tightly-called game by the officials seemed to take Freedom <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nPiedmont Hills defeats Freedom for first NorCal victory<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"