Piedmont Hills defeats Freedom for first NorCal victory

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.

The victory was Piedmont Hills' first NorCal win in school history and set a school record for most wins in a season.

Piedmont Hills advances to play Sheldon in the quarterfinals Saturday.

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.

"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."

Alex Aguilar led all scorers with 21 points.

"He's had some big games down the stretch," Simos said. "That's why he's our guy."

J.J. Espanola scored 14 points despite sitting out nearly the entire third quarter with four fouls.

James O'Neal led Freedom (22-8) with 17 points, 12 in the second half. Jelani Hardaway added 10 points.

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

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Piedmont Hills defeats Freedom for first NorCal victory