Piedmont beats Urban, 55-46
The Piedmont High School boys basketball team opened the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs on Feb. 18 with a 55-46 win over Urban-San Francisco at Binks Gymnasium.
The fourth-seeded Highlanders advanced to the second round, where they will host No. 5 Albany on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
Piedmont won its fifth consecutive game, a winning streak that started with a win over Bishop O’Dowd.
“We are playing the best basketball that we’ve played as a team,” P.J. Brayer said. “We started that after beating O’Dowd and took off from there. We beat Berkeley and Alameda and now we’re here.”
Said Highlanders coach Ben Spencer, “The first (playoff win) is always the toughest. The most butterflies and whatnot. I thought we played extremely well the first half. We were kind of rolling, on pace for 75-80 points and then they went to that funky 2-3 matchup zone. That slowed the pace down and we didn’t have a really good answer for getting the ball in the middle and getting open looks.”
Piedmont got the lead in the early going and built it to 32-15 by the middle of the second quarter. Brayer and Dillon Casey had 11 points apiece in the first half.
But that zone gummed up the works and the Blues finished the half on an 11-2 run to cut it to 34-26 at the half.
On the other end, Mawa Silvestro scored 12 of his 19 points in the second quarter to help Urban mount the comeback. Silvestro had been a focus for the Highlanders defense.
Piedmont’s Dillon Casey runs the offense. The Highlanders defeated Urban, 55-46 in an NCS Division 2 playoff game at Binks Gymnasium. 
P.J. Brayer (white, 24) defends Urban’s Mawa Silvestro (black, 24). The Highlanders won to advance to the second round.
“Our scouting report was stop (Silvestro),” Casey said. “And let the rest of the team beat us.”
Said Brayer, “(He) is a collegiate basketball player. You can see on film that everything ran through him. Going towards the hoop, being aggressive and trying to kick it out. He’s a good player. I feel we made him make some tough shots.”
Piedmont maintained the lead throughout the second half but Urban was able to cut the margin to 50-46 late. Lucian Fang Ring hit a huge 3-pointer to stretch it back out to seven. The Highlanders defense was able to hold in the end and the team advanced.
Beach Lorin led Piedmont with 16 points. Brayer finished with 13 to go along with nine rebounds. Casey was shut out in the second half and ended up with 11 points and five rebounds. Fang Ring had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
It was a clean game with the Highlanders finishing with nine turnovers and the Blues ending up with eight. Piedmont was 21 of 34 shooting from the floor, eight of 13 from 3-point range. Urban was 14 of 27 from 2-point range but just four of 18 from 3-point.
Cash Panico (23) guards Urban’s Kai Maufe (13) during the Highlanders NCS Division 2 playoff win on Feb. 18 at Binks Gymnasium. 
Dillon Casey (12) checks on the ball while guarding Urban’s Tayo Jones (3).
The Highlanders are now 19-8 on the year. The Blues finished 15-12.
In the regular season finale on February 13, Piedmont defeated host Castro Valley, 64-46. Casey and Lorin each scored 17 points to lead the way. Fang Ring and Brayer each scored 13 points.
Zander Harris led the Trojans with 15 points. Krishawn McGee had 12 and Maadhesh Senthil added 10.