Branham rallies to beat Bellarmine in Open semi

CCS boys

For the second game in a row, Branham advanced in the Central Coast Section Open Division boys soccer playoffs when one of its players had a hat trick.

Tuesday, Jesus Garcia scored three times as the top-seeded Bruins, playing at home in San Jose, overcame a one-goal halftime deficit to beat Bellarmine 4-3 in the semifinals.

Branham advanced to play Watsonville in the final Friday night at Del Mar High School.

Jack Werle scored twice and Kavi Krishnan had one goal for Bellarmine, which led 2-1 at halftime.

Garcia scored twice and Eli Derazizyan scored once in the second half for Branham as the Bruins came back to improve to 18-1-3.

Bellarmine fell to 10-3-9.

In the quarterfinals, Ian Hutt had a hat track to lead Branham past Serra 3-1 in overtime.

CCS girls

There will be no rematch of last season’s CCS Open Division girls final as defending champion Archbishop Mitty and runner-up Leigh lost semifinal matches Tuesday.

Second-seeded St. Francis defeated No. 6 seed Mitty 2-1 and top-seeded Mountain View blanked No. 4 seed Leigh 2-0.

Karena Shah and Allie Montoya scored for Mountain View, with Isabella Walker assisting on each goal.

Sophia Sasaki also stood out for the Spartans in goal.

Mountain View will play St. Francis for the title on Friday at Del Mar.

Boys soccer

Open Division

Tuesday’s semifinals

No. 2 Watsonville 1, No. 3 St. Francis 0

No. 1 Branham 4, No. 5 Bellarmine 3

Friday’s final

No. 1 Branham (18-1-3) vs. No. 2 Watsonville (15-4-1), Del Mar High School, 7:30 p.m. 

Division I

Wednesday’s semifinals

No. 6 Alisal (15-3-2) at No. 2 North Salinas (13-4-2), 3 p.m.

No. 4 Wilcox (13-4-2) at No. 1 Aragon (10-4-5), 4:30 p.m.

Division II

Wednesday’s semifinals

No. 6 Menlo Atherton (7-6-4) at No. 2 Mountain View (12-4-4), 7 p.m.

No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep (12-5-2) at  No. 1 Hillsdale (14-5-1), 4:30 p.m.

Division III

Wednesday’s semifinals

No. 6 Leigh (10-4-5) at No. 2 Archbishop Mitty (7-5-9), 3 p.m.

No. 8 Woodside (10-7-2) at No. 5 Prospect (12-6-1), 7 p.m.

Division IV

Wednesday’s semifinals

No. 3 Seaside (14-2-4) at No. 2 Sequoia (8-5-6), 4:30 p.m

No. 5 Summit Prep (14-3-0) at No. 1 King City (14-4-1), 3 p.m.

Girls soccer

Open Division

Tuesday’s semifinals

No. 2 St. Francis 2, No. 6 Archbishop Mitty 1

No. 1 Mountain View 2, No. 4 Leigh 0

Friday’s final

No. 2 St. Francis (14-0-5) vs. No. 1 Mountain View (20-0-1), Del Mar High School, 5 p.m.