PREP ROUNDUP: Live Oak boys edge Colusa in first-round victory

Senior Romario Acosta scored a game-high 23 points to help propel the No. 5-seeded Live Oak High boys basketball team past No. 12 Colusa, 63-58, in the opening round of the Northern Section Division IV playoffs at Ron Pritchard Gym.

Aaron Pamma added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Gurbeer Kooner finished with 15 points of his own for Live Oak (17-5), which will head up Highway 99 to play rival, No. 4-seeded Gridley on Friday at Farmer's Hall.

Destin Smith scored 21 points and R.J Phillips had 15 to lead the way for Colusa (12-14).

Wheatland 62, Lassen 55

In Wheatland — Taylor Balogi dropped in a team-high 21 points and the No. 6-seeded Pirates booked a date for the second round with a victory over the No. 11 Grizzlies in a Northern Section Division IV playoff opener.

Jackson Hopking finished with 10 points and a season-high nine rebounds, and Josh Crawley had 10 points for Wheatland (16-10), which will travel to No. 3 Central Valley on Friday.

Sutter 65, Yreka 61, OT

In Sutter — Garrett Stevenson hit seven 3-pointers en route to a game-high 29 points, and the No. 7-seeded Huskies slipped past No. 10 Yreka in overtime to earn a victory in the opening round of the Northern Section Division IV playoffs.

Stevenson hit five of his 3s in the second half for Sutter (16-10), which broke open a 59-59 tie in regulation and outscored the Miners 6-2 in the overtime period. Brandon Chambers added 13 points in the win.

The Huskies will travel to top-seeded Orland in the second round on Friday.

Pierce 49, Los Molinos 43

In Arbuckle — Andy Corona scored 18 points and Hayden Kalfsbeek added 16 more to lead the No. 5-seeded Bears to a victory in the opening round of the Northern Section Division V playoffs.

Oscar Dorantes finished with nine points for Pierce (18-6).

Portola 65, East Nicolaus 61

In Portola — Ty Shill connected on five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points, but the No. 10-seeded Spartans saw their season come to a close with a narrow loss to the No. 7 Tigers in the first round of the Northern Section Division V playoffs

Dylan Thornsberry had 15 points on four 3-pointers, Drew Orr scored 10 points before injuring his ankle and Adam Driver pulled down 12 rebounds for East Nicolaus, which ended the year with a 9-15 record.

Weston Ranch 70, River Valley 43

In Stockton — Stuart Bradley recorded 16 points and five rebounds, but the No. 13-seeded Falcons were eliminated by No. 4 Weston Ranch in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.

River Valley trailed by 24 points in the third period before going on a run to cut the deficit 10 with 5 minutes remaining. The comeback wasn't to be, however, as the Cougars went on a late tear to finally pull away for good.

"They were pretty strong inside and out," River Valley coach Brad McIntire said. "We just ran out of energy at the end and couldn't bounce back."

Josh Dhatt finished with 13 points and Jordan Noall had six points and five rebounds for the Falcons, who ended the season 16-12 while reaching the postseason for the first time in program history.

Victory Christian 45, New Life Christian 44

In Olivehurst — After leading the entire game, the No. 2-seeded Crusaders were thwarted by a last-second layup in a heartbreaking loss to the defending champion Vikings in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoffs.

Thomas Marquette scored 13 points, Lovedeep Singh had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Sullivan Guy added nine points and seven rebounds for New Life, which finished the season with a 20-9 record while winning the Northern Pacific Athletic Conference title.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Lassen 66, Colusa 23

In Susanville — The RedHawks saw their season come to an end in the first round of the Northern Section Division IV playoffs.

Colusa ended its season with a 14-12 overall record. No stats were reported by Colusa.

SOFTBALL

Live Oak 11, Orland 0

In Orland — Clarissa Herrera went 3 for 4 with an RBI and Jacque Mullen clubbed a three-run triple to help propel the Lions to a five-inning victory over the Trojans in their season opener.

Suzy Arredondo went 2 for 3 and Amber Burgess drove in a pair of runs for Live Oak.