GRR: Danville
The Danville Oaks and Granite Bay Grizzlies faced off Saturday in a meeting of the top two HS club teams in Northern California last season.
Granite Bay was coming off a tight loss to Jesuit, while Danville had already lost to the Solo Falcons, so both teams had something to prove.
It was a close game all the way, played at a furious tempo.
Both Danville and Bishop O’Dowd headed into their Northern California Girls HS bout coming off large wins, and with an eye toward being top in the Bay Conference.
Previously, Danville notched a 68-0 win over Clayton Valley, and Bishop O’Dowd took home a 52-17 victory against the Crusaders. Danville was favored, but in the end Bishop O’Dowd put up more of a fight than expected.
The Danville Oaks kicked off their Northern California Varsity Premier season with a 60-12 defeat of Mother Lode.
Danville loose forward Nate Becker is off to Australia soon as part of a program initiated by NorCal Youth Rugby.
After a couple years of coming close, Danville has its first Northern California girls high school title. But it wasn’t easy. Sacramento, despite its ups and downs this season, was ready to defend its territory, but ultimately the Lady Oaks, in their third year of existence, prevailed 41-38.