From Philly to the East Bay: Granada, Amador Valley coaches set to battle for NCS title game spot

PLEASANTON — On Tuesday night, the Amador Valley’s sideline won’t just be a strip of hardwood dividing two benches. 

It will be a fault line stretching from Philadelphia to the deep East Bay. 

Long before they were diagramming out-of-bounds plays and breaking down defensive coverages, Amador Valley coach Willis Gardner and Granada coach Quaran “Q” Johnson Sr. were just two hoop heads sharing a gym and a dream.

Gardner, a few years older, first met Johnson when the longtime...