‘They counted us out’: Granada uses late run to beat Amador Valley, advances to NCS D1 title game

PLEASANTON — The hug came before the horn’s echo had time to settle.

As Amador Valley’s desperation heave clanged off the backboard and skittered harmlessly away, the black and gold mob spilled from the bleachers and onto the hardwood. Water bottles popped. Towels twirled. Granada players disappeared beneath a wave of students while, in the handshake line, two men from Philadelphia — Willis Gardner and Quaran Johnson Sr. — wrapped each other in an embrace that looked more like a family...