RICHMOND – For the past 10 years, Salesian has dominated its league.
The Pride typically outscore their Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division opponents and have a record of 79-2 within the league because the 2015-16 season.
But on Tuesday, in front of a packed home gym, Salesian engaged in a dog fight with a brand new take a look at St. Mary's-Berkeley. In the tip, the Salesians' defense stepped up greatly within the second half to secure a 64-50 victory and their sixteenth win within the annual Rock game.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Salesian coach Bill Mellis said. “St. Mary's is vastly improved and they play great. We had to play well to win this game.”
Junior guard Isaiah Davis added, “Getting a game like this will help us in the playoffs for sure. There were times when our league wasn’t great, but St. Mary’s made us better.”
Junior guard Elias Obenyah led Salesian with 15 points, 4 rebounds, two assists and three steals. Leon Powe added 11 and 7 rebounds and Alvin Loving and Carlton Perrilliat added nine points each. Davis did all of the little things for Salesian within the second half, totaling five rebounds, 4 assists and one steal.
Despite the loss, first-year St. Mary's coach Marshall Collins said he was happy with the best way his team fought until the tip.
“My guys just played hard,” he said. “Last year they lost by almost 50 points. … I'm proud of her. My team is young. I have six sophomores playing big minutes.
“I want NorCal to know we are here. We are the little stepchild in the corner that no one knows about. We come.”
The two teams played roughly evenly in the first half.
In the second quarter, Salesian looked like it was going to have a big win, as the Pride opened the period with a 9-2 run, capped by a steal-and-score from Obenyah. But after a timeout, St. Mary's, fueled by a persistent full-court press, went on a 9-0 run of their own to tie the game at 26.
At halftime, Salesian led 32-30.
After a fiery halftime speech from Mellis, Salesian appeared to focus more on defense. The Pride held the Panthers to just nine points in the third quarter. Turning up the heat on defense led to Salesian making easy shots on offense.
A transition 3-pointer from Powe increased Salesian's lead to 10 with just under three minutes left in the third period. Powe then ended the quarter with a Salesian steal, giving the Pride a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Salesian totaled 15 steals as a team.
St. Mary's cut the lead to 12 points in the final period, but Salesian's defense proved too strong and the Pride cruised to a double-digit victory.
“I think competing with a team like this boosts our confidence,” St. Mary’s senior point guard Jaden Jones said. “We will play them later in the season and we know we can compete with them.”
Jones totaled 10 points, four rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Donovan Mikel scored 15 points to go and seven rebounds. Junior CJ Baltrip contributed eight points.
Basketball for boys
No. 6 Moreau Catholic 82, Mission San Jose 40
Kellen Hampton exploded for 30 points as the Mariners dominated Mission San Jose at home.
Dominic Walker 14 points added and Isaiah Clendin had nine for Moreau (10-2, 3-0).
Darsh Jayaram had 14 points to lead Mission San Jose, which fell to 9-6, 2-1.
No. 14 California 71, Alhambra 47
Brayde Kuykendall scored a team-high 13 points and Emeka Ifediora And Sankar siblings each had 13 to lead California to a stunning road win over Alhambra.
Torrance Avery, Jaimison Krause And Vincent Taylor each had 10 points for Alhambra, which fell to 7-5.
California finished the nonleague portion of its schedule with a 15-2 record and travels to Amador Valley to open East Bay Athletic League play on Friday.
No. 18 Liberty 65, Freedom 50
Liberty picked up its third league win of the year with a 19-point deficit from the standout sophomore Jaiden Miller.
Junior guard Dante Vigil 16 points added and Mekhi Reed had 12 points for Liberty. Arek Andrada Freedom led with 12 points.
Liberty (13-2, 3-0) is scheduled to play Weston Ranch on Thursday. Freedom, which fell to 3-12, 0-3, hosts Pittsburg on Friday.
Head-Royce 84, Athenian 60
In a matchup in last season's North Coast Section Division V title game, Head-Royce prevailed again.
Commander-in-Chief of the Royce Guard Micha is lifted up had 22 points and five rebounds. Nick Taubes added 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting and Mikael Akpala scored 12 points.
The Jayhawks won their first league game of the season and improved to 7-7 with a match against College Prep on Thursday. Athenian fell to 6-5 and will travel to St. Joseph Notre Dame on Thursday.
Buzzer racket for boys
Senior security guard Additional Kays scored a total of 23 points and led James Logan (3-11, 0-2) to a 63-56 upset win over American (6-8, 0-2) in overtime. … Foothill narrowly edged Heritage at home, 70-69. senior Vedant Mehta Foothill led with 20 points. Jace Bernard And Brady Lockrem each had 18 points for Heritage. … Monte Vista remained undefeated at home, defeating Berkeley 65-50. Collin Ellis had 20 points and Max Nishikawa And Ian Desai each had 12 points.
Basketball for girls
#4 San Ramon Valley 79, Alameda 47
Ella Gunderson had 23 points, five rebounds and five assists in SRV's blowout road win over Alameda.
Junior Alyssa Rudd added 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Kaitlyn Mills had 12 points and seven assists and Hania Bowes scored 11 points.
SRV (11-2) is scheduled to travel to Dougherty Valley for its first league game on Friday.
Mia Borja Alameda had a team-high 11 points, falling to 8-5.
#7 Piedmont 60, #17 California 55
Piedmont picked up another win, defeating California at home for the second time this season.
Freshmen Andrea Martin scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed six rebounds for Piedmont. Freshmen Jenelle Solis totaled 18 points, eight assists and three steals. senior Briana Webb did it all by scoring 14 points, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out three assists and totaling two steals.
California security guard Lauren Yee Despite the loss, she had a great shooting night as she had 21 points and made five 3-pointers.
Piedmont improved to 11-1 and will begin league play against San Leandro on Thursday. California fell to 7-6 and begins league play Friday against Amador Valley.
Freedom 50, Freedom 45
Freedom picked up its third league win of the season, defeating Liberty at home by five.
Eve Monzon had a team-high 14 points for Freedom. Freedom Guard Shyanne Smith had a game-high 16 points.
Freedom improved to 12-5, 3-0 and is scheduled to play at Pittsburg on Friday. Liberty fell to 6-8, 1-2 and travels to Piedmont on Saturday.
Washington-Fremont 46, Kennedy-Fremont 22
The Huskies didn't allow more than six points in a quarter as they defeated league opponent Kennedy by 24 points.
Washington's Mikaela Dumagan led all scorers with 17 points. Chloe Buchner had eight points for Kennedy.
Kennedy is now 5-4, 1-2 and will play at Newark Memorial on Thursday. Washington will enter Thursday's game against Moreau with a record of 10-3, 2-1.
San Leandro 40, Hayward 29
senior Ravyn Martin Had 18 points in San Leandro's 40-29 win over Hayward.
Elianna Sega scored 11 points for Hayward, which fell to 2-11. San Leandro improved to 8-3.
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