UConn-bound guard doing it all for Salesian
There couldn’t be a better high school basketball tournament in the state, SalesianRichmond boys basketball coach Bill Mellis said. Especially when you win it. The Chronicle’s top-ranked team won three games at last week’s 64th Gridley Invitational Basketball tournament in Butte County, including a 69-43 defeat of Capital Christian Sacramento for the championship. Capital Christian began the season ranked No. 8 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.
Connecticut-signee James Akinjo was held to 18 points in the final for Salesian and was named tournament MVP. The 6-foot-1 senior point guard had scored 28 and 38 the previous two games, and helped hold high-scoring Capital Christian guard Zach Chappel to five points in the final.
Chappell, a 6-3 senior guard with an offer from Pacific, had scored 29 and 39 the previous two games.
All-tourney selection Jaden McClannahan also did a lot of defensive help on Chappell for the Pride, who improved to 5-0. They also beat host Gridley (94-42) and sixth-ranked Dublin (75-56).
“We played very, very well,” Mellis said. “Even if we hadn’t, it’s still my favorite tournament. The players love going there. Everyone is so hospitable.”
Players stay with host families, and tournament officials maintain other old-school traditions like supplying each of the eight teams with student managers to provide water and towels.
All the teams were invited to a rally at school Friday, which included picking a tournament queen, much like a homecoming queen.
The tournament, which annually features the top teams in Northern California, was also up to speed with technology. Every game was streamed and its website offers full statistics on every game.
“No stone is left unturned,” Mellis said. “They think of everything to make it a great stay.”
Salesian’s play made it even better for Mellis, especially the Pride’s play on the defensive end. They held Capital Christian and Dublin to 29 and 19 points, respectively, below their season averages.
“We were really flying around,” Mellis said. “In one stretch, we held Capital scoreless for 9-10 minutes. That’s not easy.”
Defending Akinjo is no easy task.
“He’s shooting the three really well, attacking the rim, making free throws,” Mellis said. “And if he’s not scoring, he’s finding the open man. He’s a tough cover, for sure.” New digs at Palo Alto: Salesian goes from old school to the most fanciful facility in the Bay Area. At 6 p.m. Saturday, the Pride play at No. 4 Palo Alto (2-2), which unveils a gymnasium as part of the $42 million Peery Family Center athletic complex.
The main gym seats 1,640 and the complex includes weight, cardio and wrestling rooms and a dance studio.
Palo Alto’s old gym was demolished in 2015 and the Vikings played nothing but away games during their 26-5 2016 season. They finished ranked ninth by The Chronicle.
The Vikings, led by senior forwards Max Dorward and Will Schlemmer, opened last week with Burlingame tournament wins over Half Moon Bay (62-45) and Los Altos (57-37), before losing in the final to No. 20 Menlo School-Atherton (58-52).
“Everything depends on our rebounding,” Palo Alto coach Peter Diepenbrock said.
Diepenbrock used to coach with Mellis’ brother, Foti Mellis, at UC Davis under Bob Williams. “We go way, way back,” Mellis said. “We’re like family.”