500th win for Salesian coach
Salesian-Richmond boys basketball coach Bill Mellis picked up his 500th game win. This is his 20th season. He has lost 150 games.
That’s a lot of even numbers from an even-keeled, 48-yearold coach who rarely brings attention to his team and certainly not to himself.
He would rather let the results do the talking. Under Mellis, Salesian has won 10 league titles, seven in the section, three in NorCal and two state titles.
His current 28-1 squad might be his best, featuring Connecticut-bound point guard James Akinjo, super-charged twin junior guards Jaden and JoVon McClanahan and a group of unselfish, defensive-minded teammates.
“He does his work during the week, so he doesn’t have to do the crazy stuff on the sidelines,” said St. Joseph Notre DameAlameda coach Don Lippi. “His teams are always impeccably prepared. I like how disciplined he is. He won’t show special preference to his best players. If they’re not working hard, he goes to the next guy.”
Lippi, with 851 wins and four state titles, partially credits his last one (2016) to Mellis.
St. Joseph lost three times to Salesian that season, and each time, the Pride’s full-court pressure paved the way to victory. “We had 18 turnovers the first half the first time, about half that the second game and four or five the last game,” Lippi said.
In the state final, St. Joseph faced a St. Bernard-Playa del Rey squad that also specialized in pressure. Lippi said, “Thanks to Salesian and Bill’s coaching, it was like, ‘What press?’ ” The Pilots prevailed 55-50. OAL basketball champions: Brooklin Sharpe had 14 points, and Jacob Harris and Damonyae Keppard added 12 apiece as Oakland Tech (21-7) won the Oakland Section boys championship Saturday with an 82-62 win over Castlemont (16-12).
In the girls championship, Oakland (18-7) outscored Oakland Tech 42-14 in the middle quarters to win 62-26. State champion: Newark Memorial sophomore Emmily Patneaud won the CIF girls 143-pound state wrestling crown. Four other Metro girls were runners-up: James LoganUnion City sophomore Lizette Rodriguez (101) and senior Emily Sandoval (170), Freedom-Oakley junior Dalia Garibay (131) and Menlo-Atherton junior Fola Akinola (189). More wrestling: At James Logan, Michigan State-bound Peyton Omania (145) won his third North Coast Section title, leading De La Salle-Concord to a fourth straight team title and its ninth in 10 years. The Spartans — who also got titles from Kyle Parco (126), Dwayne Guerrero (132) and Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (160) — finished with 330.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Las LomasWalnut Creek (178.5), which got a championship from Antonio Margiotta (120).
Gilroy wrapped up its 16th straight Central Coast Section crown with a record 373.5 points and 10 individual champions. Bellarmine’s Victor Jaquez (220) was the only Metro champion. Gene Aberouette took third at 152 for Riordan. NCS soccer: Luke Giusto scored two goals and assisted on another, leading De La Salle to a 3-1 NCS Division 1 titlegame win over Monte VistaDanville. It was the 13th title for the Spartans, but the first since 2014. Other NCS boys champions: Montgomery-Santa Rosa (D2), Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (D3) and Marin Academy-San Rafael (D4).
Rachel Anderson, Sarah Arnaudon and Lily Arbabaraghi scored goals to lift Monte Vista-Danville (22-1-1) to its eighth NCS girls crown, with a 3-1 D1 title win over Carondelet (17-6-4). Other titlists: Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa (D2), Campolindo-Moraga (D3) and Branson-Ross (D4).