Cooks clutch in Dublin's win over Granada
With Dublin's advantage over Granada down to one point late in the third quarter Saturday night, Donovan Cooks did what seniors aim to do on Senior Night. He took charge. Cooks scored on a threepoint play. He followed that with another basket.
Then, as time was about to expire to end the quarter, he launched a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Swish.
Yes, it was that kind of game for the bearded guard.
Cooks finished with 25 points as Dublin — ranked ninth by the Bay Area News Group — held off eighthranked Granada 67-60 in East Bay Athletic League play at home.
The Gaels improved to 17-7 overall and 6-1 in the league.
Granada dropped to 167, 3-4 after losing its third consecutive EBAL game, all by single digits.
Dublin will enter the final week of the league's regular-season schedule tied for first with Dougherty Valley and De La Salle.
Dougherty Valley plays host to De La Salle on Tuesday and visits Dublin on Friday.
Dublin will be at home Tuesday to face Foothill.
The EBAL tournament is the following week.
“All I am thinking about is Foothill right now,” Dublin coach Tom Costello said.
Costello couldn't say enough about Cooks after his team finished a threegame week without a loss. The Gaels also won road games against San Ramon Valley and Amador Valley.
“Too many to list,” Costello said when asked about Cooks' contributions. “Leadership, defense, rebounding, high IQ, hits big shots, wants the ball, hits
free throws. Everything you can ask for in a guy. This was a great opportunity to honor our seniors tonight because that was a hell of an effort.”
Sevilla ignites No. 1 Dougherty Valley's win
Connor Sevilla made sure Dougherty Valley, BANG's top-ranked team, wouldn't lose a second game in a row.
With backcourt mate Ryan Beasley out again because of an ankle injury he suffered a week earlier, the senior scored 26 points to lead the Wildcats to a 5946 victory over No. 19 California on Saturday night in
EBAL play.
The win sets the stage for a huge finish to the EBAL regular-season schedule.
Tied for first place with De La Salle and Dublin, Dougherty Valley plays host to DLS on Tuesday and visits Dublin on Friday.
In the victory Saturday, Dougherty Valley (21-3, 6-1) also got 15 points from Aadi Malali.
Damarcus Collins scored 14 points and Amari Gray added 13 for host California, which fell to 16-8, 4-3.
Other games
HARVARD-WESTLAKE 63, NO. 2 DE LA SALLE 42 >> De La Salle fell behind by double digits in the first quarter against Harvard-Westlake, ranked No. 2 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, and never recovered as the Southern California powerhouse prevailed at the Mater Dei Extravaganza. Alec Blair scored 12 points to lead De La Salle, which had won its previous six games. The Spartans fell to 19-5. Robert Hinton had 22 points for Harvard-Westlake (26-1). NO. 4 SALESIAN 60, VALLEJO
37 >> Salesian stayed undefeated in the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division as Amani Johnson scored 12 points and Alvin Loving and Aaron Claytor each had 11 to lead the Pride past Vallejo. Jasir Smith finished with 10 points for Vallejo, which slipped to 11-11, 3-5. Salesian improved to 17-7, 8-0. NO. 5 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN 62, ST. FRANCIS 44 >> Coming off a loss at home to St. Ignatius in its previous game, Riordan roared back with an impressive victory on the road over St. Francis in Mountain View. Andrew Hilman scored 18 points, Nathan Tshamala finished with 12 and Christian Wise added 10 for the Crusaders, who stayed tied for first place with Archbishop Mitty in the West Catholic Athletic League. Riordan is 15-4, 8-1. St. Francis dropped to 11-7, 4-5. NO. 6 ARCHBISHOP MITTY 67, SERRA 56 >> Mitty, playing on the road in San Mateo, built a 38-15 halftime lead on its way to winning its fourth consecutive game. Princeton-bound Derek Sangster scored 16 points and Nathan D'abreu Noronha had 15 points to pace the offense. The Monarchs (16-3, 8-1) also got 11 points from Tyler Jones and nine from Jaiden Paran. Ryan Pettis led Serra with 24 points. Alton Robenalt added 11 points and Marcel Elicagaray finished with eight for the Padres (10-8, 3-5).
NO. 12 CAMPOLINDO 65, MIRAMONTE 24 >> Campolindo breezed on the road past rival Miramonte to set up a huge Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division game Tuesday at home against third-ranked Clayton Valley Charter, which has a one-game advantage over Campo in the standings. Leading by two after the first quarter Saturday, Campo outscored the Mats 16-3 in the second and 31-7 in the third as it improved to 16-6, 7-1. Miramonte dropped to 5-17, 0-8.
Girls basketball
NO. 2 ARCHBISHOP MITTY 76, ST. IGNATIUS 27 >> Mitty stretched its winning streak to 11 games with a blowout victory at home over St. Ignatius in WCAL play. The Monarchs had six players score in double figures. Maya Hernandez finished with 20 points and McKenna Woliczko, Haley Hernandez, Layla Woods, Jacquelyn Michael and Elana Weisman each had 10. Mitty improved to 18-2, 6-0. The Monarchs travel to San Francisco on Wednesday to face second-place Sacred Heart Cathedral. SI fell to 9-10, 2-4.