Blair assumes control late, leads De La Salle to Open Division final
With the game in the balance heading into the fourth quarter, De La Salle forward Alec Blair knew he had assume control.
“When I saw the game was close, I said, `It's time to take over like Patrick Mahomes,' ” Blair said.
Just like what the Super Bowlwinning Kansas City Chiefs quarterback did to the 49ers earlier this month, Blair did to No. 3 seed Branson in Wednesday's North Coast Section Open Division semifinals.
Blair hit every big shot in the fourth quarter to lead host and No. 2 seed De La Salle to a 62-54 win and a spot in the championship game against top seed Salesian tonight at Contra Costa College.
“We're going to put the ball in Alec's hands, I don't think there's any secret about that,” De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder said.
Blair led De La Salle with 24 points and David Balogun added 12.
Semetri Carr led Branson with 25 points. Jase Butler had 14 for the visitors.
Branson had all the momentum going into the fourth quarter. With time running down in the third, Carr found Butler near the rim and lobbed an alley-oop pass, which Butler threw down at the buzzer to tie the score at 42.
Schroeder knew if the Spartans were going to win, it was going to be Blair to take them there.
Everything went through the De La Salle star in the final eight minutes. He was the primary ballhandler at times while other times he posted up near the basket. Everybody in the gym knew he was looking for his pull-up jumper near the free throw line, but Branson couldn't stop it.
NO. 1 SALESIAN 60, NO. 4 SAN RAMON VALLEY 45 >> For 11 days, Salesian's had practiced every aspect of the sport, honing its skills and minds during an almost two-week hiatus between games for the NCS's top seed in Open Division.
That preparation translated into defensive domination on Wednesday night as the Pride defeated No. 4 seed San Ramon Valley 6045 and advanced to the title game against De La Salle.
“It's hard, because there's no right answer for how to stay sharp on an 11-day layoff,” Salesian coach Bill Mellis said. “But obviously, it worked out pretty good.”
The game was moved from Salesian's cozy gym to the bigger venue at Contra Costa College to accommodate a large number of fans.
But once the game tipped off, the Pride made it look like San Ramon Valley was trying to run its offense in a shoebox in a first-quarter run that saw Salesian lead 12-0 after five minutes.
Elias Obenyah swerved in for a spinning layup, Alvin Loving IV splashed a 3-pointer from the corner and De'Undrae Perteete slipped inside for another layup.
Girls Open Division
NO. 1 SAN RAMON VALLEY 72, NO. 4 BISHOP O'DOWD 52 >> The Wolves got a strong performance from forward Avery Knapp (21 points) as the top seed cruised past O'Dowd. SRV will play No. 2 Cardinal Newman on Saturday at Dublin High. Point guard Sierra Chambers scored 14, Tera Chen also had 14 points, and Sofia Bowes scored 11 and played top-tier defense. Amanda Kerner scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter for SRV (28-1). Jayla Stokes led O'Dowd (19-6) with 15 points.
Girls Division II NO. 6 NORTHGATE 41, NO. 2 MONTGOMERY 37 >>
Down by eight late in the third quarter, Northgate showed its resilience by rallying past host Mongtomery to punch its ticket to the Division II final against top seed Redwood. Amelia Schrag, whose game-winner took down Miramonte in the previous round, led Northgate with 18 points.
Soccer Boys Division I NO. 4 DOUGHERTY VALLEY 4, NO. 8 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER 2 >>
The Wildcats got two second-half goals from Tristan Casella to salt away a high-scoring victory and clinch their spot in the NCS Division I championship. Matas Drevinskas scored once as did Ricky Feliciano. Dougherty Valley will host No. 6 Berkeley on Saturday.
NO. 6 BERKELEY 1, MONTE VISTA 0 >> The Yellow Jackets pulled off an upset. Senior defender Marlow Buettner scored the game-winning goal in penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation period.
Girls Division I NO. 4 SAN RAMON VALLEY 5, NO. 1 AMADOR VALLEY 1 >>
San Ramon Valley scored all five goals in the first half as the Wolves wasted no time locking up a berth in the NCS Division I title game against Carondelet. Lauren Healy scored once and had two assists. Ella Beardslee scored once and Sammy Schulze scored twice and had one assist. Midfielder Hailey Tyacke put one past the keeper and also had two assists. Angel Akanyirige scored Amador Valley's only goal.
NO. 2 CARONDELET 2, NO. 3 MONTE VISTA 1 >> Gianna Giusto tallied two assists for Carondelet as the Cougars secured their spot in the NCS Division I title game. Taylor Juroff scored the first goal and Victoria Alessandrini scored the other one. Goalkeeper Anna Gustafson had three saves for Carondelet, which will play what is essentially a home game at De La Salle for the championship.