Salesian clears Open Division hump, advances to final

An unheralded reserve jumping off the bench to provide a spark.

A switch-heavy defense where all five players interchanged and forced stops in synchronized perfection.

Meticulous but not rigid offense that got the ball pinging from one side to the other, players turning down merely-good looks for wide-open shots.

Salesian ended a decade-long run of Open Division futility by playing the game like only a Richmond school could.

An unselfish brand of basketball on both ends of the court that resulted in the Pride defeating Modesto Christian 64-52 on Saturday night and punching their ticket to a championship matchup with Archbishop Riordan.

It was coach Bill Mellis' first win in the Open Division in six trips to the state's highest playoff bracket.

“We didn't feel the pressure,” Mellis said. “Getting the monkey off our back, that's for other people to talk about and whatever, and if they can stop talking about it now, cool. It wasn't a big deal to us other than if we lose, we wouldn't be able to continue on with our season.”

Modesto Christian led 19-14 midway through the second quarter, thanks to its shooters taking advantage of wide-open 3-pointers surrendered by an overhelping Salesian defense.

But once the Pride settled into their switch-everything strategy, Modesto never recovered. Elias Obenyah started the run with a putback, and then another layup off an Aaron Hunkin-Claytor steal.

The senior guard made it backto-back steals on the next possession, and the former Pop Warner quarterback showed off his passing chops by hitting wing D'Undrae Perteete for a layup to give Salesian a 20-19 lead.

“We've had some really awesome point guards, and he's right up there with them,” Mellis said about Hunkin-Claytor.

Modesto Christian never led again.

Open Division No. 2Archbishop Riordan 69, No. 3 Clovis North 57:

Visiting Clovis North kept it close for a half, but host Riordan, led by Zion Sensley's 20 points, had too much firepower for the visitors to keep under control for a full game. Riordan (25-4) plays No. 1 Salesian for the NorCal Open crown Tuesday at Contra Costa College.

Division I No. 2 San Ramon Valley 52, No. 3 Archbishop Mitty 49:

San Ramon Valley spotted visiting Mitty 13 points to start the game and came back to defeat the Monarchs and advance to the NorCal championship game Tuesday against Granada at Dublin High. Luke Isaak led SRV with 17 points and Seamus Deely had 10. Caeden Hutcherson and Tyler Jones each had 16 points for Mitty.

No. 4 Granada 70, No. 1 Clovis West 53:

Granada traveled 147 miles and came away with the dominant upset win over topseeded Clovis West. The Matadors took a 12-point lead at halftime and led by as much as 24 points in the second half. Cortevious Taylor led Granada with 22 points and NaVaughn Long had 16. Lennon Lomba scored 14 points and Spencer Langowski chipped in 10 in the win. Granada will play San Ramon Valley in the NorCal finals on Tuesday at Dublin High.

Division II No. 2Oakland Tech 70, No. 6Del Oro 55:

Oakland Tech guard ArDarius Grayson went off for Oakland Tech, scoring a game-high 31 points and scoring 24 of those in the second half. Saddiq Alarbesh also made three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as he scored 12 points overall. Asher Kramer put in 11 points and Xan Meyer-Plettner scored 10. After Oakland defeated Bellarmine in San Jose, Tech (28-5) will face its rival in the D-II championship. Unlike last season, when the teams played at Laney College, the Bulldogs will get to host Oakland on Broadway Ave.

No. 9Oakland 57, No. 5Bellarmine 54:

Oakland scored the first 14 points of the game, never trailed, and held off Bellarmine at the end to win in a Division II semifinal. In an uncanny replication of what occurred last year, Oakland will play at Oakland Tech on Tuesday with a trip to the state final at stake. The Wildcats lost to Tech three times this season, but that's the same scenario as last year when Oakland went 0-3 against Oakland Tech before the two rivals met in the NorCal Division III final, with Oakland winning at Laney College, and then capturing the state crown in Sacramento by defeating Buena-Ventura. Isaac Johnson and Rohm Neal scored 12 points apiece to pace Oakland. Nick Corbett, Bellarmine's 6-7 senior post, led all scorers with 17 points.

Division III No. 1 Santa Cruz 57, No. 4 Ygnacio Valley 40:

After taking a 14-8 lead to end the first quarter, Ygnacio Valley never found its groove again. Top-seeded Santa Cruz put on a defensive masterclass against Ygnacio Valley's high-scoring offense. Antonio Kellogg Jr. led the Wolves with 15 points and Loyal Morris added nine points. Santa Cruz will play Fresno-based school Bullard in the regional finals.

Division IV No. 4 Union Mine 68, No. 8 Palo Alto 66:

With under a minute to play, Palo Alto held a four-point lead on the road over Union MineEl Dorado Hills (31-3) and had possession of the ball in this NorCal Division IV semifinal. From there, it went downhill for the visitors. Nate Sweet stole the ball with 35 seconds to play and drove for an and-1 three-point play that trimmed the margin to one. Palo Alto then missed two free throws and Sweet made both of his after drawing a foul, giving Union Mine the lead. Jorell Clark scored 29 points to lead Palo Alto (20-9).

Division V No. 1Athenian 60, No. 4International 57:

The Owls almost blew a seven-point lead with 3:40 to go in the fourth quarter, but found a way to get it done down the stretch as Athenian moves on to the NorCal finals where it will play No. 2 San Domenico. Surya Devasenapathy scored a gamehigh 25 points for Athenian. Teni Salako added 11 points and Evan Lucas scored 10 points in the win. Will Savill-Welch had 21 points for International.

Girls Division I No. 2 Bishop O'Dowd 58, No. 3 Oak Ridge 50:

Savannah Jones scored 19 points and Devin Cosgriff added 13 points to lead Bishop O'Dowd (23-6) past Oak Ridge (26-8) and into the NorCal final. The Dragons also got nine points from Nyah Greenwood and eight points from Jayla Stokes.

No. 5 Carondelet 62, No. 16 McClatchy 54:

Carondelet's Lehighbound point guard Keshia Vitalicio showed McClatchy why she's set to play Division I college basketball later this year. The senior buried eight consecutive free throws in the clutch to end McClatchy's Cinderella run.

Division II No. 3Pleasant Valley-Chico 64, No. 10 Oakland Tech 62:

The Bulldogs lost their first playoff game since 2018 as Pleasant Valley's Aj Gambol made a game-winning jumper at the buzzer. Oakland Tech had won state titles in the last three non-pandemic seasons.

Division V No. 7 Crystal Springs Uplands 53, No. 6 Trinity-Weaverville 45:

Maile Bateman scored 22 points as Crystal Springs beat Trinity.

No. 13 Oakland 57, No. 9 Woodland Christian 40: Daijha Teague scored a game-high 16 points to lead Oakland past Woodland Christian and into the NorCal finals where it will face No. 7 Crystal Springs Upland Tuesday.