De La Salle closes strongly, defeats San Ramon Valley in EBAL thriller
CONCORD >> De La Salle stayed calm and kept believing, trailing by four with less than two minutes to play in an epic East Bay Athletic League game against San Ramon Valley.
“Basketball's a simple game,” sophomore star Alec Blair later said. “Just put the ball in the basket and don't let the other team put the ball in the basket.”
De La Salle returned to its home court on Wednesday night and scored the final eight points to win another thriller, 59-55, two days after beating a team from Oregon that is ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today.
The latest victory improved the Spartans' record to 16-4 overall and 3-1 in the EBAL. San Ramon Valley fell to 16-4, 0-3.
The visitors led 55-51 when Seamus Deely scored on a layup in transition, drew a foul and made the free throw.
De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder called a timeout with 1:55 to go.
From there, Arshawn Salkhi hit a shot to make it 55-53, and Blair followed with a putback amid a sea of hands that evened the score at 55-55.
Then Billy Haggerty made a steal as San Ramon Valley — ranked sixth by the Bay Area News Group — was trying to work the clock for a last shot.
Haggerty passed to Salkhi, who drove for a layup that sent the De La Salle student section into bedlam.
“I hear everyone screaming, but in my head I am fine,” said Salkhi, who scored six of his eight points in the final period. “I just knew I was going to make it.”
Blair led second-ranked De La Salle with 23 points. He had 13 in the second quarter and six in the fourth.
“Alec Blair is one of the best players in the state,” Schroeder said.
San Ramon Valley had two players score in double figures: Luke Isaak (21) and Parker McClaughry (10).
No. 4 Clayton Valley Charter 62, Las Lomas 54: Clayton Valley won for the 17th time in 19 games on Wednesday night, but it wasn't easy. The Ugly Eagles beat Las Lomas on the road in a Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division contest that was close throughout. Clayton Valley, which improved to 5-0 in league play, led 12-6 after the first period but couldn't build on the lead over the next two quarters. It was 46-40heading into the final eight minutes. “It was tough,” Clayton Valley coach Frank Allocco Jr. said. But Jake King, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, kept the Eagles rolling with 24 points while James Moore had 18.
No. 5 Salesian 74, De Anza 42: Thirteen players scored for Salesian in an easy Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division victory. Aaron Claytor had 13points for the Pride (14-6, 5-0) and Emerson Jones contributed 11. De Anza fell to 4-16, 0-5.
No. 11 Campolindo 77, College Park 39: Coach Steven Dyer won his 150th game midway through his seventh season in Moraga. He is 150-42 overall at Campo. College Park led 16-12 after the first quarter, but the Falcons were outscored 65-23after that. Dyer credited junior guard Tyler Bergren for turning things around after the slow start. Bergren had 10assists and five steals to go along with seven points.
Leigh 66, Lincoln-San Jose 43: The Longhorns took a 36-17 lead over Lincoln in the first half and coasted after that, improving to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton West Division. Zach Norcia poured in 28 points for Leigh. Miles Karandakar had 13points and eight rebounds for the winners, and Caleb Asante added 11 points and seven boards.
Girls basketball
No. 1 Piedmont 69, No. 9 Bishop O'Dowd 62: Piedmont built a big first-half lead, then had to sweat out the road win. The Highlanders, who improved to 16-0, had a double-digit lead before the Dragons cut the margin to three points in the third quarter. Junior guard Natalia Martinez had 30 points, 7steals and 5rebounds for the Highlanders. Eva Levingston had a double-double with 18 points and 16 boards.
No. 3 Salesian 71, Swett 12: Salesian raced to a 45-5halftime lead and never looked back. D'Yani Bernstine and Makiah Asidanya both had more points by themselves than the entire Swett team, with 16and 14, respectively. Salesian improved to 16-3overall and 5-0in the TCAL Rock Division.
No. 7 Acalanes 75, Northgate 44: The young Dons put three scorers in double figures while improving their season record to 12-5 overall and 4-0in DAL Foothill contests. Acalanes has only three seniors on the roster along with seven underclassmen, including five sophomores and two freshmen.
No. 11 Heritage 74, Deer Valley 30: The Patriots had three players, including UCLA-bound Amanda Muse, score in double figures en route to an easy road win over Deer Valley. Muse had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kendall McClure had 11 points and Grace Hernandez added 10. The victory kept Heritage (14-3, 3-0 Bay Valley Athletic League) in a first-place tie with Liberty, a 4832winner over Antioch on Wednesday.