Monte Vista beats No. 1 Doughtery Valley in EBAL thriller

An administrator patrolled the sideline for four quarters Thursday night, keeping a packed Monte Vista student section constrained to its portion of the bleachers as the mass of students cheered every make and bemoaned every miss for the home team.

But when top-ranked Dougherty Valley failed to get off a last-second 3-pointer, no one was going to stop the crowd from storming the floor as Monte Vista celebrated a 64-61 victory in East Bay Athletic League play.

“Nobody wants to play us here,” said Monte Vista senior Jake Fields, who scored 11 points. “We're undefeated at home, and our fans are a huge advantage for us.”

Monte Vista (17-6, 3-2) now has home wins over EBAL titans De La Salle and Dougherty Valley (20-3, 5-1), the top two teams in the Bay Area News Group's rankings.

“The loss hurts, but we're on the road in the EBAL, so this is what you get sometimes,” Dougherty Valley coach Mike Hansen said. “Monte Vista is a hell of a team, and they're well-coached and have talent.”

It certainly didn't help Dougherty Valley that its USF-bound guard, Ryan Beasley, missed the game because of an ankle injury he suffered in a loss Saturday to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in Southern California. He could return Saturday, Hansen said.

With the score tied 47-47 after three quarters, Monte Vista burst out to start the fourth quarter and pushed its lead up to as much as seven, with key baskets coming from Daniel Cojocaru, both Krueger brothers — Cade and Kasenm who each finished with 14 points — and a late layup from Joshua Mathew, who also scored 14.

Dougherty Valley's Connor Sevilla did all he could to prevent the upset, pouring in a game-high 29 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. But on the game's final possession, Monte Vista converged on Sevilla, knocking the ball away before he could attempt a shot.

It doesn't get any easier for Dougherty Valley. The Wildcats visit California today before closing the regular-season league schedule next week against De La Salle and Dublin.

For Monte Vista, it was another statement win in a season that includes nonleague victories against St. Mary's of Stockton and Oxnard.

“Sometimes we're hard to watch offensively, but our game just flows better at home,” Monte Vista coach Nick Jones said. “We're going to enjoy the win tonight, and then it's on to Amador Valley (today). It's such a good league with great coaches and players, and you've got to be able to play well night in and night out.”

– Joseph Dycus

SALESIAN COACH GETS 600TH VICTORY

>> Salesian coach Bill Mellis captured his 600th victory on Thursday night as the Pride, playing at home in Richmond, rolled past St. Mary's of Berkeley 82-37 in a Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division game.

According to Cal-Hi Sports' record book, fewer than 50 boys basketball coaches have reached 600 wins in state history.

Mellis did it in his 25th season. “It feels like any other win, and that must mean I've been coaching for a long time,” Mellis said, laughing. “I'm older and grayer now.”

The coach added, “The longevity of my career has everything to do with having great players, assistant coaches like Ed Foster, and support from administrators. I've had the same great athletic director, Chad Nightingale, for all 25 years.”

On Thursday, Zander Jimenez (18 points), Carlton Perrilliat (13), Emerson Jones (12) and Jaylen Wheeler (11) reached double figures for Salesian in the scoring column.

The Pride — ranked fourth by the Bay Area News Group — improved to 16-7, 7-0. St. Mary's is 7-14, 2-6.

SRV SURVIVES EBAL THRILLER >> San Ramon Valley has lost its share of gut-wrenchers since East Bay Athletic League play started, but the Wolves got a view from the other side on Thursday as they held off a fourth-quarter charge from Granada to win 61-60 in EBAL play. SRV led by 11 after three quarters, but No. 8 Granada (16-6, 2-3) rallied down the stretch only to fall short at the end.

SRV (18-5, 2-4) got 19 points from Seamus Deely, 12 of those in the first quarter, and 11 apiece from Parker McClaughry and Luke Isaak. Andrew McKeever — Granada's 6-foot-11, Saint Mary's-bound center — had 24 points to lead the Livermore school. He was 10 of 11 at the foul line.

Granada visits Dublin today and SRV travels to Foothill.

ST. IGNATIOUS STUNS NO. 6 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN >> St. Ignatius, which lost at home to Riordan by 11 points on Jan. 4, flipped the script on the Crusaders' home court Thursday in West Catholic Athletic League play.

Trailing 30-24 at halftime, SI outscored Riordan by nine in the third quarter to grab the lead and held on to hand the Crusaders their first league loss. Led by Raymond Whitley's 18 points and Caeden Hutcherson's 17, SI improved to 10-8 and 4-4.

Riordan (14-4, 7-1) now shares the WCAL lead with Archbishop Mitty, which will play host to the San Francisco school on Feb. 7. NO. 2 DE LA SALLE 61, FOOTHILL 40 >> Billy Haggerty scored 19 points and Evan Wells added 13 as the seniors helped De La Salle roll at home over Foothill on Senior Night. After winning their previous three EBAL games by a combined eight points, De La Salle (19-4, 6-1) cruised to its sixth win in a row and has now won 10 of 11 heading into a nonleague showdown today against Southern California powerhouse Harvard-Westlake at Mater Dei of Santa Ana's Nike Extravaganza.

Foothill fell to 13-10, 1-5.

NO. 6 ARCHBISHOP MITTY 53, BELLARMINE

50 >> In a WCAL game that was tight the entire way, Mitty held on at home as Princeton-bound Derek Sangster scored 16 points to pace the Monarchs. Mitty improved to 15-3, 7-1. Brayden Harris (14 points), Nick Corbett (12) and Tariq Weiser (11) scored in double figures for Bellarmine, which fell to 7-10, 2-6.

NO. 9 DUBLIN 56, AMADOR VALLEY 48 >> On the heels of its two-point victory at San Ramon Valley on Tuesday, Dublin had no letdown as the Gaels prevailed on the road over Amador Valley. Courtney Anderson Jr. scored 19 points for Dublin (16-7, 5-1), which plays host to Granada on Saturday night. The Dons slipped to 11-11 and 1-5.

Girls basketball NO. 10 HERITAGE 70, FREEDOM 53 >>

McDonald's All-American Amanda Muse scored a team-high 21 points in Heritage's Bay Valley Athletic League win over Freedom. Heritage, which has won all of its league games by double-digit margins, improved to 17-4 and 6-0. Freedom dropped to 5-15 and 1-5.

NO. 11 MONTE VISTA 75, DOUGHERTY VALLEY 44 >> Monte Vista outscored Dougherty Valley 28-3 in the third quarter to turn the EBAL game into a rout. Monte Vista (17-4, 5-1) had four players score in double figures: Rachel Brans (20), Alyssa Rudd (18), Sarina Nagra (17) and Nia Coleman (15). Dougherty Valley dropped to 7-9, 2-4.