The 2011 MLK Classic at UC Berkeley's Haas Pavilion featured some of the top teams in Northern California. The highlight of the event was a double overtime win by Sacramento High over Bishop O'Dowd that can probably be considered the early season favorite for game of the year in the region. Here are the game summaries and some team analysis.
10:15 am Monte Vista Mustangs 64 vs. San Leandro Pirates 53: The opening game had Monte Vista jumping out to a 22-9 lead. Mike Harris paced the Mustangs with 7 points in the quarter. San Leandro was able to cut the deficit to 31-23 at the half as the Pirate defense slowed the Mustang offense. Monte Vista was able to extend the lead to 47-37 at the end of the third quarter. Senior Pirate guard Hameed Ali scored on back to back 3-point possessions to cut the lead to 47-43 to start the fourth quarter. But the Pirates could get no closer as they lost 64-53.
Monte Vista Mustangs Analysis: The Mustangs go to 7-9 with the win. Senior Mike Harris accounted for 21 points as he got most of scoring from the interior. Monte Vista has been competitive up to now and has come up short in a few close games. The league will probably be won by either De La Salle or San Ramon Valley. But if the guard play can contribute more consistent scoring, the Mustangs could finish in the upper half of the league.
San Leandro Pirates Analysis: The Pirates go to 8-7 with the loss. Ali had 31 points in the loss as he displayed his ability to score inside, outside, and on transition. Ali confirmed that he is in contact with primarily Columbia and Hartford. Like Monte Vista, San Leandro's league is probably going to go to either Bishop O'Dowd or Castro Valley. San Leandro is currently holding at third in the league and probably has enough firepower to finish no worse than third. But the Pirates would be better served if they can get some more offensive balance as opponents can key on Ali.
12:00 pm St. Mary's-Stockton Rams 58 vs. St. Mary's-Berkeley Panthers 53: In the lone girl's game of the day, it featured the universally found St. Mary's High of Stockton against St. Mary's of Berkeley. The home town Panthers ran out to a 9-0 lead as the game was played at a frenetic pace. The Rams scored for the first time with 6:02 left on a 3-pt shot to cut the lead to 9-3. The Panthers would take an 18-11 first quarter lead. In the second quarter, the Panthers would be up 25-16. The Rams would go on a 17-0 run to take their first lead and end the half at 33-25. The Panthers did not become unglued as they started the third quarter with two quick field goals. The Panthers were composed and were able to break the press to tie the game at 39-39 with 2:00 left. They retook the lead at 41-39 but the Rams ended the quarter with a 44-41 margin. The fourth quarter saw the teams go back and forth as the Panthers were up 53-51 with 2:30 left. The Rams scored the final 7 points to win 58-53.
St. Mary's-Stockton Rams (Girls) Analysis: The Rams pressed full court on defense and depended on their outside shooting. They go to 7-2 on the year. Regina Camera had 19 points with five 3-point shots while Ali Gibson had 15 points. The team went 10 for 21 on their 3-point shots. The Rams seem well conditioned enough to play at such a frenetic place and keep the opponent off-balanced.
St. Mary's-Berkeley Panthers (Girls) Analysis: The Panthers go to 13-4 with the loss. The Panthers had their opportunities but committed 28 turnovers and missed on all five of their 3-point shots. They shot 49 percent from the field but their turnovers allowed the Rams to have 14 additional shots.
1:45 pm Newark Memorial Cougars 46 vs. St. Mary's-Berkeley Panthers 39: Newark Memorial played their game and was able to win this defensive struggle. The first quarter was closely contested as the Panthers had a 10-9 lead. The Cougars were able to grind out a 23-17 halftime margin. The Panthers came out in the third quarter and scored the first six points to tie the game at 23-23. At the 4:01 mark, the Cougars ran off eight straight points to lead 31-23 before the Panthers scored the last field goal to trail 31-25. The Cougars had a game high lead 39-26 in the fourth quarter. The Panthers had a late run to cut the lead at 43-39 but ended up losing 46-39 as they came up empty on their last few possessions.
Newark Memorial Cougars Analysis: The Cougars go to 12-5 and continue to present matchup problems for opponents. The Cougars have an inside game with Kendall Andrews while they have 3-point shooters in Casey Norris and Yusuf Farouqi. Andrews had 15 points while Farouqi had 17 points with five 3-point shots. Freshman Joey Frenchwood is a point guard who has good quickness and sense for the game.
St. Mary's-Berkeley Panthers (Boys) Analysis: The Panthers go to 10-8 and continue a baffling season. The team has talent but seems to have trouble putting it all together. The team has three talented juniors in David Andoh, Glenn Baral, and Isaiah Taylor. Taylor was the only double digit scorer with 13 points and displayed an ability to finish on the break against bigger players. Andoh and Baral have college level potential but just were stifled by the Cougars' pace for this game.
3:30 pm Castro Valley Trojans 61 vs. Salesian Pride 63: Castro Valley scored the first basket of the game and that was the Trojans only lead of the game. Salesian would go on a run to lead 19-11 at the end of the first quarter. The Pride extended to a 32-20 margin but the Trojans scored the final 8 points to trail 32-28 at the half. Salesian would open the third quarter with the first nine points as the Trojans finally scored a free throw for their first point at the 4:30 mark to trail 41-29. Marquette commit Juan Anderson had back to back breakaway dunks to cut the margin to 41-34 but the Pride got the momentum back to lead 49-37 at the end of the third quarter. The Trojans employed a pressing defense in the fourth quarter to somehow cut the lead to 62-60. With 17 seconds left, the Trojans made a steal and got fouled. But only one free throw was made to cut the lead to 62-61. Salesian was fouled and missed both free throws, got the rebound but missed the put back, and Castro Valley rebounded and was on transition but the ball was dribbled out of bounds. Salesian closed the game out at 63-61.
Castro Valley Trojans Analysis: The Trojans drop to 14-2. Give the Trojans credit as there were moments in the game that they could have given up. The team is resilient and has enough firepower to overcome any deficit. Seniors Roderick Bobbitt and Anderson had 25 and 20 points respectively. The Trojans will have to battle Bishop O'Dowd for the top spot in their league.
Salesian Pride Analysis: Salesian goes to 16-0 with the win. The Pride had back to back two point wins against Rodriguez and now Castro Valley. The BSAL is a competitive league but it would not be surprising if the Pride go undefeated into playoffs. Jabari Bird and Dominic Artis had 21 and 19 points respectively. Artis had three 3-point shots and was quick with ball. Bird had a few breakaway slams and was versatile. Two other sophomores in Mario Dunn and Markel Leonard provide depth. Football lineman Freddie Tagaloa provided the interior bulk.
5:15 pm Sacramento Dragons 86 vs. Bishop O'Dowd Dragons 85: In a battle of Dragons, the purple colored Dragons of Sacramento staged a great second half run to prevail in double overtime. Sacramento was coming off of a tumultuous week as they had roster issues and then had a crushing loss to Sheldon. As a result, Sacramento came out flat as they were trailing 5-0. To their credit, they rallied and took a 6-5 lead only to let Bishop O'Dowd take a 24-15 first quarter lead. O'Dowd extended the margin to 44-31 at the half. O'Dowd had a game high lead of 53-34 before Sacramento started to make their run. A combination of 3-point shooting and aggressive interior play allowed Sacramento to cut the lead to 59-58 before Bishop O'Dowd ended the quarter with a 61-58 margin. With 6:15 left in the fourth quarter, Sacramento tied the game at 62-62. Brandon Ashley of O'Dowd would foul out with 3:05 left. Right after that, Sacramento took its first lead since the first quarter at 69-68. Regulation would end at a 71-71 tie. The first overtime had each team scoring five points to end it at 76-76. The highlight was O'Dowd's TJ King missing a put back dunk as the buzzer sounded that would have ended the game. The second overtime went back and forth as it was concluded by a put back by Sacramento center Robert Garrett to seal the win 86-85.
Sacramento Dragons Analysis: The purple Dragons are now 12-4. More importantly, key pieces may emerge from the roster shakeup. Santa Clara commit Garrett played physical against the O'Dowd interior as he had 16 points and the game winner. Junior Erik Kinney is listed at 6-foot-4 but was playing much bigger than that. He was fearless against the vaunted O'Dowd interior and complemented Garrett in getting rebounds and going strong in his interior shots. He contributed with 11 points but his tenacity and rebounding was more important than his scoring in this game. Sophomore shooting guard Aaron Cameron was probably the player of the event. He had an event high of 33 points with eight 3-point shots. He scored 8 points in the two overtime sessions. With all the roster drama behind them now, the purple Dragons may be able to build enough cohesiveness and chemistry to make a run at their league still. Sacramento will still have one big non-league matchup as they play Lincoln Hornets (San Diego) on Saturday as the Hornets have UCLA commit Norman Powell and the Robinson twins (Tyrell and Tyree) who are better known for their football but are also highly touted in basketball.
Bishop O'Dowd Dragons Analysis: The green Dragons are now 12-3. Ashley fouled out and had only 6 points in the game but his absence in the interior allowed Sacramento's Garrett to have more control of the interior in terms of rebounding and post position. Senior Anders Haas had 23 points while junior Richard Longrus had 19 points and had to fill in for Ashley in the interior. The loss is more of an annoyance than need for concern for O'Dowd. League play will have them playing against Castro Valley twice and the results of those two games will be a better indicator of their playoff aspirations and potential at that junction of the season.
7 pm Sheldon Huskies 45 vs. De La Salle Spartans 48: Host De La Salle played in the last game of the night and played typical Spartan basketball as their tempo and defense controlled most of the game. The Spartans ran out to a 7-0 lead but Sheldon's Ramon Eaton hit two straight 3-point shots to cut the lead to 9-6. Spartans' Amadi Udenyi also had back to back 3-point shots to give them a 19-13 first quarter advantage. De La Salle kept the six point margin into half time at 28-22. The third quarter was also anemic offensively as the Spartans held on to a 33-26 margin. The Spartans held on for a 48-45 win as the Huskies seem to have multiple chances to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter but a bad turnover, bad shot, or bad decision derailed each of those chances.
Sheldon Huskies Analysis: The Huskies are now 12-7. The team has talent but the inconsistent play has cost them at times this season. Darius Nelson and Eaton had 13 and 14 points respectively in the game. Junior Kyiron Thomas had 8 points and is a high flyer. The Huskies have a quintet of promising sophomores led by Dakarai Allen, D'Erryl Williams, and Chris Haney that seem primed to contribute. Four of the next six games are against league opponents Jesuit and Oak Ridge. The results of those games will answer if the difficult non-league schedule prepared them for the crux of the league schedule.
De La Salle Spartans Analysis: The Spartans are now 13-2. Udenyi had 9 points while Travis Pacos contributed 18 points. The Spartans played their game which is efficient defense and at their desired tempo. They have already beaten league rival San Ramon Valley and look to be the favorites in the league. The Spartans still have an interesting non-league matchup with Taft High (Woodland Hills) which features highly touted center Kevin Johnson. Despite being undersized and rather young, the Spartans seem to find a way to match up with any bigger or more seasoned roster.
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