The semifinal NCS Division I battle between NCP No. 1 Castro Valley and No. 14 Newark Memorial was expected to be a highly contested battle at the Fremont Washington Gym. However, Castro Valley came out in high gear and never let up as Newark could never get any consistency on either end of the floor. The Trojan starting five accounted for 60 of the team's 64 points in the 64-41 victory. Trojan Alex Foster also had a two hand dunk that caused the rim to collapse in the middle of the fourth quarter causing a brief delay. The collapsed rim summed up the Newark performance as Castro Valley will look to win the NCS title against De La Salle.
In the first quarter, the Cougars' only lead of the game was at 4-3 as senior Kendall Andrews was the only Cougar to score double digits in the game with 18 points and seemed to be the only Cougar to play with any fire. Castro Valley would step up the defense and cause several Newark turnovers that resulted in easy transition points. The Trojans would end the quarter on a 9-1 run to lead 18-7.
The second quarter played out the same as the first quarter as the Trojan defense limited Newark to six points. Castro Valley would cause several turnovers leading to easy baskets and would end the quarter on another 9-1 run. The Cougars were still seeking a spark as they would go into the half trailing 31-13.
Castro Valley would keep the pressure on in the third quarter as they would run out to a 44-17 margin. The 27 point lead was the largest of the game for the Trojans. The Cougars would trail at the end of the quarter at 52-25.
With the game more or less decided, the fourth quarter would seem to be a mundane exercise of running clock. The highlight was Foster dunking with 3:01 left on a breakaway that caused the rim to collapse as he stated that he did not do anything out of the ordinary on that dunk after the game. The minor delay did not stop the inevitable as Castro Valley would win 64-41.
How this game was won: Marquette commit Juan Anderson felt that the team played four solid quarters of defense. The Trojans limited the Cougars to only 13 two-point field goals and 3 three-point field goals for the entire game. Conversely, Castro Valley made 24 two-point field goals and 2 three-point field goals as they shot 54% for the game from the field.
Newark Memorial analysis: The Cougars made too many turnovers that led to many easy baskets. In addition, they missed several close range shots and layups and had several offensive rebound put back chances that missed too. Metaphorically, Castro Valley made the first punch and Newark never seemed to be able to recover as things snowballed into an avalanche for them.
Castro Valley analysis: The starting rotation scored 60 of the team's 64 points: Dawson Johnson (9 points), Foster (12 points), Chris Read (14 points), Roderick Bobbitt (13 points), and Anderson (12 points). Typically, Castro Valley has depended on the Big Three of Anderson, Bobbitt, and Read for their offensive output. If the other two starters or the bench starts to provide double digit offensive output, the Trojans will be difficult to beat in subsequent playoff games.
What is next for Castro Valley: Castro Valley is 27-1 and will face De La Salle who defeated San Ramon Valley 50-42. Castro Valley senior point guard Johnson said that the team practice hard on their pressing defense and transition offense against Newark memorial. The Trojans will go up against a De La Salle team that is the NCP No 3 team and is too fundamentally sound on both ends of the court to be rattled by pressing defenses or transition offenses.
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