DLS WITHSTANDS DUBLIN’S RALLY TO REACH NCS OPEN FINAL
What looked like a routine playoff victory for De La Salle on Wednesday night quickly turned into a gut-check for the top-seeded Spartans.
De La Salle was seemingly in complete command on its home court in Concord against fourth-seeded Dublin, up by 16 points midway through the third quarter.
But the visitors came roaring.
The Gaels closed the half on a 12-0 run and opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Jaiden Jones.
The home team’s 16-point cushion was down to one.
But De La Salle eventually composed itself, thanks to stout defense and hot shooting down the stretch by Ibrahim Monawar, and survived 47-37 to advance to the North Coast Section Open Division championship game for the fourth consecutive season.
The Spartans will play defending Open champion Salesian on Saturday night at Dublin High.
Monawar scored 10 of his team-best 14 points in the fourth quarter. Alec Blair, who was just named East Bay Athletic League player of the year, added 13 points. The Spartans also got eight points and 15 rebounds from David Balogun and six points each from Braddock Kjellesvig and Bryce Patton.
Jones led Dublin with 16 points, 13 after halftime. Ramir Raymore and Miles Pollard had seven points apiece.
“We know we can score and we can run fast,” Monawar told De La Salle broadcaster Pat O’Rourke on the NFHS broadcast. “But it’s our defense that gets it done. We worked all year on just our principles and getting through ball screens, flex, all that stuff. It showed up tonight.”
Monawar’s 3-pointer from the corner pushed the DLS lead to 37-32 and his lightning-quick drive to the hoop made it 39-32.
After Dublin got to within four, Monawar buried a 3 from the top of the arc with 2 ½ minutes left that all but sealed the outcome.
The victory was De La Salle’s third over Dublin this season.
Now the Spartans will try to win their first NCS Open title after losing to Campolindo, Dougherty Valley and Salesian in the final the past three seasons.
If De La Salle clears the hurdle Saturday, it would be the program’s 15th NCS crown.
– Darren Sabedra
SAN RAMON VALLEY: FOURTH OPEN TITLE GAME IN A ROW
San Ramon Valley’s 66-55 NCS Open Division girls basketball semifinal victory over Carondelet left a sleep-deprived John Cristiano exhausted.
He had spent the night before the game “playing the game through” in his mind, trying to account and plan for every possible tactic Kelly Sopak’s Cougars could throw at his Wolves.
“It’s kind of like a boxing match,” Cristiano said. “They throw punches, we counter, we adjust, they adjust, and then at the end of the game, it’s just like who can execute the best?”
At the end of the third of three rounds between the East Bay Athletic League rivals – a regular season and league championship showdown predated the matchup – San Ramon Valley prevailed once again to give the Danville school a season sweep.
Alyssa Rudd, recovering from an illness, scored 12 second-half points and grabbed 15 rebounds for SRV. Sophomore guard Ella Gunderson dominated the fourth quarter and scored a team-high 25 points.
“Ella had the best game of her life,” Cristiano said. “I told her after the game, she’s on my Mount Rushmore.”
Her epic night put San Ramon Valley back in a familiar spot: the Open Division title game. Its matchup with top-seeded Acalanes on Saturday night at Campolindo will be the Wolves’ fourth consecutive trip to the Open final.
However, they are still seeking their first Open title.
But regardless of whether or not Cristiano can guide his team past his good friend and coaching mentor Margaret Gartner’s Acalanes in the NCS’s marquee game, he said the result will not take away from what a young SRV team has accomplished thus far.
“It’s a hell of an accomplishment for a young group, and they know the future is very, very bright,” Cristiano said, before adding. “But we’d love to win it.”
– Joseph Dycus
MOREAU CATHOLIC: KELLEN HAMPTON LEADS MARINERS TO D2 FINALS
University-San Francisco junior Lucas Lau came into Wednesday’s game on a historic scoring stretch.
In the three games prior to Wednesday’s NCS Division II semifinal game against Moreau Catholic, Lau scored 112 points combined. That’s a 37 point average in that stretch.
The junior looked to be on track to hit his high scoring average after a solid first half that saw him put up 15 points before halftime.
But that all changed when Moreau senior Kellen Hampton asked coach Frank Knight to take the assignment of guarding Lau in the second half.
“I was so happy when he said he wanted the assignment,” Knight told the Bay Area News Group on Wednesday night. “He said it in the huddle and I was happy not just from a basketball perspective, but just watching his development as a player.
“The best players want to guard the best players on the other team. He made that clear tonight.”
Lau finished with 22 points, but scored only seven in the second half with Hampton guarding him. Hampton led Moreau in scoring with 20 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds.
Moreau also got scoring contributions from Cole Loud (18 points) and Kareem Jackson Jr. (15).
The Mariners will be looking to win their fifth NCS title and first since 2019. They will play No. 2 Cardinal Newman on Saturday at San Leandro High.
“We expect Cardinal Newman to give us another tough game,” Knight. “I think it’s going to be a battle of styles and contrasts.”
– Nathan Canilao
A LOOK AHEAD TO THURSDAY
Only the Central Coast Section will be in action on Thursday … No. 7 Homestead will try to pull off another boys Division I upset against No. 3 Carlmont, and No. 1 Palo Alto will attempt to advance past a No. 5 Leigh team that got to the semifinals on a buzzer-beater from halfcourt. … In boys D-II, No. 1 Christopher will face fellow Blossom Valley Athletic League opponent and No. 5 seed Willow Glen.. … The top seed in Division IV, the Boss Mhoon-led The King’s Academy, will face WBAL rival and No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep. … On the girls side in Division I, No. 2 Evergreen Valley faces No. 3 Menlo-Atherton, and No. 1 Los Gatos will take on No. 4 Salinas. .. Division II’s No. 8 Westmont will see if it can follow up its huge upset of No. 1 Hillsdale with a win over No. 5 Prospect.
