AMERICAN CANYON, CA – The 86-74 victory by BallIsLife national No. 35, Cal-Hi Sports No. 2, and Prep2Prep North Coast Section top-ranked Salesian over Cal-Hi Sports No. 19 San Joaquin Memorial, is really not indicative of the dominance the Pride showed in dispatching a very talented team from the CIF Central Section.
“We knew about San Joaquin Memorial but they were no surprise to us because we know what we’re capable of,” said Connecticut-bound Salesian star guard James Akinjo. “With the magnitude of a game like this whenever the bright lights are on we step up our game.
The bright lights were certainly focused on the top high school game of the Third Annual Crush in the Valley seven game schedule on Saturday, and with Salesian as a co-host with NextMax and its Grind Session prep school programs, the stands at American Canyon were packed with fans wanting to get a taste of both, and they certainly got their money’s worth.
Salesian (22-1) never trailed, and after the game’s only tie at 3-3, the Pride went on a 16-2 run and from there were not threatened. San Joaquin Memorial closed to 44-34 early in the third quarter but the hosts answered with a 14-4 run. When 6-7 sophomore Te’Jon Sawyer, who came off the bench for a team-high 23 points with nine rebounds, scored to open the fourth quarter, Salesian led 68-45 and from there they coasted home.
As the announcer said several times, “Salesian has a lot of weapons,” and although that’s true, it all starts with Akinjo. Despite going for 22 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals against s state-ranked opponent, the 6-1 guard still felt he could have done even better.
“I feel like I did a good job defensively, and getting my teammates involved by distributing the ball, but I could have hit a few more shots,” said Akinjo, who was three of 10 on three-pointers.
Junior JoVon McClanahan hit four three-pointers and finished with 18 points. Tyler Brinkman, a 6-4 sophomore wing who reportedly just received an offer from Fresno State, hit two treys and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Joshua Jefferson didn’t score, but the 6-5 senior had a game-high 15 rebounds.
“San Joaquin Memorial is a playoff-type team so to win a game like this is really big,’ remarked Salesian Coach Bill Mellis. “One of the things I liked about the game was we had a lot of contributors. It was a total team effort.”
San Joaquin Memorial (17-6) was led by 6-6 Jalen Green. One of the nation’s top sophomores dropped in 17 points (eight rebounds), including a couple of high-flying dunks at the end as Salesian got out of his way so he could put on a show even though the game had long been decided. Loyola Marymount-signee Dameane Douglas, a 6-6 senior, added 14 points and seven rebounds. The leading scorer for the Panthers was senior Jonah Geron. The 6-6 senior had 24 points on eight three-pointers.
For Salesian the expectations begin to mount as they certainly appear to be the favorite to represent Northern California in the CIF Open Division playoffs. Even so, Mellis knows getting to the Promised Land is no easy task.
“We still have a little ways to go like needing crisper practices,” Mellis said. “But our players know what they need to do. They’re a pretty hungry group. Tonight was a really big, important step.”
O’Dowd holds off Nevada power Clark
Utah-bound Naseem Gaskin put the icing on the cake with a rebound and putback in the final seconds to seal a Bishop O’Dowd 65-59 victory over near national top 50 and Nevada high school No. 2 Clark-Las Vegas.
Gaskin, a 6-3 senior, finished with a double-double with game highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds. His backcourt mate Elijah Hardy, a 6-2 Washington-signed senior, added 20 points, six assists and five rebounds, meaning the duo accounted for 46 of the Dragons 65 points.
The game was a back and forth affair but O’Dowd maintained a small lead throughout, 20-15 after one quarter, 32-30 at the half, 44-43 after three quarters, and they only led 59-57 with 34 seconds left and Clark had the ball.
O’Dowd (15-5) has played a non-league schedule of very good state and nationally-ranked teams and is worthy of the Cal-Hi Sports No. 17 ranking. The Dragons will almost assuredly move up to No. 2 behind Salesian in the upcoming Prep2Prep North Coast Section rankings.
"Very important win for us," Gaskin said in a direct message on Twitter. "We are undefeated in league and have an 11 game winning streak. Our goal is to go into the Open Division in a good spot and we have been on the right track."
Clark (18-4) was led by James Bridges. The senior hit four three-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Prolific Preps blows past Aspire Academy
In one of the three prep school matchups of the Crush in the Valley on Saturday, Prolific Prep played without All-American Jordan Brown from Roseville, who has missed the last few weeks with a lingering injury, but the Crew didn’t need him in a 71-51 victory over Aspire Academy-Louisville.
Prolific Prep (18-5) used a strong second half to breeze past the Kentucky boys. Buffalo signee Jeenathan Williams, originally from Rochester, New York led the way for the Crew. The senior wing scored a team high 21 points while pulling down two rebounds and dishing out two assists.
The Crew received another shinning showing from fast rising prospect Nimari Burnett, as the sophomore originally from Morgan Park High in Chicago scored 17 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out eight assists. UC Santa Barbra-bound Sekou Toure provided a spark and chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists
Aspire Academy was led by one of the most advanced post players for his age group in Charles Bassey, as one of the top prospects in the 2019 class scored a game high 25 points while pulling down six rebounds for the contest. Bassey, who recently picked up an offer from UC Berkeley this week, showed a mastery of different post moves and a consistent pull up jumper to boot.
Other Crush in the Valley action
After a prep school game between teams from Arizona and Nevada kicked things off, Las Lomas took the court in the first high school game on Saturday and breezed past site host American Canyon, 79-51.
P2P NCS No. 9 ranked Las Lomas (18-2) put it away early with a 25-9 second quarter run. Jason Holman led the Knights with six three-pointers to finish with 28 points. Nathan Robinson added 23 points and Homer Kravets chippin in with 13 points.
Malik Ghiden led American Canyon (12-10) with 20 points.
Junior Miles Amos scored five of his team-high 20 points in overtime as Stuart Hall (15-8) defeated Sacramento, 65-62. Sophomore guard Jay Henry Ryan had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Spencer O’Brien-Steele added 15 points for Stuart Hall.
Freshman Nigel Burris (11 points, 10 rebounds) hit a three-pointer in overtime to give Stuart Hall a 61-58 lead, one it did not relinquish.
Izayah Talmadge led Sacramento (17-5) with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Former Moreau Catholic standout Kyree Walker, one of the top sophomores in the nation, put on a show that included back-to-back monster dunks before coming out of the game. Walker finished with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead Hillcrest Academy-Phoenix to an 80-55 win over Balboa City from the San Diego area.
The Crush in the Valley continues on Sunday with three prep school games, including the marquee matchup at 3:00 pm between Prolific Prep and Hillcrest Academy.
