FAIRFIELD, CA – There were six high school games and three prep school games contested in the nine-game Crush In The Valley at Solano College on Saturday, and in all the high school affairs the CIF North Coast Section came out on top.
The Salesian and Bishop O’Dowd wins went as separate features and the other four NCS wins are recapped here.
St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda tops Sacramento
In a game that was fairly close throughout NCS No. 13 St. Joseph Notre Dame took control down the stretch and used the free-throw line to post a solid 58-50 victory over a not too shabby Sacramento in the third of six high school games at the nine-game Crush In The Valley at Solano College.
St. Joseph Notre Dame (14-6) was led by Eric Greer with 18 points including making all six of his free-throws with four coming late in the fourth quarter. Jayelen Thompson showed a lot of promise as the freshman wing had 14 points including two three-pointers and he double-doubled after snagging 10 rebounds. Pilots star Julian Vaughns fought off foul trouble to finish with 11 points including four of five on the free-throw line in the final period.
Sacramento (13-8) got 14 points from senior Izayah Talmadge and 13 points including three three-pointers from sophomore Alex Maze.
St. Joseph Notre Dame legendary Coach Don Lippi, the only coach in state history to win a section titled in four different (Central Coast, North Coast, Oakland and Sac-Joaquin) upped his career coaching win total to 876 which is No. 4 on the all-time list compiled by Cal-Hi Sports and No. 1 in Northern California and the North Coast Section.
The Pilots resume action the Bay Counties – East League this week where they are 4-0 and a heavy favorite to win their last two games with Redwood Christian-San Lorenzo and College Prep-Oakland.
Stuart Hall impresses in lopsided victory
Stuart Hall-San Francisco (19-4) started fast and ended even faster in a game in which they pretty much increased their lead all the way to the final buzzer of a 73-44 thrashing of the local boys from Vanden-Fairfield.
Miles Amos is pretty well known in Northern California boys basketball circles, and the 6-1 senior guard that is starting to get some Mid-Major interest took a knee early so his time was limited, but he still finished with 14 points.
The player for P2P NCS No. 18 Stuart Hall that really turned some heads and looked much improved since last season, and had Knights Coach Charlie Johnson all smiles after he had a very impressive outing, was Nigel Burris. The 6-6 sophomore that looks like he can develop as either an inside banger if he picks up an inch or so and some bulk, or a wing like he sometimes plays at this level, posted a double-double 22 points and 10 rebounds, had his way inside with the bigs of Vanden and even drained four three-pointers.
Senior Alex Byrd added 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Burris and Amos were named co Players of the Game.
Vanden (16-7) got six three-pointers and a game high 24 points from junior Tejano Hardee.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent rally trips Kentucky boys
After trailing just about the entire game Prep2Prep NCS No. 16 St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo (16-7) looked like they were beaten when Kentucky Marshall County-Benton opened a 53-43 lead with just under four minutes left, but the Bruins clawed their way back by knuckling down on defense and closed the game on a 14-1 run to post a 57-54 victory.
After only scoring a single point in the second half of the fourth quarter, Marshall County, a host of one of the top boys showcase events in the nation, had a shot to tie the game at the buzzer but a three-point shot did not draw iron.
Bruins quarterback turned senior guard Akil Edwards led the way with 24 points (four steals) followed closely by the double-double 19 points and 12 rebounds with five blocks by 6-10 junior post Dishon Jackson. The two combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter, seven of which came from the free-throw line.
Edwards and Jackson were co Players of the Game.
Marshall County (8-13) got a great game and a double–double 23 points (five three-pointers) and 13 rebounds from 6-3 junior Tyler Stokes.
Berkeley 61 Antelope 53
Berkeley (10-12) led 37-22 at the half but the boys from the Sacramento suburbs fought back to close to 52-47 with 5 minutes left before the Yellowjackets went on a 7-0 run to put it away.
Sophomore Dante Searcy nailed four three-pointers and finished with 14 points. Senior guard Jordan Ashworth was named the Player of the Game after finishing with 10 points, including four of five free-throws in the fourth quarter that helped seal the deal. Senior 6-6 post Omari Preston-Jordan added 13 points.
Antelope (6-19) got a game-high 27 points (two three-pointers) from senior guard Ty Burrell.
