CONCORD, CA – Nick Klarman scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Clayton Valley Charter dominated after the first quarter as the Ugly Eagles defeated College Park, 82-60.
JD Williams added 15 points and nine rebounds for Clayton Valley (20-1, 4-1 DAL-Foothill), which responded to a 12-2 Falcon run to end the first with a 17-5 second quarter, then in the fourth doubled their 11-point lead they carried into that period.
Zyon Pullin led College Park (16-4, 3-2 DAL-Foothill) with 16 points, with 12 coming in the first. Ryan Taheri corralled a team-high seven rebounds.
“They get you playing at your pace,” College Park coach Craig Battle said. “You really got to keep your composure. We need to do a better job of handling the basketball to beat a team like that. They made their run by picking up the pressure. They really killed us with second chance baskets.”
It was the second meeting of the year between the two teams; in December, Clayton Valley edged College Park, 62-59, at the Antioch Tournament. The teams own the third and twelfth spot, respectively, in the Prep2Prep NCS rankings.
With just the one loss (a double-overtime thriller to Campolindo, as chronicled by Prep2Prep’s Ethan Khakmahd) so far in 2017-18, the Ugly Eagles are on pace to break the school record for winningest season.
“We had given so much in [the Campolindo game],” Clayton Valley coach Eric Bamberger commented, adding that the team had a reaction of “mourning” that lasted through the following game. “But this week of practice, and Saturday’s practice, was like old days. We were getting after each other and competing.”
Klarman, a senior forward, came up big particularly in the second half when he scored 21 of his total. He had several key plays, including a three-point play and a three-pointer near the end of the third to give Clayton Valley extra cushion, and a thunderous dunk that sent the crowd into frenzy. He punctuated such baskets with moves of the hand to accent the moments, building up the enthusiastic home crowd.
“Our mentality throughout the game was to feel them out at first and wear them down and execute at the end,” Klarman said. “We got a run on the second quarter and we took control in the second half.”
The Ugly Eagles’ Sinjin Speer also hit double-figures in points, getting 12 on four three’s, while Garrett Pascoe tallied seven points, six assists, and four rebounds. Cooper Dadami stepped in for Pascoe in the second quarter with Pascoe in foul trouble, and responded with three points, and three rebounds, and an assist in that span. Finally, Clayton Valley gained a significant edge at the free throw line, finishing with 12 more points from the charity stripe.
“Cooper played amazing,” Bamberger added. “I thought that was a big key for us to stay in it and take a lead.”
Bamberger also noted the defensive job on Pullin and offensive rebounding as keys to victory.
The win followed two nail-biters for Clayton Valley. After the Campolindo game, the Ugly Eagles survived Acalanes in overtime with a one-point victory. They face Las Lomas on Tuesday, then have the re-matches with Campolindo and Acalanes in the two games after that and closing the season at College Park.
When asked about the secret to the Ugly Eagles’ successful season, Klarman said, “Team chemistry, there’s no unselfishness on the team. At the beginning we were kind of lackluster on our rotations but we sized them up through practice and throughout the season made them better.”
