Nor Cal Tip-Off: De La Salle Upsets Centennial, SI Stages Comeback

Fans filled Dublin High's gym throughout an action-packed Saturday.

Saturday’s 16th Annual Nor Cal Tip-Off Classic, hosted at Dublin High, wrapped up with a bang as De La Salle knocked off Southern California powerhouse and Open Division mainstay Centennial in the nightcap of the nine-game event, 62-51.

Similar to the Spartans’ win over then-national No. 1 West Linn in their MLK Classic back in January, undersized guard Leo Ricketts was the star.

The six-foot senior scored 21 points and drained five 3-pointers, including one in the second quarter that nearly blew the roof off the gym after he broke a Husky defender’s ankles before knocking down the shot to put De La Salle (1-0) up 27-17.

“I like to think I show up in big games,” Ricketts said. “But really, it’s the same approach in every single game.”

The last of Ricketts’ five 3-pointers came inside the final four minutes, answering a putback by UCLA commit Eric Freeny to give the Spartans a 54-47 lead.

“It’s a heck of a win for us,” head coach Marcus Schroeder said.

Centennial (2-2) keyed in on star junior point guard Alec Blair, limiting him to just seven points, but Ricketts and sophomore Ibrahim Monawar stepped up offensively to compensate.

Monawar, a sophomore who spent his freshman season on the varsity roster, albeit mainly on the bench, scored a game-high 24 points and nabbed seven rebounds to offset the Huskies’ combo of Freeny and Arizona commit Carter Bryant.

“In the bigger stage, it didn’t surprise me at all,” Schroeder said of Monawar. “He works so hard and he’s a really good player. He played varsity as a freshman, and that’s not easy at any program.”

Bryant opened the game with a thunderous block and 3-pointer, but De La Salle set the tone from there by holding the Huskies scoreless over the next five-plus minutes. Centennial mustered just 19 points in the first half.

“We’re not necessarily trying to slow it down,” Schroeder said. “I think we just play really good half-court defense. Blair did a great job on Bryant, Arshawn (Salkhi) did a great job on Freeny, but it’s a team cover.”

Salkhi was scoreless on the evening but dished out seven assists while holding Freeny to 16 points. Bryant led Centennial with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Christopher transfer Braddock Kjellesvig, a 6-foot-6 junior playing in his first game for the Spartans after a family move from Gilroy, was instrumental off the bench with six points, five assists and eight rebounds.

“I’m a pass-first big,” Kjellesvig said. “We work on cutting through every time I catch it.”

He found a streaking Darrell Cenido for a layup to give De La Salle a 46-39 lead early in the fourth, then scored off a feed from Blair to make it 48-45 with 4:34 remaining after Centennial had cut the lead to one off Bryant’s stretch pass to Freeny.

Following a timeout and a defensive stop, Kjellesvig grabbed an offensive rebound before kicking out to Monawar for a 3-pointer to restore a six-point advantage.

St. Ignatius 63, Dublin 55

The St. Ignatius boys basketball team might just have some of the same comeback magic that the Wildcats’ football team encapsulated during the fall.

The Wildcats looked listless during the first half and trailed by as much as 14 during the third quarter, but rallied to tie the game with six minutes remaining and took the lead for good on a Raymond Whitley basket with 3:46 to go.

“I’m really happy with the second-half effort,” head coach Jason Greenfield said. "It would be nice if we could do that in the first half, too.”

Vince Crisp followed with a 3-pointer to give St. Ignatius (1-0) a five-point lead, and Whitley’s and-1 with 1:53 remaining stretched the lead to eight.

Whitley had a game-high 23 points, while Crisp scored 17 of his 22 in the second half.

“We had dribble handoffs that they were going under, so I shot it,” said Crisp.

After falling behind 43-29 on a Jalen Stokes 3-pointer, Crisp hit back-to-back threes, then sank two free throws to cut the lead to seven as SI upped the defensive pressure.

“We didn’t call plays for Vince,” Greenfield said. “He just became the beneficiary of good ball movement.”

Between Stokes’ 3-pointer and the final minute of the fourth quarter, Dublin (0-1) scored just six points.

“We got away from our gameplan a little bit,” Gaels head coach Tom Costello said. “We’ve got a lot of guys getting their first varsity experience. I liked our effort, but we turned it over too much.”

Much of the added defensive intensity for the Wildcats came from Steele Labagh. The sophomore finished with just two points but played the entire second half with four fouls before finally committing his fifth with 15.1 seconds left in the game.

“Steele plays with a level of effort and enthusiasm that sets the bar for the team,” Greenfield said.

Stokes led Dublin with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore Cameron Anderson had 12 points and eight boards. 6-foot-8 forward Theo Lamb had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats, while Marcus Bast had seven points and eight assists.

Bast hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 45-43 early in the fourth, then grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Whitley to tie the game with six minutes left. His layup off a turnover pulled the Wildcats even again at 47 before Crisp and Evan Bautista traded buckets. Whitley then scored to put SI on top for good, kicking off the decisive 10-0 run.

Branson 65, Mitty 58

The Branson Bulls were always going to depend heavily on Illinois commit Jase Butler and junior point guard Semetri Carr to reach the promised land in the 2023-24 season. But where were they going to find production in the post after graduating George Gale?

Look no further than Finley Keeffe.

The senior scored 14 points and kept the Mitty Monarchs out of the paint as Branson (1-0) jumped out to a 35-20 halftime lead and led wire-to-wire to defeat the CCS powerhouse 65-58 in the penultimate game of the 16th Annual Nor Cal Tip-Off Classic.

“Having the versatility to attack from the perimeter and from the post opens up a lot for me,” Keeffe said.

Keeffe formed a three-headed monster with Butler and Carr to power the Bulls to victory. He assisted on a Butler basket after Mitty (0-1) had cut a 15-point lead to four early in the final quarter, and Carr followed with a three off of one of Joaquin Aguillon’s eight assists to give the Marin County titans a 56-47 lead.

Butler led all scorers with 23 points and gathered seven rebounds, scoring Branson’s first 12 points of the second quarter to give his team a 30-16 lead. Carr, who was able to play off the ball for much of the night thanks to Aguillon’s passing, finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

San Diego commit Gavin Ripp led Mitty with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists. He scored the Monarchs’ first five points of the second half.

“We kept things simple in the second half and played through Gavin in the post,” head coach Tim Kennedy said. “In the first half we rushed some quick shots and made it tough on ourselves.”

With sophomore Caeden Hutcherson sitting out his transfer period after coming over from St. Ignatius and junior Xavier Swanagan injured, Mitty used just six players. UC Riverside commit Tyler Jones scored 15 and Nathan Noronha scored 13, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in the second half.

Roosevelt 77, Riordan 72

As the Roosevelt Mustangs headed to the Bay Area for the 16th Annual Nor Cal Tip-Off Classic, the discussion was all about five-star junior Brayden Burries.

Burries looked every bit the part, scoring a game-high 28 points, but he was hardly alone in a 77-72 victory over the Riordan Crusaders, one where the Mustangs looked like a state Open Division Contender.

Roosevelt (5-0) knocked down seven 3-pointers in the first quarter and shot 13-of-27 from beyond the arc for the game, opening up a 20-point advantage before Riordan (0-1) made a late charge, cutting the lead to six in the final minute.

Colorado State commit Darnez Slater impressed in front of Rams assistant coach Ali Farokhmanesh, scoring 18 points and pulling down nine rebounds, while Isaac Williamson scored 15, all on 3-pointers. Point guard Myles Walker, generously listed at 5-foot-9, scored nine points and dished out seven assists.

“They’re a really high-scoring team, but part of that was because of us,” Riordan head coach Joey Curtin said. “We let them get hot.”

The shorthanded Crusaders made a comeback bid behind star sophomore Andrew Hilman, who finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds despite battling foul trouble. Saint Mary’s commit Zion Sensley had 23 points and 10 boards, but shot just 2-of-12 from 3-point range.

Riordan was without four-star junior Jasir Rencher, who’s still serving a suspension for his role in a fight during last year’s state tournament. Nathan Tshamala was also suspended from the fight, but will be sidelined beyond the duration of the suspension due to a knee injury. Riordan is also waiting for transfers Nes Emeneke, Ryder Bush and Dorde Curcic to gain eligibility.

Emeneke, a 6-foot-10 junior who, like Hilman, comes from Cameroon, will start in the post when eligible. Until then, 6-foot-7, 330-pound sophomore Tommy Tofi will man the position. Tofi, a left guard with multiple major college football offers already, had eight points and 12 rebounds.

San Ramon Valley 70, Capital Christian 56

The San Ramon Valley Wolves showcased tremendous depth in their season-opening 70-56 win over a youthful but talented Capital Christian squad.

Junior Luke Isaak scored a game-high 21 points for San Ramon Valley (1-0), while eight other teammates chipped in field goals to accompany him. Elliot Conley had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Matthew Diekmann scored 12 off the bench and Seamus Deely finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Diekmann, Jack Moxley and Sean McDonnell combined to direct the offense and fill the one spot vacated by graduation from last year’s team. Point guard Parker McClaughry was the lone regular senior starter on Brian Botteen’s 2022-23 squad, which went 26-8.

“We have a lot of depth,” Botteen said. “If we keep the pace going, I don’t know how many teams are going to be able to match us.”

The Wolves opened the third quarter on a 13-5 run to open up a 17-point lead, their largest of the night, but arguably the most important SRV basket of the game came in the first quarter when Will Ambidge, who hadn’t played since undergoing surgery in April, scored off one of Moxley’s six assists.

“Him giving us four minutes was huge,” Botteen said of the 6-foot-7 senior.

Jayden Valdez led Capital Christian (0-1) with 18 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Myles Wiggins finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomores Fred Blue and Mohammed Kamara scored nine apiece.

Clovis West 78, Vanden 64

The Vanden Vikings put up a valiant effort without the likes of Montana commit Tyler Thompson, Luka Radovanovic and sophomore Nate Hibbert, but Clovis West’s firepower was ultimately too much to overcome.

Vanden (1-2) faced an early 14-4 deficit, but rallied to take a 36-26 lead after a 12-1 run and led 38-33 at the break. Clovis West (2-0) drew even late in the third quarter on a Cameron Ardissono corner three, then opened the fourth on a 10-0 run to take control.

DJ Stickman led the Golden Eagles with 32 points on 14-of-18 shooting, while Chris Baudreau went 5-for-5 from the field and scored 10. Jackson Young scored 12 and Jace Kellogg added nine in the winning effort.

Vanden used a balanced attack to stay in the game, with Josh Neal scoring a team-high 15 points. James Carraway and Jayden Robinson each scored 12, while Ahsan Huff and Andrue Perkins added eight apiece.

Weston Ranch 85, Bakersfield Christian 72

Junior point guard Gabriel Gutierrez put up one of the best performances the Nor Cal Tip-Off Classic has ever seen, scoring 41 points for Bakersfield Christian, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a balanced Weston Ranch attack.

Lathrop transfer Izaias White led Weston Ranch (2-0) with 22 points, Richard Banks scored 19 and Darrion Lilly scored 18 on 7-for-10 shooting. El Camino-Sacramento transfer Mateen Rafiq scored 14, shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Gutierrez shot 16-of-26 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 5-of-9 from the line for the Eagles, but had little help. Bentley Waller scored nine for Bakersfield Christian (0-3) in the losing effort.

Bellarmine 68, Head-Royce 49

The Bellarmine Bells finished the 2022-23 season on a high note by overwhelming teams with their size, and they continued that at the opening game of the 16th Nor Cal Tip-Off Classic as they pulled away in the second half for a 68-49 win over the Head-Royce Jayhawks.

Bellarmine (1-0) held a 32-15 advantage on the glass, with Nick Corbett and Julian Gospich grabbing nine boards apiece. Gospich was named Player of the Game after his 18-point performance, while Corbett scored 14. His brother, sophomore Will Corbett, added 16 points while junior Brayden Harris finished with eight.

Head-Royce (1-1) got 12 points from Micah Nyamuzuwe, 10 from Marcel Pierre-Louis and eight from Micah Riebel.

Lincoln 73, Ygnacio Valley 60

The Lincoln Trojans trailed at halftime against Ygnacio Valley, but capitalized on a tired Wolves team with just seven players suited up.

Freshman Johnathon Rossiter led a 21-8 third quarter as Lincoln (1-0) turned an 11-point deficit into a 13-point victory. Anthony Moore led all players with 21 points and seven rebounds, Quentin Thompson scored 15 and Rossiter and Jagger Merolla each chipped in 10.

Antonio Kellogg Jr., whose father played at UConn and USF after attending McClymonds, scored 12 of his 17 in the first quarter for Ygnacio Valley (0-1). Jalan Cody also scored 17, shooting 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and Todd Totom Jr. finished with 11, but the Wolves were undone by 21 turnovers.