The 21st MaxPreps/De La Salle Martin Luther King Jr. Classic had a little bit of everything: upsets, big comebacks, highlight-reel plays. But the closing act may have been the best one of all, as Salesian’s James Akinjo scored 35 points in a 76-62 win over Modesto Christian in the marquee game of the night.
“Whenever we feel we’re in a position where we need to score, I step up to the plate,” said the Connecticut-bound senior after scoring 23 of his 35 in the second half.
Salesian (17-1) never trailed in the second half and took the lead for good on a Joshua Jefferson layup, one of Akinjo’s six assists on the night. Akinjo’s 3-pointer on the next possession stretched the lead to five, and the Pride led by eight after threes on consecutive possessions by Jaden McClanahan (13 points).
Akinjo capped off the showcase with 14 more points in the fourth quarter as the lead ballooned to as much as 16 in the final minutes. Modesto Christian (13-3) trailed by double-digits for the final seven minutes, with Akinjo stretching the lead to 11 on a three-pointer and sealing the game with just under three minutes to go by feeding Jefferson for a dunk, then a steal at half-court and a transition layup to make it a 15-point game.
Junior Ballard, a transfer from Lathrop playing in just his third game for Modesto Christian, scored 15 points. The Crusaders, who will travel to Enochs on Wednesday, also got 13 from Dathan Satchell and 11 from Michael Pearson.
Jefferson finished with 13 for the Pride, who will face El Cerrito on Wednesday night. Akinjo was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line.
SPSV stuns Las Lomas
Fans who didn’t arrive at McKeon Pavilion until the middle of the day were in for quite a surprise when they found out that a young St. Patrick-St. Vincent team handed Las Lomas its first loss of the season, 52-48.
The Bruins won the opening game of the day thanks to a double-double from 6’8 sophomore Dishon Jackson, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds as well as five blocks. St. Patrick-St. Vincent (10-5) led wire-to-wire, opening up a quick 6-0 lead and holding an 18-6 advantage early in the second quarter.
Las Lomas (15-1) didn’t heat up from the field until a late 11-0 run to cut the lead to 48-46, but SPSV finished the game at the line thanks to Akil Edwards, who totaled 14 points. The Knights got 17 points from Jason Holman and 14 from four-year varsity player Robert Prince.
Oak Park makes trip worthwhile
Making the trip to Moraga, even with a league game back in Southern California the following night, was well worth it for Oak Park as NorCal audiences were introduced to Riley Battin. The 6’10 Utah commit hit three 3-pointers and went 7-for-8 at the free throw line in a 28-point effort to lead his Eagles in a 77-54 win over Valley Christian that was far closer than the final score suggests.
Valley Christian (9-5) played with 6’7 Cameron Fini coming off the bench in a limited role while recovering from the flu and was without the services of 6’6 Arya Balaji, yet the Warriors trailed by just nine with six minutes remaining after sophomore Joey Santos hit a 3-pointer, his only points of the day. However, Oak Park (12-6) scored the next seven points and closed the game on a 20-6 run. Sophomore guard Clark Slajchert scored six of his 20 points over the final six minutes while his brother, Wes, scored four in the stretch and finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds. 6’11 senior Ezekiel Richards finished with 10 points for the Eagles.
Though he scored just four points in the fourth quarter, Battin was the star of the afternoon contest. Two of his points kick-started that 20-6 run to seal the game, but he had already made his mark as Oak Park pulled ahead early. Over a four-minute stretch in the second quarter, he outscored the Warriors 10-9 on his own. He scored the first five points of the third quarter to stretch the lead to 39-30 and put the Eagles up by 10 with his third 3-pointer on the afternoon.
“I thought he’d be the MVP of the WCAL,” said Valley Christian head coach Mark DeLuca. “They’re a complete team, but he’s a special player.”
Even though Valley Christian hasn’t played at full strength since the end of December and lost a fifth straight, the Warriors put up a valiant effort on Monday, with Fini’s 13 points on 7-of-8 free throw shooting and 16 from Jaylon Bryant. Jay Allen-Tovar, a 6’8 junior in the post, finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
“I thought we represented our league well,” said DeLuca.
O’Dowd finds consistency
When all the pieces are clicking for Bishop O’Dowd, Lou Richie has himself a heck of a team.
Future Washington Husky Elijah Hardy scored 12 points, pulled down seven rebounds and fed his teammates with seven assists while Utah signee Naseem Gaskin finished with a double-double (11 points, 14 rebounds) as the Dragons topped Pleasant Grove (Utah) 64-54.
Bishop O’Dowd (10-5) got 19 points from Ross Williams, who sank five 3-pointers on the day. Kawika Akina scored 12 for Pleasant Grove and Casey Brown added 10 for Pleasant Grove (13-3), but the matchup in the post drew most of the attention. 7’3 junior Matt Van Komen (10 points, 14 rebounds) finished two blocks shy of a triple-double, but Cal offensive line commit Miles Owens held his own in a bench role for O’Dowd, scoring seven points and defending Van Komen.
The Vikings had cut the lead to 55-53 before a Gaskin 3-pointer sparked a 9-1 Dragons run to close the game.
Damien wins back-and-forth affair
For years, the De La Salle game at the Spartans’ own MLK event was considered one of the less exciting affairs due to the team’s low-scoring, slow-paced style.
The 2018 edition was nothing of the sort, with De La Salle (11-5) opening up a 15-point lead before halftime, Damien responding with a 22-1 run to take the lead and DLS tying the game with a 6-0 run to close the third quarter before the visitors from La Verne, also named the Spartans, pulled away with a 22-point fourth quarter.
Damien (16-3) was led by Northern Arizona commit Cameron Shelton, who scored 33 points and looked like the type of player who could make a serious impact in the Big Sky Conference as a freshman.
UCSD commit Justin Pratt led De La Salle with 17 points, including 11 during a 19-4 run to give his team a 32-17 lead in the second quarter where he was constantly open in the corner. Tim Kostolansky scored 12 and Cade Arbogast finished with 11 for the showcase hosts.
Youthful Moreau wins thriller
For all the quality games that were played on Monday, only one came down to the final possession, and it was Moreau Catholic’s 59-56 win over Woodcreek, in which a desperation 3-point try by the Timberwolves at the buzzer hit iron and fell away harmlessly to seal an impressive win for Frank Knight’s Mariners in a battle of young teams.
Amil Fields scored 17 for Moreau Catholic and L.J. Anderson added 14, but it was Glenn Byrd who hit a pair of free throws with 22.6 seconds left to put the Mariners ahead and Leonard Turner scoring his 12th and final point of the game from the line in the final seconds to boost the lead to three.
Clark Cagle carried Woodcreek (13-5) with 28 points and 15 rebounds.
