RICHMOND, CA – With absolutely no slight to visiting Hercules, the reason for the trek to Richmond on Thursday night was not so much about the 70-27 Salesian victory over the Titans, but to get a look at the nationally-ranked Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 1 Pride that is also the top team in Northern California in every rankings and No. 7 in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports rankings.
In reality it was a good game to watch Salesian as an entire team and not just the top players, senior twins JoVon and Jaden McClanahan, since all 14 players in uniform saw action and 13 scored. The Pride is so deep that Coach Bill Mellis has boys coming off the bench in his second set of substitutions that could be starters on a whole bunch of teams.
Shane Bell, a 6-3 junior wing led Salesian (10-0) with 17 points, all in a first half that saw the hosts take a 42-9 lead. Junior guard Jaden Lazo, starting in place of Jaden McClanahan who is nursing a turned ankle, hit four three-pointers for 12 points.
The player right now everyone wants to see is JoVon McClanahan, and he did not disappoint. The 5-11 senior that came up huge two weeks ago in a Gridley Invitational title-game 75-59 victory over a Sheldon-Sacramento team that Salesian supplanted as NorCal’s top team with the win, hardly broke a sweat in limited action against Hercules but still filled the stat sheet. After going for 24 points in the Sheldon win to garner MVP honors at the Gridley tourney, he made three of four three pointers for nine points, but added seven assists, four steals and four rebounds in around 15 minutes of action.
Te’Jon Sawyer, a 6-8, 285-pound junior that was only in his thirds game and lacked basketball shape after playing football up until a December 8 NCS D5 title game loss, still managed six points and six rebounds with three blocks and three steals.
Two starters that saw limited action but hit the glass hard were 6-9 senior center Manny Adeoye and 6-8 sophomore forward Demarshay Johnson Jr.
A player that was inserted in the third rotation and shined was junior guard Myles Savage. He had 12 points and six rebounds, all in the second half.
Although he only had two points a name to look for in the future is 6-3 guard Austin Johnson. The only freshman on the Pride roster showed he has some potential to be an impact player in the future.
Hercules (5-9) was led by junior Tory Williams with 15 points including three three-pointers.
Prior to the season some analysts and the always present pundits, prognosticators and self proclaimed experts had felt there might be a drop-off with the graduation of current Georgetown guard James Akinjo and power forward Joshua Johnson. Now, after doing everything possible they could have done so far to open the season and proving some of the naysayers wrong, Salesian is a team on a mission.
“A lot of people were saying that we lost James and were missing two key players,” JoVon McClanahan said. “But honestly, I feel like we never fell off. We have a lot of players that can play. Right now we want to come out on Saturday and make a statement.”
On Saturday the Pride will be at Valley Christian-San Jose for a showcase event where they will face perennial power Modesto Christian-Modesto. The Crusaders will come into the game 6-2 and are state-ranked in every rankings including No. 14 in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports rankings.
There is still a question as to whether Jaden McClanahan will be able to play on the ankle he rolled. He certainly wants to play but Mellis was a bit more circumspect.
“People doubted us and thought we had dropped off,” Jaden McClanahan said. “Now, we have something to prove. Hopefully I can go on Saturday. I really want to play.”
Whether or not Jaden can play will be up to the Salesian trainer, but Mellis is looking further down the road. After the Modesto Christian game Salesian leaves for the Chick-fil-A Classic in Columbia, South Carolina where the computer national No. 12 ranked Pride will open with Georgia No. 11 Norcross on Thursday.
Rankings and where the Pride are in the pecking order are one thing and Mellis and his boys want to stay on top and continue the mission, but the ultimate goal is a section, NorCal and state title, so risking playing Jaden against Modesto Christian might not be in the picture, and the extra few days off might be worth it by not playing him on Saturday and bringing him back in South Carolina.
“Jaden needs to be cleared by the trainer but we have to look at his long-term health,” Mellis remarked.
As for the prognosis for the team going into a trough stretch Mellis had this to say in conclusion.
“Modesto Christian is really good and the teams in South Carolina are all really very good. We have no easy games coming up.”