MOUNTAIN VIEW — After going 10-16 last year, San Ramon Valley had already turned things in the right direction with a third-place finish at the Riordan Crusader Classic and a second-place showing at its own Mark Madsen Invitational, but Thursday’s opening-round win at St. Francis’ 42nd Joe Schram Holiday Classic confirmed that the Wolves are for real.
San Ramon Valley (7-4) looked nothing like a team that averaged under 50 points per game last season with a 63-56 win over the Monterey Toreadores, using excellent depth to take control in the fourth quarter.
After leading for the entire first half, the Wolves found themselves in a 40-37 hole after three Mohammed Adam free throws, but Sam Warren’s half-court bank shot tied the game entering the fourth quarter.
Warren, who hadn’t scored until the half-court shot, then caught fire, scoring another 11 points in the fourth as SRV started the quarter with a 14-4 run. After Evans Charles scored inside to cut it 49-42, a Pat Deely 3-pointer and Warren steal and layup gave the Wolves the only double-digit lead of the afternoon.
“We were passing the ball well and getting everyone involved,” said Warren, whose older brother, Josh, has yet to play this year due to thumb injuries. “Our defense was feeding into our offense.”
There was no quit in Monterey (8-2), with a Tahjae Ordonio 3-pointer and another basket from Charles, who scored five of his sixth in the fourth quarter to get back within five. Mohanid Adam (13 points) scored to cut it to 54-52 after Charles split a pair of free throws, but Deely restored a four-point lead and Michael Santich scored five points over the final two minutes to put the game away.
Mohammed Adam led all scorers with 19 points, including a perfect 11-of-11 showing at the line, but the SRV reserves outscored Monterey’s bench 24-6, headlined by Warren’s 14. Deely led the Wolves’ starters with 12 and Manish Peters added nine.
San Leandro 64, Hillsdale 43
A valiant effort despite a severe disadvantage in both size and athleticism had Hillsdale (5-4) down just four at halftime before the Pirates were finally able to pull away. Seth Godtfredsen and Junior Cotton each scored 15 for the Fighting Knights, with Cotton coming into his own in his junior season after taking some lumps in his first two years of varsity basketball. San Leandro (9-3) got 12 from Ciri Sawyer, 10 from Keshad Johnson and nine from Kiki Aguirre to set up a rematch with San Ramon Valley, who the Pirates beat in the championship of SRV’s Mark Madsen Invitational.
Santa Cruz 53, Palma 41
In a matchup that will have major effects on CCS Division IV seeding, the Cardinals dominated the first three quarters and led by as much as 22 before Palma (5-3) scored the final ten points of the game.
Santa Cruz (7-4) led by ten at halftime and 17 through three quarters, with Scotty Pramuk scoring a game-high 14 points off the bench. He hit a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Cardinals went on a 9-3 run to open up a 41-25 lead, and the lead sat at 20 after two free throws by Makai Norman (12 points) and a basket by Robert Bishop III, who finished with 13. Jeremiah Elmore didn’t score, but had five assists and seven rebounds.
5-foot-4 point guard A.J. Suniga led the Chieftains with 11, including two 3-pointers in the first quarter as Palma opened up a 6-2 lead.
St. Francis 86, Lynbrook 37
With Lucas Lee and Maurice Wilmer out injured and Oscar Pedraza out sick, the Lancers scored 22 points in the second quarter and another 29 in the third to win by running clock. Roy Yuan led St. Francis (6-1) with 18 points and Matteo Fontana added 14. Lynbrook (0-10) got 13 points from Neil Warke, but the Vikings have struggled in the early portion of the season with injuries to Tatsumi Eng and point guard Ryan Kawamura.
