HAYWARD, CA – The inaugural NorCal Catholic School Challenge at Chabot College saw five games contested between five Bay Area Catholic schools and five Catholic schools from other areas but after all was said and done only two Bay Area parochials were able to claim a victory.
In the nightcap 6-4 junior wing Jaden Alexander scored 21 points (six rebounds) and 6-11 senior center Dishon Jackson, who was named the game’s MVP, had a double-double 18 points and 15 rebounds with three blocks to lead St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo (8-4) to a 69-60 over San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno.
The Bruins also got a solid game from Easai Contreras. The senior guard had 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
San Joaquin Memorial led 20-16 after one quarter and 30-27 at the half, but the second half belonged to the Bruins as both Alexander and Jackson asserted themselves, particularly in the third quarter when a 10-2 run to end the third gave St. Patrick-St. Vincent a 47-42 lead entering the final period and a momentum swing as well.
Senior Stephon Young led San Joaquin Memorial (11-6) with a game high 22 points including four three-pointers. Joseph Hunter and Jack Wade added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
A Bay Area Catholic school also won the first game after a St. Mary’s-Berkeley team missing one of its best players in 6-5 senior forward Jason Roche, almost let a 45-28 third quarter lead get away before holding on for a 62-59 victory over Central Catholic-Modesto.
Game MVP Leo Tillson, a 6-4 senior forward, led St. Mary’s (11-4) with 20 points (four three-pointers), including a basket with 29 seconds left that gave the Panthers a 60-57 lead. Junior Elijah Mulford added 11 points.
A player that emerged for Coach Rich Buckner and impressed the assembled analysts and college coaches was Blake Hudson. The 6-0 freshman point guard showed he can do most anything after finishing with eight points, game-highs of eight rebounds and four steals, plus three assists. He was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line including two he drained with 13.1 seconds left that provided the game’s final points, Hudson uses both hands, has excellent court vision, not afraid to go inside and defends well, has a good first step and a nice touch.
Senior Hugo May was a solid contributor for St. Mary’s after finishing with eight points and seven assists including a perfect pass to Tillson on the late fourth quarter basket.
Central Catholic (9-6) got 19 points from senior Dayton Magana, 17 points from junior Arvinhd Sandhu, and 13 points from senior Nic Sanu.
St. John Bosco-Bellflower 67, Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland 66 OT
Bishop O’Dowd had the final possession but after a missed shot the Dragons had two attempts at put-backs but couldn’t get one to fall as the buzzer sounded in heartbreaking loss for the local boys.
St. John Bosco (13-4) is more known as a football school after they captured this year’s CIF Open Division Bowl Game championship, but the Braves were No. 16 in the last Cal-Hi Sports rankings and none of their losses since those rankings came out are to bad teams and Coach Matt Dunn and his boys showed they are a basketball school too.
Northern Arizona-bound 6-8 senior Wynton Brown earned MVP honors after finishing with 19 points, including 10 of the Braves last 14 points, plus nine rebounds. Junior Lamaj Lewis had 16 points and four assists, and senior Josh Camper added 12 points.
Bishop O’Dowd (5-7) got a very solid effort from 6-4 junior Marsalis Roberson. He had a game-high 24 points and a team-high eight rebounds with two assists and two steals. Cal-bound 6-5 senior Monty Bowser came on in the second half to finish with 17 points, and 6-8 freshman post Jalen Brown held his own against the big front line of Bosco to add 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists and three blocks.
Damien-La Verne 67, St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda 51
Damien trailed only twice early at 2-0 and 4-3 but from there it was all Spartans in a game they led 67-36 before the subs gave up a 15-0 run to close out the game.
Game MVP Malik Thomas, a 6-3 junior guard, was a blistering 7-for-9 on three-pointers and 12-of-14 overall from the field. Thomas led Damien (12-4) and finished with 35 points for the biggest offensive output in any of the five games.
Sophomore R.J. Smith added 11 points and senior Austin Cook chipped in with 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Junior Jaylen Thompson showed why he is one of the top sophomores on Northern California. The 6-6 forward led St. Joseph Notre Dame (6-5) with team-highs of 18 points and six rebounds. Another newcomer that showed promise for the Pilots was Ahmaree McCullough. The speedy freshman guard had 11 points.
The game featured two of the greatest head coaches in the history of boys basketball in the state of California who are in the top five for coaching victories according to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book.
Mike LeDuc of Damien came into the game as the second-winningest coach in state history and with the win he currently has 943 career coach wins in a career that began in 1980 at Damien, two stints at Glendora, and now back at Damien since the 2015-16 season. LeDuc was matched up against the Northern California all-time leader and fourth-winningest coach overall, Don Lippi of St. Joseph Notre Dame. Lippi, who began at the old St. Joseph in 1980, then went to St. Patrick-St. Vincent, Skyline-Oakland, St. Ignatius-San Francisco, and back to St. Joseph Notre Dame in 2004, will have to wait until a Tuesday Bay Counties – East League match-up at Redwood Christian-San Lorenzo to get career win No. 879.
Bishop Manogue-Reno (NV) 65, Moreau Catholic-Hayward 55
Bishop Manogue (8-4) only trailed once at 45-44 but the game was close all the way with the game tied at 19-19 after one quarter, Manogue leading 34-32 at the half and 47-44 after three quarters, but from there Dalton Plummer got the hot hand to lead the Northern Nevada boys to victory.
Plummer, a 6-2 senior forward, earned game MVP honors after finishing with a game-high 25 points, including six down the stretch to help seal the deal. Plummer also had seven rebounds. Senior Mateo Reviglio added 18 points and four assists.
A young Moreau Catholic (6-6) got 17 points and four steals from sophomore Trey Knight, the son of Mariners Coach Frank Knight, 13 points from junior Donovan Tynes, and 12 points and six rebounds from junior Johnathan Langford.
