OAKLAND – Bishop O’Dowd is showcasing its shiny new gym this basketball season, and on Saturday some of the Bay’s best teams battled it out while paying homage to Dr. Martin Luther King in the school’s 5th annual MLK Classic.
Archbishop Mitty fends off Oakland Tech
McKenna Woliczko and Maya Hernandez took the court by storm in the final game of the day for Archbishop Mitty, offsetting the still-injured Morgan Cheli, as the Monarchs outlasted Oakland Tech, 68-60. Woliczko scored 30 points and corralled 11 rebounds, while Hernandez tallied 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Erin Sellers paced the Bulldogs with 14 points, four rebounds, and three steals, and Sophia Askew-Goncalves finished with 12 points and five boards.
Mitty (13-2) and Tech (12-5) were tied with four minutes remaining in the second quarter, but Mitty got into the double bonus early and netted 26 free throws out of 39 attempts for the game, with Hernandez getting 11 of her total from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs also hurt themselves with multiple turnovers.
The first significant separation occurred in the third quarter, when Hernandez assisted sister Haley Hernandez on a three-pointer, followed by a steal and bucket by Jacquelyn Michael. Though Sellers answered with a three, Oakland Tech failed to convert on consecutive possessions in which they came up with a steal and had a fast break, then committed a turnover, punctuated by a trey by Mitty’s Elle Hanson.
Oakland Tech trimmed the lead to three with four minutes to go, but Maya Hernandez had a coast-to-coast layup and two free throws, and Woliczko a put-back as part of a 6-0 spurt lasting just over a minute that effectively put the game away.
“Not having Morgan out there has impacted us, but it has provided opportunities for other players to grow in their roles,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips said.
Woliczko said of Hernandez: “She does the work no one else wants to do on the team,” while Hernandez stated that Woliczko is “always ready - she brings a spark to us.”
Cheli is considered day-to-day according to Phillips and could see action as soon as Monday.
Bishop O’Dowd ekes out victory against SPSV
A big second quarter and impressive performances by two juniors proved the difference in the Dragons’ 59-53 win versus St. Patrick-St. Vincent. Savannah Jones had 19 points and five assists, and Devin Cosgriff tallied 22 points for the Dragons (10-4). Jones had nine of her total in the second period, in which O’Dowd erased a four-point deficit to start the frame and went into halftime with a 28-20 advantage. Cosgriff ruled the second half with 18 of her total, including 10 in the fourth with eight coming from the free throw line.
Marissa Elizalde powered St. Patrick-St. Vincent (12-3)with 23 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. The only other double digit scorer was Aiani Prater, who had 13 points along with five assists.
Although O’Dowd never trailed in the second half, they couldn’t get comfortable as the Bruins kept nibbling away. Elizalde’s nifty floater as the shot clock expired with 3:13 remaining made it a 48-47 game, but Elizabeth Quinteros nailed a three-pointer, Nyah Carmen Greenwood answered an Elizalde bucket with one of her own, and Cosgriff netted all six of six free throw attempts thereafter to seal the victory.
“The last three weeks (Jones) has taken it to another level,” O’Dowd coach Malik McCord said. “She understands the system, and she leads by example. She literally put us on our back.”
Salesian picks up double-digit win
Salesian walked away with the largest margin of victory in any of Saturday’s slate of games, but it would be inaccurate to call it an easy win. Moreau Catholic led after the first quarter and still was within reach to start the fourth, but ultimately fell to the Pride 57-43.
Sofia Fidelus scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, adding six rebounds and three assists, and Makiah Asidanya had 15 points for Salesian (15-2). Also of note was the play of D’yani Bernstine, who had only four points but had an all-around game that included six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals.
“Moreau smacked us right in the beginning, but we have composure, we stuck with it, and just kind of incrementally added to it,” Salesian coach Steve Pezzola stated.
Madison Thomas scored 15 for the Mariners (9-7). Dymonique Maxie had a strong first quarter, but her scoring tailed off and she finished with eight points, though kept her team in the game with her rebounding and defense.
Earlier action, Monday’s key games
In the first two games on Saturday, St. Mary’s-Berkeley edged Francis Parker-San Diego, 54-51, and Pinole Valley downed Woodside Priory 50-37.
Monday’s additional games include O’Dowd taking on Mitty at noon, Salesian squaring off with Piedmont at 2:00, and Priory facing Valley Christian at 3:30.
The new gym seats over 1,300 and includes a digital scoreboard, amongst other features. Coaches had nothing but positives to say about it.
“It’s a beautiful facility, so definitely feel blessed,” McCord commented, adding that it allowed for more JV games to be played in the tournament, and for the schedule to be more concise.
Finally, what makes this tournament one of the more special ones is that players are invited to speak or sing to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., before the game. Saturday’s event included recitations of poetry as well as personal speeches. Oakland Tech’s Jada Williams stood out as her own speech returned a vivacious response from the crowd.
“I love coming here because of what they do in honoring Dr. King,” Pezzola said. “Our pregame talk was to give thanks and our prayer was that we can be messengers for Dr. King’s message, and we can implement those dreams.”
“It’s a fun event to run, just love seeing the young ladies speak on what this stuff means to them with MLK and the unity,” McCord concluded.
