HAYWARD, CA – It was old home week for Senior Team coach and Dublin Coach Tom Costello, as he returned to Chabot College in Hayward on Sundaywhere he was an All-Conference and Al-Academic Conference player in the early 1990’s, and as expected he led the Seniors to a 116-107 victory over a no-quit Junior Team.
Keshad Johnson, a 6-7 senior wing that is now at San Leandro after transferring from Envision Academy-Oakland, didn’t have anywhere near the most points and he wasn’t the games leading rebounder, but he was a slamma-jamma man and a human eraser.
Johnson finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals, and he controlled the paint and also was able to finish on the fly with three monstrous dunks. The flash and dash earned Johnson the MVP award in a close vote over Ezra Manjon of Heritage-Brentwood.
The MVP selection came on the heels of a great summer for Johnson who approximately 12 offers, including DePaul, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Washington, Montana and Nevada. Johnson has shown scouts he has the tools to excel at the next level but still has some work to do to get more big-time D1 offers. Moving from Envision to San Leandro and playing in the West Alameda County – Foothill will get him playing tougher competition like Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland and Berkeley and that should help elevate his game.
“I’m focusing on schools that are recruiting me and on helping my team win a state championship,” said Johnson, who may have to sit out the first month of the season.
Manjon, a quick and elusive 5-10 UC Davis-bound point guard that was the only committed player in the game, took control down the stretch and finished with a team-high 21 points with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
The junior team jumped out to an 18-12 lead early but 6-3 senior guard Will Chavarin of O’Dowd hit three three-pointers and the seniors started to gel, and they went on an 8-2 run to tie it at 20-20 after one quarter and they took a 53-47 at the half.
The second half Johnson, 6-6 forward Bryce Johnson of St. Mary’s-Stockton (15 points, 11 rebounds) and 6-10 center Josh Morgan of Sheldon (10 points, seven rebounds), who was playing against his high school coach Joey Rollings, who was coaching the juniors, took control inside and at one point the seniors led 75-56 before taking an 85-71 lead into the fourth quarter.
The juniors made a run but the closest they got was 98-90 on a basket by 6-2 guard Robbie Beasley of Dublin (six points, five rebounds, four assists), who was playing against his high school coach.
Steven Richardson, a 6-5 wing from Grant-Sacramento had 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting, Chavarin finished with 14 points and three assists and played very well, 6-2 guard Chance McMillan looked solid and finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The leading scorer in the game was Bryce Monroe, a 5-9 guard from Riordan-San Francisco that had 31 points, but it didn’t seem like it, and he also played the most minutes of any player in the game.
A player that looked good and played hard, and whose stock is rising is 6-10 Jhaylon Martinez of Vanden-Fairfield. He missed a lot of shots but fought hard on the glass on both ends of the court and finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Another Riordan guard, 6-2 JeLani Clark, had a strong game and finished with 14 points.
Rounding out the double-figure scoring for the juniors was Devon Sapp, a 6-3 guard from Archbishop Mitty-San Jose with 11 points, and 10 points each from 6-1 guard Xavion Brown of Salesian-Richmond and 6-9 forward Coleman Hawkins of Prolific Prep-Napa, who also had eight rebounds.
All in all the talent level selected by promoter, former college coach and noted Northern California boys basketball analyst, Gerry Freitas, was very good, and that’s exactly why Freitas has put on this event for nine years.
“This event was put together to promote and showcase elite players in Northern California high school basketball to media and scouts and to the fans of Northern California,” Freitas said. “This game brings many high level prospects into the limelight that will be going on to play at the college level in future years.”
