FAIRFIELD, CA – Doubters beware because Salesian-Richmond is more than for real.
Going down the line in the various rankings the BallIsLife.com FAB 50 No. 25, Cal-Hi Sports No. 4 and Prep2Prep North Coast Section no-brainer No. 1 Pride, are more than rounding into shape for the upcoming playoffs.
On Saturday night, and in the featured high school game of the combined nine-game high school and prep school Crush In The Valley at Solano College, Salesian (24-0) trounced Nevada No. 2 Clark-Las Vegas in a 65-41 victory that wasn’t that close.
In fact, and with no disrespect to the Tri-County Rock League Salesian competes in, and that is tough but doesn’t have national-level talent, the way Salesian looked against a team that makes the computer-based national top 50 rankings and has two Division I players in Oklahoma-signed Jalen Hill and Arkansas State-committed Antwon Jackson, it could very well have another league outing. The dominance was in all aspects of the game.
“We knew it would be a tough match-up because we’ve played other national level teams and we saw them on film and we knew how good and well-coached they are,” Salesian Coach Bill Mellis remarked. “But we put an entire game together and we played our best game of the year.”
The Las Vegas team may have some D1 talent but they don’t have anything close to the McClanahan twins, seniors JoVon and Jaden, and when those two turned up the heat, particularly on defense, the results were dramatic.
Salesian led 18-14 after one quarter but in the second quarter the vise-like defense of the Pride limited the Chargers to three points. When football lineman turned 6-8, 275-pound post Te’Jon Sawyer dazzled the crowd with a reverse left-handed layup at the buzzer Salesian had a 28-17 halftime lead.
The Crush In the Valley hosts opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run to go up by 17 points, but a couple of turnovers and a bit of a lull on offense seemingly let Clark back in the game. A 9-2 run by the Vegas boys had them within striking range at 39-28 entering the final period.
Not so fast. What transpired next was a textbook display of defense and fast break offense by Salesian that included others besides the twins, and even took Mellis by surprise.
Junior Shane Bell got a steal and a basket and JoVon McClanahan followed with a basket and then two free throws to ignite a 17-0 run to start the fourth quarter that became 20-2 when blossoming 6-3 freshman guard Austin Johnson drained a three-pointer that gave Salesian its biggest lead of the night at 59-30 midway through the fourth quarter. From there it was time for the subs.
“I didn’t realize that run was so big,” Mellis said when told of the numbers.
As has been the case most of the season JoVon McClanahan did the heavy lifting on both ends of the court after finishing with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Despite only being 5-11 he slashed past everyone and anyone to the basket and even rose up over players seven to eight inches taller to get open looks at the basket.
Left-hander Jaden McClanahan added nine points on three three-pointers with four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Bell had nine points, Sawyer also had nine points with six rebounds, junior Jaden Lazo chipped in with eight points with two three-pointers, including one from NBA range, and Johnson, who turned some heads of the assembled analysts and college coaches with his solid play, had five points.
“I think we’re playing good basketball right now,” JoVon McClanahan said. “We played good defense and our defense is the key.”
Salesian also doubled Clark with a 28-14 rebounding advantage, and that stat is telling as well.
“Another main key is rebounding,” added Jadan McClanahan. “We won the rebounding battle and when we do that we have a good chance to win the game.”
What made the game even more impressive for Salesian is 6-5 junior Tyler Brinkman, who Mellis usually brings in as first or second off the bench, and who has some range on his shooting, is still out with an ankle injury and is expected back in a couple of weeks.
Both the McClanahan twins and Sawyer were named co Players of the Game.
Clark (18-3) got 15 points, three assists and three steals from the 6-7 Hill and 14 points from 6-7 Jackson, but the rest of the team only combined for 12 points.
“Salesian is really, really good, and it’s not just the twins. They have all the pieces,” said Prolific Prep co-director Philippe Doherty, and Doherty, a former college player and coach, and respected prep basketball analyst, knows his stuff.
Prolific Prep plays in the prep school portion of two-day event and helps Salesian host the event for the partnership between the Grind Session and Tanager Sports on Saturday.
Looking forward for Salesian the Pride they have two league games left with St. Patrick-St. Vincent before the league and then North Coast Section playoffs begin, with the CIF Northern Regional Open Division after that.
“With those two games plus tonight we’ll have three good games leading up to our league playoffs,” Mellis said.
“We may have put our best game together so far, and for sure this is kind of game we needed to prepare us for the Open Division,” Mellis continued. “But if we cross paths with teams like Sheldon and Modesto Christian, and even Dublin, we’re going to have to play and defend just as hard.”
“We really just take it one game at a time, and this was a regular season game,” Jaden McClanahan said. “But once the Open Division comes we have to be ready to play our best basketball.”
The bottom line is if Salesian plays like they did last night it will be hard for anyone in Northern California to match them.
