NEWARK, CA -- Player of the game Casey Roquemore led the way with 17 points to lead Berkeley past St. Joseph Notre Dame on Saturday.
The contest was the opening game of the seven-game Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic at Newark Memorial High.
A decent morning crowd of several hundred turned out to see coach Mark DeLuca's Yellowjackets meet the defending state champion Pilots. St. Joe's coach Don Lippi, the former St. Ignatius mentor, did not attend the game because he was watching his son play at Whitman College in Southern California. Perhaps the Pilots could have used him.
"We just didn't have the energy we should have had," said 6-foot-4, 220-pound Pilot center Lamont Banks, who led St. Joe's with 21 points and seven rebounds. "It was a combination of things. We played our alumni last night and we didn't come out with the same energy we did last night."
Added St. Joe's guard Darne Duckett: "We were sluggish; we didn't have any energy."
That wasn't Berkeley's fault. The Yellowjackets were not outscored in any quarter in taking a 28-25 halftime lead and building a 61-51 lead by the 5:23 mark of the fourth quarter. The Yellowjackets went cold from the free throw line in the game's final minutes but St. Joe's could not get closer then the final margin, only achieved because Miles Harris drained a 3-pointer with four seconds left for the Pilots.
Besides Roquemore, Asa Allen scored 14 points and took six rebounds for Berkeley, Zach Copeland scored 13 points and Morris had 10.
DeLuca was also not doing cartwheels about his team's energy level for the 11 a.m. tipoff.
"It was kind of a lackluster start," he said. "I was a little worried about our intensity. We weren't firing on all cylinders, but you'll always take an ugly win over a pretty loss."
Copeland, though, was upbeat after the hard-fought victory.
"I feel good," he said. "I just tried to provide energy for my team and help weak-side on Lamont (Banks) when he posted up."
Banks was a force inside for St. Joe's, using his sturdy frame to create space and muscle shots in.
"I kind of knew what he was going to do because he played on my AAU team," Roquemore said. "We've been working hard in practice for this for about a week, so I wasn't worried."
Besides Banks, Duckett had 14 points for the Pilots and and Jade Smith and Harris had 13 points apiece, with Smith also taking eight rebounds.
SAN RAMON VALLEY 55, CORDOVA 50
Drew Kunde heated up at just the right time for the Wolves en route to a come-from-behind win.
The Wolves were clinging to a 52-50 lead with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter when Kunde got the ball in the corner. He drained a 3-pointer to give his team a nice cushion and its final margin of victory.
"We were up two and I got an open look and decided to shoot it," said Kunde who led the Wolves with 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field and also took seven rebounds. "I like the corner. I thought it was going in. It felt great to look at the scoreboard and see we had a five-point lead."
Kunde got the game's MVP award, but thought he could have done more.
"I missed some shots that I should have made," he said. "If I had hit them we could have won by more."
Cordova, paced by Jordan Roberson (27 points on 8-of-19 shooting), led 25-21 at the half and 39-38 after three quarters. But San Ramon Valley by using its nice spacing on offense, quick ball movement and ability to score in the paint, simply outlasted Cordova.
Guard Keith Smith had a stellar game for the Wolves with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Also for SRV, big Kyle Spakman scored 10 points and led his team with nine rebounds, showing a nice touch around the basket and an ability to finish with both hands.
"It's a good start to the season and should be good for us going forward," Smith said. "I think we set the tempo starting the fourth quarter and out-lasted them. We prepare for crunch time and practice hard and when moments like that come along, we're ready."
SRV coach Brian Botteen was not so upbeat, though he'll take the W.
"We were unpolished," Botteen said. "We have 10 days off and we'll take the time to clean things up. We didn't execute that well."
Still, Botteen is pleased with what he's seen so far in a team he says can go "15 players deep" if it has to.
As for Cordova, obviously Robertson is a standout. Besides the lean and athletic guard, JaQuan Lewis scored 11 points and Chris Johnson had six points and a team-high eight rebounds.
"We have a lot of young, fresh players," Roberson said. "We need to work more as a team. We had turnovers at crucial moments and we'll have to look at the film and see what we can do about that."
Roberson, who has a 3.3 grade point average, is uncommitted, but is being pursued by Washington State and Oregon State for starters, he said.
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