WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — The Northgate Broncos aren’t going to overwhelm too many teams during warmups.
Rather than blow opponents away with size or athleticism during layup drills, they simply wait until the game starts to unleash a ferocious attack.
Clayton Valley became the Broncos’ latest victim, watching the hosts go on an early 17-0 run that served as enough separation for Northgate to win the DAL-Foothill opener for both teams, 68-58.
“We said we wanted to come out as a family, stick together and run our offense, and that’s what we did,” said Dylan Golan, who scored nine of his 14 points in the opening quarter.
The Northgate basketball family is one that’s been largely intact for more than a decade, and the familiarity that the Broncos have with each other showed with their understanding of spacing and ball movement.
“I’ve known most of these guys since kindergarten,” Golan said.
As familiar with each other as most of Northgate’s players are, head coach Mike Shaughnessy is almost brand new to the group. A New Jersey native, he took over the program before the shortened 2021 season, but it didn’t take long for the players to catch on to what he’s trying to teach.
“Guys really did a great job of not just trusting our offense but understanding that ball movement is gonna break down the defense,” Shaughnessy said.
That movement was at its best in the first quarter, where Northgate (11-2, 1-0 DAL-Foothill) scored 17 straight points after allowing a pair of Jeremiah Dargan free throws to start the game. Golan and Dylan Chung each recorded and-1s and Thayne Merrill hit a 3-pointer before the Ugly Eagles finally settled in.
Clayton Valley (9-5, 0-1) did get within six with an 8-2 run in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 27-21 on a Dargan jumper from just past the free-throw line, but a Brady Cook three-point play and Golan free throw sent the hosts into the half up 10. That lead ballooned all the way to 17 in the third when Cook’s 3-pointer put the Broncos up 47-30, and even though the Ugly Eagles closed the quarter on a 7-2 run, the game looked to be well in hand for the hosts.
That 7-2 run didn’t end with the third quarter, though. Combined with the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, it turned into a 20-5 onslaught. Jason Zimmer’s offensive rebound to open the quarter set Mason Bamberger up for a 3-pointer before Zimmer’s backcourt steal and layup, and Ramon Bailey Jr. connected from beyond the arc to answer a Golan floater from the elbow to trim the lead to six.
Cook’s and-1 with 6:40 left put the Broncos up 54-45, but Dargan scored off a Bamberger assist and Anthony Karmann, who came off the bench to score 11 in the second half, fired off a 3-pointer from the wing to cut the lead to four.
Just when it seemed like the world was crashing down around them, the hosts got the next six points to finish off the win, with Chung hitting a 3-pointer and Merrill making one of two free throws before a Chung offensive rebound, setting Merrill up for an elbow jumper to make it 60-50.
“We played at their pace at that point, and when we got back to playing at our pace, we got up by 10,” Golan said. “It’s not about me, it’s not about them, it’s not about someone individually.”
Clayton Valley did get back within six on another Karmann 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining, but the Broncos went 21-of-24 on free throws for the game, including 8-for-9 in the fourth quarter, to close things out. Luke Joseph, who finished with 12 points, made four attempts in the final 18 seconds to seal the win.
Cook scored a game-high 16 to lead a balanced Northgate attack, and he also added seven rebounds and four assists. Merrill matched Golan with 14.
The Ugly Eagles got balanced scoring as well, with 12 from Dargan and 10 from Jake King, but poor shot selection and a 31-23 rebounding disadvantage, including a 5-0 gap in the final four minutes, couldn’t make up for the even scoring distribution and 14-of-15 performance on free throws.
“I can’t tell you I’m surprised. They’re a really intelligent, experienced team. They play together well, everybody knows their role and it’s hard to guard them,” Clayton Valley head coach Frank Allocco Jr. said. “On the flipside, we still have a lot of guys who are still learning. Tonight, I don’t think we trusted our offense. We tried to make things happen individually. We’re valuing making a play with the ball too much instead of realizing that a rebound off a free throw is a big play, or getting a loose ball is a big play. They have guys who understand their roles, and our guys are still figuring that out.”
If the Ugly Eagles don’t figure those things out quickly, it could be an extremely rough week. They visit Campolindo (9-1) on Thursday. Northgate will be at home again on Thursday, welcoming in College Park (5-8, 0-1). The Falcons lost at Miramonte on Tuesday night, 83-48.
