SAN RAMON, Calif. – The Dougherty Valley starting lineup did not include two familiar faces on Saturday night: Ryan Beasley and Connor Sevilla. Yet without its two best players, the Wildcats had no trouble dusting off Berkeley, 63-38, thanks to a fine performance from Blake Hudson and contributions up and down the lineup.
Hudson had 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a block and a steal for Dougherty Valley (15-1). Chris Fallgren chipped in 10 points while Aadi Malali and freshman Rodney Westmoreland added nine apiece. Beasley and Sevilla were out with illnesses.
“We just told them to stay home and get well, and we’ll fight through with who we got,” Hansen said of Beasley and Sevilla. “Chris is a basketball savant. He can guard anybody, he knows every play we run, he knows everything we should do. And you get Blake in the open court he’s tough to guard, he’s just so dynamic.”
Berkeley’s starting backcourt of Ollie Miller and Samir O’Brien had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Berkeley (10-4), while Taj Lenz added eight points and six boards. But after the first quarter, which was close at 13-12 Dougherty Valley, the host Wildcats gained steam and won going away.
“We sped them up a little bit,” Hansen said about a second half adjustment. “The game got too fast, more for our speed than theirs. We were really good defensively, but we weren’t scoring enough. So we just figured let’s create some easy opportunities. Even if we give up a couple we get some at the rim.”
Beasley and Sevilla are expected back for Tuesday’s key matchup at San Ramon Valley. Both teams are ranked in the top five of NCS and top 20 in the state.
