26 Feb Salesian High Wins CIF North Coast Section Championship

The Pride celebrate another addition to the plethora of banners hanging at their home gym in Richmond.

Story and photos by Joe Porrello

The Salesian College Preparatory High Pride boys varsity basketball team beat De La Salle High 52-43 to win the CIF North Coast Section Open Division finals Friday in San Pablo.

In familiar territory, it is NCS title No. 11 for the Pride, who have now won 17 games straight.

“This is a special group, and I’m just so proud of them,” said Salesian High head coach Bill Mellis. 

Playing a scheduled home game at Contra Costa College to accommodate for seating, the Pride matched up with the Spartans in front of a sold out gym of over 1,000 fans.

 

Both teams took a while to settle in, with neither scoring until Salesian notched the game’s initial points halfway through the first quarter. Each squad would collectively have more points in each ensuing quarter as the game went on.

Down six and scoreless with two minutes to play in frame one, De La Salle broke through with a three-pointer and then tied the game with another shot from deep. The Spartans did not make any more long-distance shots for the matchup’s remainder. 

With a score of only 10-8 midway through the second stanza of a physical game, the teams would head into their locker rooms separated by just one possession.

 

Coming out of halftime, the Pride scored on back-to-back offensive trips after De La Salle tied the game at 24, causing the Spartans to call a timeout and igniting momentum for Salesian High. 

“We were poised down the stretch, and we just didn’t let anything rattle us every time they made a run,” said Mellis. 

Though De La Salle got hot on offense in the final quarter, so did the Pride, and the Spartans could not recover.

Junior Salesian High guard Alvin Loving credited his team’s depth to their increased success as the game wore on.

“We have more bodies than a lot of teams do and can go deep into our bench,” he said. “When they get tired, we don’t.”

A pair of 6-foot-5-inch forwards paced Salesian High in scoring, with senior De’Undrae Perteete netting eight of his team-high 12 points in the last stanza and sophomore Carlton Perriliat notching 10 for the game.

 

Junior De La Salle forward Alec Blair scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth frame. His teammate and fellow 6-foot-6 tall junior forward Braddock Kjellesvig added 10 in the scoring column.

In lieu of perimeter shooting, Salesian High utilized prowess at the free-throw line, making eight of nine. The Spartans missed six of their combined 13 charity stripe attempts.

It would be only the third time this season De La Salle was held under 50 points, and the 52 scored by the Pride amounted to their lowest offensive output this season.

It was the defensive stoutness of Salesian High that gave them enough separation to win, as it has all season en route to an undefeated Tri-County-Rock League record of 10-0. It is said that defense travels, as evidenced by the Pride only playing eight of their 30 games at home and still being 29-1 overall.

>>>Read: Salesian High Continues Strong Season, Earns 20th Win

Following 18 collective losses in the past two seasons, Salesian High is currently on pace for one of their best campaigns in over two decades.

The Spartans themselves are unbeaten at 9-0 in the East Bay division and won every away game they played (6-0). De La Salle came in having won 12 of 13 and ranked No. 20 in California.

“That’s such a great team we just beat,” said Mellis.

Over the last 20 years, the Spartans have never had a losing record in league play or overall.

With the victory, the Pride avenged their loss to De La Salle in the same tournament almost exactly a year ago and got their first win against the Spartans in three years. The two teams have evenly split six head-to-head bouts over the past 10 seasons.

 

Despite evening the score with De La Salle and winning the NCS tournament, Salesian High is  not satisfied. 

“We feel like the job’s not finished,” said Pride senior guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor.

Loving had a similar sentiment.

“We’ve been working for this, but we’re still on a mission to win states and this is just one step,” he said. 

Salesian High will begin the CIF Regional State Championship tournament on Saturday as the No. 1 seed, again playing at CCC. The Pride will wait to find out who their first opponent will be in round two after earning a first-round bye.

Currently ranked No. 20 in the country, Salesian High likes their chances.

“I feel good about it; we know what we have to do,” said Hunkin-Claytor.