Julius and Malcolm Price led St. Joseph of Santa Maria in its big win on Saturday night in Napa over Salesian of Richmond in matchup of top 10 state-ranked squads. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Despite Prolific Prep of Napa relocating to Florida, the high school basketball showcase that began 10 years ago in the Napa area returned on Saturday to Napa Valley College. Prolific Prep never was a CIF program but has produced several big-time NBA draft picks. The feature game for California teams on Saturday featured top 10 teams Salesian of Richmond and St. Joseph of Santa Maria. We were there for that game on Saturday plus several others, including Riordan of San Francisco vs Modesto Christian.
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In last year’s Crush in the Valley boys basketball showcase, senior Tounde Yessoufou of Santa Maria St. Joseph was in the spotlight, and for good reason. He was on the cusp of becoming the state’s all-time scoring leader.
In this year’s event, played on Saturday at Napa Valley College, the Knights were back and while Tounde is missed (now at Baylor) this time the focus was on the entire team. St. Joe came up from Santa Maria as the No. 7 team in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports State TOP 30 (with two losses to out-of-state foes) and headed back home on Sunday morning with a 67-63 victory over Salesian of Richmond. The Pride (ranked No. 3 in the state) lost for just the third time this season.
All six major returnees from St. Joseph’s 2024-25 squad that ended the season 31-2 and at No. 4 in the final state rankings (with a loss to No. 2 Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the CIF SoCal Open Division semifinals) are very much improved and give head coach Tom Mott an effective outside-inside combination.
Brothers Julius Price (senior committed to Stanford) and Malcolm Price (junior with lots of D1 offers) lead the St. Joe backcourt and both made big shots and all their free throws down the stretch vs Salesian. Shooting guard Gunner Morinini didn’t score much on Saturday but his scoring average has gone up this season to 14.0 from 9.2. On the inside, 6-foot-10 junior center Godson Eyita, 6-foot-10 senior Abdul Bare and 6-foot-8 sophomore Williams Sacre guard the basket like bloodhounds. Eyita also had 12 points on Saturday to add to the offense.
“Whenever you can beat a great team like Salesian there are ramifications for rankings, possible seedings down the road,” Mott said. “It’s just a great win against a great opponent.”
St. Joseph head coach Tom Mott and Salesian’s Bill Mellis greeted each other after Saturday matchup at Crush in the Valley. Photo: Mark Tennis.
St. Joseph had a 47-41 lead entering the fourth quarter after Julius Price scored nine points in the third quarter, including one basket and three free throws in a 9-0 run that turned a 35-34 deficit into a 43-35 lead.
Salesian came back in the fourth quarter and had the game tied at 49-49 and then 51-51, but could never get the lead. With the score at 61-57 heading into the final 1:11 of play, the Knights effectively killed off 30 seconds of the clock and then regained possession on a loose ball with 29.4 seconds left. The Pride eventually got the ball back, but missed a shot and had to foul. That sent Julius Price to the free throw line where he made two for a 63-57 lead with 18.6 seconds left.
The Pride still weren’t done, however. Senior guard Isaiah Davis made two free throws and then with 7.2 seconds left he was fouled while attempting a three-pointer. He made all three free throws that cut the lead to 65-63 and then the team’s trademark defense caused a turnover with 6.3 seconds left. Davis then had an open three-pointer but the shot rimmed out, Eyita grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made two free throws with 0.8 seconds left for the final margin.
“At times tonight we didn’t move the ball that well and defensively we made some mistakes that we don’t usually make,” said Salesian head coach Bill Mellis, who won the 686th game of his career earlier in the week. “Their bigs are more than just length and they have solid guards and length there, too.
“We got what we wanted on the last shot,” he continued. “(Isaiah) had the hot hand. We were going for the win. It was a good shot. Can’t fault him for it not going down.”
Julius Price, who led all scorers with 24 points, also had the interesting experience of going against Salesian’s Elias Obenyah, who will be a future teammate at Stanford. They won’t be competing for playing time at the same position in college, but on Saturday they often went up against each other since both are very good defenders.
“It was definitely great going against him,” Price said. “I have nothing but great things to say about them as a team. I’m pretty sure we’re going to see them again.”
If that happens, it probably wouldn’t be until the CIF State Open Division state championship. St. Joseph, being from the CIF Central Section, can go to either the NorCal or SoCal regional playoffs. The thinking that we have is that it will be in the south based on conversations with CIF officials, who put the Knights in the south last year even though with Yessoufou it made more sense to have them in the north as the top seed. Teams from the San Luis Obispo-Santa Barbara County areas in the Central Section also have all been going to the south for regional playoffs in other sports in the last two years (example Arroyo Grande football).
Obenyah had 18 points for the Pride, which was led by Davis with 20 points.
In other games seen during the day at Napa Valley College:
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) 64,
Modesto Christian 58
A score that was on many people’s mind as this game was unfolding was Salesian getting a 74-62 win against Modesto Christian just last Monday at the De La Salle MLK Classic. And for almost the entire game, the MC Crusaders (No. 21 in the most recent State TOP 30 rankings) had the lead and certainly looked like they might pull off the upset of the No. 12 Riordan Crusaders.
Andrew Hilman looked like a NorCal Player of the Year candidate for Archbishop Riordan in its game on Saturday vs Modesto Christian. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Modesto Christian had its last lead of the game at 55-53 in the fourth quarter. Riordan, which never trailed by more than six points, took a 58-55 lead with 3:23 left in the game on a three-pointer by freshman Judah Van Ewijk, which was his only basket. Andrew Hilman followed with two more field goals after two more unsuccessful trips by MC for a 62-55 lead and after that the MC Crusaders didn’t threaten.
Hilman had scored six more points in the fourth quarter prior to those final two baskets and led all scorers with 21 points. Senior guard D.J. Armstrong had two baskets and a three-pointer in the third quarter to help keep Riordan connected closely to MC and ended with 15 points. Senior forward J.P. Pihtovs was a beast inside the paint blocking shots and getting dunks. He had 12 points.
“We told them at halftime that we’d have to dig deep and show how much we wanted it,” said Riordan head coach Joey Curtin. “Luckily, we made just enough plays at the end, led by Hilman.”
Riordan won after playing the previous night in a West Catholic Athletic League game and was playing for the fourth time in a week. The Crusaders improved to 15-1 with their only loss continuing to be the one to Crean Lutheran of Irvine before everyone became eligible.
Modesto Christian fell to 14-6, but showed it remains the team to beat in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, although Folsom only recently lost to the Crusaders by 66-64. After falling behind 16-8 in the first quarter, first-year head coach Chris Teevan’s squad went on a 9-0 run that extended into the second quarter to take a 21-16 lead.
Junior guard Trevor Dickson displayed an excellent shooter’s stroke for MC throughout the game and had 19 points. Freshman center Somto Patrick also was in double figures with 14 points. Junior point guard Siincere Hudson, who has only been eligible for less than a month after his transfer from Inderkum of Sacramento, had 11 points.
Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 70,
Clovis North (Fresno) 61
This game turned twice — in the fourth quarter — but the Mariners (17-3) pulled away in the final two minutes in holding off the Broncos, who dropped to 14-10 overall.
Junior point guard Isaiah Clendinen of Hayward Moreau was the player of the game in team’s win vs Clovis North. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Moreau had a 51-40 lead in the final minute of the third quarter and had a 51-43 lead going into the fourth quarter. Clovis North continued to surge to start the fourth quarter, and extended its run to a 55-51 lead for a 15-0 spurt. That’s when the Mariners regained their footing, took a 57-55 lead and then 59-57 on follow ups by 6-foot-11 sophomore center Brendon Williams. A three-pointer by Moreau’s Sebastian Atako with 1:22 left then gave Moreau a 64-57 lead.
Williams made his presence felt throughout the game and had 23 points. The Mariners were led, however, by junior point guard Isaiah Clendinen, who connected for 25 points.
Clovis North was hampered by not having leading player Elias Gish, who had a eye injury in the team’s previous game. Senior McKae Amundsen had one trip down the floor in which he was fouled intentionally, made two free throws and then off the in-bounds pass buried a three-pointer. He fueled the early fourth quarter rally and ended with 35 points.
Games on Saturday Not Seen
*State No. 4 St. John Bosco was originally scheduled to play Salesian in the Saturday portion of the Crush in the Valley, but the coaches agreed to switch opponents after they played each other in late December’s The Classic at Damien (Salesian won 61-58). The Braves instead played St. Mary’s of Berkeley in a very late game on Saturday night and had no difficulty in a 61-40 win even though leading player Christian Collins didn’t play (flu). We saw the team play until late in the second quarter before leaving at almost 10:30 pm to start the drive home to Stockton.
*Templeton Fountaine had 25 points lead Vanden of Fairfield to a 79-57 victory on Saturday morning vs Brave Christian of Dublin. Thanks to Ethan Kassel of Bay Area Preps Insider of letting us know that Valley Christian of Dublin is now Brave Christian. One less Valley Christian in the state is a good thing.
*We did see Prolific Prep of Florida and Southeastern Prep of Florida win in academy matchups during the day, but they are not part of our California coverage. Prolific defeated Bella Vista Academy of Arizona, 69-61, as likely future NBA lottery pick Caleb Holt had 19 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Southeastern Prep defeated DNA Prep of Chatsworth, 81-54. C.J. Rosser had 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists for Southeastern.
*In the first game of the day on Saturday, Fremont of Oakland improved to 13-7 with an easy 79-35 rout of Fortune Early College Prep of Sacramento.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
