Prep basketball: Duke commit McCain, defending champs Centennial-Corona keep Salesian at bay
Jared McCain scored 25, Centennial-Corona beats Salesian at the Crush in the Valley showcase.
SAN PABLO – On some nights, a basketball team can feel like they did most things right, and still come up on the losing side.
That’s how Salesian felt on Saturday after putting up a good effort against Duke commit Jared McCain and defending Open Divison state champions Centennial-Corona, but losing 64-52 at the ‘Crush in the Valley Showcase’ at Contra Costa College.
McCain, a consensus five-star senior, scored 25 points to lead the Huskies in a game that was close most of the way.
“We did a pretty good job,” Salesian coach Bill Mellis said, “and while there’s some things we could’ve done better, I’m proud of the effort we gave. We battled tonight.”
Even with all of the Pride’s attention on him, McCain couldn’t be contained.
He ran off screens from one baseline corner to the other, dribbled through picks and weaved around his teammates in search of open looks.
No matter who Salesian threw at him, McCain would score efficiently as his constant motion had the Pride exerting most of their energy on the defensive end.
“He just moves, he just never stops, he never stays in one spot,” Salesian wing Deundrae Perteete said. “He comes off his screen and he hits tough shots, because he’s a great player.”
Centennial, the No. 1 team in the state in Scorebook Live’s rankings, led 14-11 after one quarter, 28-21 at halftime, and then 44-38 at the end of three quarters.
Salesian, not listed in those state rankings but placed No. 5 in the Bay Area News Group Top 20, kept the game within single-digits throughout, and even cut the Centennial lead to as few as two points late in the third quarter.
But when Centennial needed to keep Salesian at bay, it always seemed to make the play it needed to make. If McCain wasn’t the one getting a bucket, it was UCLA-bound bigman Devin Williams, who finished with 15 points and an uncounted number of shot-altering contests at the rim.
“I think we controlled the tempo,” Mellis said. “At the end of the day, they just made more shots than we did.”
Junior guard Amani Johnson led Salesian with 15 points, and sophomore guard Alvin Loving added another 14. Wing Deundrae Perteete notched seven points while defending all five positions on the floor, which kept the game within reach when Salesian went through cold shooting spells.
“He’s a guy we rely on, and he really showed his toughness today,” Mellis said.
The game may not have ended with smiling faces on the Salesian bench, but the competitive game did prove one thing to the team:
Come playoff time in February and March, Salesian can play with anyone in the state.
“We’ve got a great group of guys who all play hard and want to win, and that translates onto the court. We can hang with anybody.” Perteete said. “We’re gonna take this loss on the head and build from it.”
OTHER NO. 1 TEAMS:
No. 1 Piedmont 66, No. 7 Acalanes 51: The best team in Bay Area News Group’s girls basketball rankings stayed perfect after it handled another top team, Acalanes (13-5), in a non-league game at the Sabrina Ionescu showcase at Carondelet. Maddie Hill was named game MVP after she scored 21 points and had four assists. Two-guard Natalia Martinez scored 19 and had six rebounds, and forward Eva Levingston finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and six combined blocks and steals. Piedmont improved to 18-0. With the win, Piedmont has now beaten four of the Top 10 teams this season.
Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks 64, No. 1 Dougherty Valley 53: The Wildcats (19-2) had their seven-game winning streak snapped between two of the top teams in the state at the State Preview Classic in Southern California. Notre Dame, ranked No. 11 by Scorebook Live, was led by Mercy Miller’s 17 points. Meanwhile Connor Sevilla’s 24 points paced Dougherty Valley, which entered the matchup ranked No. 7 in the state.