NorCal Tip-off Classic: Deer Valley isn't all Marcus Lee

Marcus Lee, the No. 24 recruit in the country who has signed to Kentucky, didn't play in a North Coast Section Foundation game Tuesday against the nation's No. 10 team Salesian.

He was resting a sore groin.

Made sense. Why bring him back too early before the season hasn't officially started.

Just the same, Deer Valley (Antioch, Calif.) fell behind 30-15 but then outscored the Pride the rest of the way in an encouraging 89-77 loss.

The reason they hung within range: the Wolverines' 6-foot-1 point guard Kendall Smith exploded for a game-high 36 points and made 22 straight free throws.

Impressive.

Well, Lee was back for the NorCal Tip-off premier game against Sacramento Saturday night at Newark Memorial High School and dazzled everyone with a little 24-point, 25-rebounds, 7-assist performance in a 97-96 double-overtime win.

But guess what? He was outshined by guess who? Smith went for 48, including a 10-foot banker at the buzzer to force a second overtime.

Smith is a 6-foot-1 guard by the way.

According to Cameron Schott of NorCalPreps.com, Smith made 20 of 27 shots and had seven rebounds and six assists. Schott reports Smith has offers from San Jose State, Pacific, Long Beach State, Hofstra, and Portland. UNLV coaches were at the Salesian game on Tuesday. I suspect an offer might be coming in from the Rebels as well.

By the way, Sacramento's De'Von Boyd had 31 points, Aaron Cameron 28 and James Hadnot added 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Other games:

Fulton Siddiq scored 22 points as fourth-ranked and host Newark Memorial (Newark) scored a 60-53 comeback win over No. 14 Castro Valley, which was paced by 12 points each from Derrick Clayton and Andrew Garcia. … Jovante Carleton had 19 points, leading No. 10 El Cerrito to a 79-53 win over No. 16 Miramonte (Orinda), which was paced by game-high 23 points from Kiran Shastri. … Joe McGlaston scored a tournament-high 31 points pacing Dublin to a 75-63 win over No. 11 Freedom (Oakley), which got 21 points by Elliot Smith… No. 17 Heritage (Brentwood) defeated McNair-Stockton 66-48 behind 13 points from Aaron Berry … Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) had too much balance, led by Malik Thames with 23 points, for No. 13 St. Patrick/St. Vincent (Vallejo) in a 74-63 victory. Jalen Canty – watch out for this 6-6 junior – had a game-high 25 points. … Antelope got 29 points and 11 rebounds from Gabe Bealer to easily defeat No. 9 McClymonds 57-42.

Thanks to Erik Stordahl for reporting on this fine event.