Crespi players hoist the championship trophy following their victory in the CIF State Division I title game Thursday night in Sacramento.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The boys basketball team at
Berkeley (Calif.), riding a wave of emotion, a slew of tough shots and a loud student body, was in the middle of a third-quarter spurt.
Sean Spikes, a 6-foot-5 junior, drilled a couple three-pointers,
Niles Malone made another, and the upstart from the North Coast Section, playing in its first state title game of the modern era, had turned an 11-point halftime deficit into a 37-36 lead midway through the third quarter.
Crespi (Encino) coach Russell White called a time.
"Not sure if you noticed, but our guys didn't show an ounce of panic," White said.
Crespi's De'Anthony Melton soars in for a dunk.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
They barely blinked.
Instead
De' Anthony Melton, a 6-foot-4 athlete headed to USC, scored an inside deuce, teammate
Brandon Williams drove in for another layup and Melton finished off the quick 6-0 spurt with a jumper in the lane.
Crespi was gone.
The Celts sprinted to a 68-53 CIF State Division I championship title at Sleep Train Arena, the team's second straight crown after taking the Division IV title last season.
Melton, an absolutely beast of an athlete, made 10 of 15 shots on a variety of gliding hoops and dunks, scored 24 points and added 17 rebounds.
Mitchell Mykhaylov, a fluid 6-6 senior, added 19 points and 13 rebounds and Williams contributed 16 points and seven rebounds, giving the Celts (33-4) their 62nd win over two seasons.
As athletic, deep, fast and balanced as Berkeley (24-9) displayed this season, especially late, it had really no answer for Crespi, who made 27 of 59 shots and outrebounded the Yellowjackets 45-29.
"We just made more layups," White said. "We got to the rim more. I thought we rebounded very well, but I was really happy how we attacked the basket."
Berkeley coach Mark DeLuca was also impressed.
He got 18 points from Malone, who made four three-pointers, 14 from Spikes and 12 by
Ben Baker. But it was on the defensive end, where Berkeley has excelled of late, that the Yellowjackets struggled.
Frankly, it was not even their fault.
"When plays broke down, they got to the rim and scored a lot easier than us," DeLuca said. "And when you have a Division I athlete like (Melton) who could finish, there's not much you could do. … That's OK, we'll learn from this and be better when we come back here in the coming years."
Said White: "I give Berkeley a lot of kudos for going down swinging. But it's hard to defend us with so many weapons."
The top one being Melton.
"The kid is pretty unbelievable," White said. "He's a Swiss army knife. A hybrid. A do-everything kid. He's had an amazing career."
