Major speed bump doesn't deter Salesian to state title game

RICHMOND, Calif. - Salesian High School's boys basketball team won more games on the court this season than any in school history.

The Pride are athletic, share the ball and extremely coachable.

"The best part about this team is its unselfishness," Salesian coach Bill Mellis said. "They have the best chemistry I've been around in 13 years of coaching. And this season we really needed it."

That's because at midseason - breezing along with a 16-1 record - the team's charachter and wits were tested more severely than any challenge on the court.

The Pride had to forfeit all of their wins and the team's star player, Jabari Bird, was no longer eligible to play.

Mellis, heading to a shoot-around before a Friday night game was told the news by Salesian athletic director Chad Nightingale that was delivered to him by North Coast Section Commissioner Gil Lemmon on Jan. 21.

"I literally thought he was pulling a giant prank," Mellis said. "But then I remembered. ... Chad's not really a prankster. I couldn't believe what I was hearing."

It's hard for some to fathom that two months later, Salesian is playing for its second CIF State Division IV championship in three years.

Bird, a transfer from Benicia, was ruled ineligible for a paperwork violation, then reinstated one week after the original ruling.

Three weeks and several appeals later, the Pride regained six of their wins (games in which Bird played, but it was deemed he didn't influence the outcome) and now, with an official record of 25-11 and an on-court record of 35-1, they play Windward (Los Angeles, Calif.) for a state crown at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.

Bird, the team's leading scorer at 15.7 points per game and one of the nation's most coveted sophomores, will go head-to-head with Harvard-bound Wesley Saunders (20.2 points, 10.0 rebounds per game) in a matchup of 6-foot-6 wings. It's the game's most intriguing subplot.

The only sign of the NCS's original ruling is that big number on the right side of Salesian's ledger - 11 is an unsightly blemish by state finalists' standards.

Otherwise, it has been all fast breaks and lopsided wins. Since Bird's return - he missed only three games - Salesian has won 16 straight by an average margin of 25.6 points. Its only single-digit win was Saturday's 59-53 decision over St. Mary's-Berkeley in the NorCal title game.

"Honestly, the players have done a great job of letting the adults handle business off the court and just concentrating on playing," Mellis said.

Post Freddie Tagaloa, a 6-8, 315-pound junior, said, "Basically when all of that news came down, we came together as a family and went out and played with a chip on our shoulder."

There were tears and anger when the news first broke.

"I was real depressed that week," Bird said. "I feel like my situation had let the team down. I didn't do anything wrong, but we had to forfeit those games and I couldn't play. But my guys stuck with me."

Bird's transfer documents didn't disclose he played AAU ball with Salesian teammate Mario Dunn, which Nightingale and Mellis didn't dispute but said they hadn't noticed was required.

The violation was appealed and after Lemmon investigated for three days, he reinstated Bird and ruled there was no undue influence in the transfer.

Bird missed three games that week, all victories - including a 74-37 win over Piedmont the day of the original ruling. That night, the Pride drove to Southern California for a game against 2009 state Division II champion Eisenhauer-Rialto near San Bernardino.

With Bird in street clothes, Salesian pulled out a 57-54 win.

"We weren't real happy as a team then, but we also kept our focus," said 6-foot junior point guard Dominic Artis, the MVP of the Bay Shore Athletic League. "Jabari is a major part of our team, but we had to play with even more purpose."

Mellis and Bird agreed the victory was key to the season and a relief from the turmoil.

"They definitely showed how strong a team we are," Bird said. "It was a great getaway."

The Pride have been in overdrive since then. Besides Bird, Artis (14.1) is the only Salesian player who averages in double digits, but six others score at least 5 per game and 10 have 10-point games.

Tagaloa, one of the nation's top 20 football recruits (class of 2012), had 10 points and 10 rebounds Saturday and leads the team at 9.3 rebounds per game.

Sophomores Dunn (5-11), a blur, and Jermaine Edmonds (6-3) are considered Division I prospects and Artis has offers from Washington State and Nevada.

Tagaloa said part of the reason Salesian barely missed a beat during the turmoil was because of Artis, the team's glue and leader.

"He stays so calm out there at all times," Tagaloa said. "We're always in control."

Windward coach Miguel Villegas is also impressed with Artis, who was Salesian's sixth man when it won the state title in 2009.

"He looks to me like though (Bird) might be their best player, (Artis) is maybe their most important player," Villegas said. "Overall, they are very athletic and very deep. They play a lot of guys. I think rebounding is going to be key. That and turnovers. We'll get out and try to run."

Villegas said the one matchup problem that concerns him is trying to contain Tagaloa. He'll actuall put Saunders on him to start.

Saunders had 21 points at Power Balance Pavilion as a sophomore when Windward defeated St. Joseph Notre Dame - the only team to beat Salesian on the court this season - in the Division V state title game.

Two other Windward players off that team went to bigger Division I colleges - Darius Morris to Michigan and Anthony Stover to UCLA. Morris was an All-Big Ten Player for the Wolverines (15 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists per game) and is considering entering the NBA. Stover was a key sixth man for UCLA.

Where does Saunders stack up with those two players during their high school careers?

"Wesley's legacy will be determined on Saturday no question," Villegas said.

So will Salesian's. In 2009 the Pride won on a 65-64 buzzer-beater over Bishop Montgomery for the Division IV state crown. That team won 31 games. Salesian can win its 36th on the court on Saturday.

"Don't want to be that close again," Tagaloa said. "But frankly, we'll take a win however we can get it."