Around the same time the
Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) football team was winning the North Coast Section Division IV championship Saturday, the basketball team was wrapping up its third straight tournament title at the Gridley Invitational.
Markel Leonard had 18 points to lift the Pride to a 51-49 win over
Jesuit (Carmichael) in the championship game. The tournament title is the second in a row this season for Salesian (6-0) which also won the Jeremy Jack Tournament last week.
Markel Leonard, Salesian
File photo by David Steutel
The big difference this week is that the Pride won the Gridley invite without the services of standout Jabari Bird, who was the MVP at last week's tournament. The Pride showed just how deep a squad they have this year, however, as four players were in double figures in a 74-46 semifinal win over
St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.).
Jesuit received 13 points from
Parker Uu and 12 from
Kurt Parker. The Marauders won a nailbiter over Newark Memorial in the semifinals, 50-49, with Parker scoring 16 points and Uu and
Akachi Okugo posting 10 points apiece.
Newark Memorial (Newark) took third place with a 54-47 win over St. Francis. Yussu Farouqi had 15 points, all on three-pointers, for the winners while
Damien Banford added 10.
Casey Norris led Newark Memorial with 16 points in the loss to Jesuit.
Drew Dickey had 19 points for St. Francis in the loss to Newark Memorial. The 6-foot-9 center led the team with 10 points in the loss to Salesian as well.
Sacramento, a finalist in last year's tournament, rebounded from a tournament-opening loss to defeat Dublin 77-45 in the consolation final.
Eric Kinney poured in 31 points, including 16 in the final quarter, while
Joseph Barnes tossed in 27 points for the Dragons. The duo also came up big in Sacramento's 68-45 win over
College Park (Pleasant Hill), scoring 17 apiece.
College Park finished in seventh place with a 63-50 win over tournament host
Gridley.
Kevin Mattos had a game-high 24 points in a losing cause for the Bulldogs.
