By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
MORAGA, Calif. – There was plenty talk of payback, of righting a wrong, of a bitter 2007 championship defeat at the same venue.
But ultimately, De La Salle’s motivation for a 47-32 North Coast Section Division I semifinal win over Monte Vista (Danville) before 4,000 folks jammed into McKeon Pavilion on the campus of St. Mary’s College Wednesday night was much more basic.
Survival.
The loser of this predictably tenacious sweatbox of a game was done. Finished.
All the liners, weight lifting, summer games, tedious drills would be down the tubes.
More so, gone would dreams. And the Spartans always dream big.
“A state championship,” 6-foot-8 junior forward Jeff Powers said after tying teammate Dom Martellaro for team-high honors with 13 points apiece. “That’s what our goal is every year and that’s what we’re aiming for this season. If we rebound and play defense like we can then we can win it.”
The top-seeded Spartans (25-3), the state’s No. 12 team according to MaxPreps and a two-time state champion under head coach Frank Allocco, did those two things superbly on Wednesday to knock off the fifth-seeded and defending champion Mustangs (21-7), who stunned De La Salle in last year’s title game 47-43, also at St. Mary’s.
De La Salle gave up just 13 points the second half and single digits in three of the four quarters to advance to Saturday’s championship at Oakland/Oracle Arena against Newark Memorial, a 74-70 double-overtime winner over Castro Valley.
They also held Monte Vista, which got a game-high 14 points by Brian Barbour, off the offensive glass, something they didn’t do in last year’s title game.
The Mustangs only had six offensive rebounds which led to only 34 shots. Of those, they canned only 11 (30 percent), including just one 3-pointer.
De La Salle meanwhile had eight 3-pointers, three each by Powers and Martellaro and one each from Brandon Thomas and Brandon Smith, each of those killer makes at the very end of the shot clock. Smith, the Bay Valley Athletic League Co-Most Valuable Player, had 10 points, six assists and four steals.
“Those (late 3-pointers) hurt bad,” Monte Vista coach Bill Powers said. “They all hurt. We just could never get things going, but then that’s what De La Salle and (Allocco) do. That’s why (Allocco) is the best in the state at what he does.”
It’s helped the Spartans all season to have Martellaro add instant offense from the bench.
The team’s sixth man and second leading scorer had all his points in the first half, drilling five straight shots leading to a 29-19 halftime lead.
Monte Vista, which was hurt by a severe ankle injury by all-league 6-6 forward Cam Fenley, never got within eight points the second half. Fenley, who hurt the ankle in a Tuesday practice and was on crutches Wednesday at school, gutted it up and started but finished with just two points and three rebounds.
Even at full strength, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Led by Martellaro’s early-onslaught and the team’s tenacious defense, De La Salle looked pretty unbeatable.
“Anytime I get in I feel in the flow,” Martellaro said. “Tonight I just felt in rhythm from the start.”
Said Jeff Powers: “Dom was awesome tonight. He’s always awesome. You can’t ask for a better guy coming off the bench to give you instant offense. He’s a great luxury to have.”
Monte Vista never led in the game and was tied just twice, the last time at 4-4 on a layup by Fenley. De la Salle took control with a 7-1 to start the second quarter all points scored by Martellaro.
First he stole the ball and went in for a layup. Then he scored on a backdoor cut and layup after a nice feed from Smith. Then Martellaro capped the run with a three-pointer, giving the Spartans a 20-11 lead.
“Payback was a big factor but a bigger factor was getting to the NCS finals,” Martellaro said. “Still righting last year’s wrong feels pretty good.”
Bill Powers felt more than a little good about his team’s fourth straight 20-win season that including a third straight East Bay Athletic League championship.
De La Salle is moving from the BVAL to the EBAL next season and coach Powers said that simply requires an added work load.
“Here’s a little warning to all the teams in the league,” Bill Powers said. “If you don’t put in a lot of extra work during the offseason then you can just put a couple more losses on your record each season.”
With the potent guard tandem of Barbour – “He was a warrior out there tonight,” Bill Powers said – and Taylor Brewster, a De La Salle transfer, plus tough inside players Zach Ertz and Jeff Allen returning, not to mention a load of talent from strong JV and freshman teams, Monte Vista and Spartans will likely be fighting it out for the league and NCS crown next year.
The Mustangs will miss the toughness inside from Fenley and one of the Bay Area’s all-time, all-around athletes Drew McAllister, who graduate in June. McAllister, fighting a nasty flu, had just two points on Wednesday after a tremendous 28-point, 11-rebound effort the previous week in a first-round win over San Ramon Valley. He’s headed to USC on a full football scholarship.
“We have a lot to feel good about this season and looking to the future,” Bill Powers said.
De La Salle felt very good about its performance on Wednesday and prospects of winning an eighth NCS title on Saturday night. One the Spartans thought they let get away last season.
Martellaro, who is from Danville and would have attended Monte Vista had he gone to public school, said last year’s loss hurt a lot.
“I heard about it all off-season,” he said. “But it wouldn’t have hurt as much as if we lost tonight. Our season now is still alive and we have a lot more to accomplish.”
De La Salle 47, Monte Vista 32
Monte Vista 10 9 6 7 - 32
De La Salle 13 16 6 12 – 47
MONTE VISTA (21-7): Barbour 5 4-4 14, Brewster 2 0-0 5, Allen 0 2-2 2, Fenley 1 0-1 2, McAllister 1 0-0 2, Ertz 2 3-6 7. Totals 11 9-13 32.
DE LA SALLE (25-3): McArthur 1 0-0 2, Thomas 1 0-0 3, Rivera 1 3-4 5, Smith 3 3-4 10, Powers 4 2-2 13, Martellaro 5 0-0 13. Totals 15 8-11 47.
3-point goals: Brewster, Thomas, Smith, Powers 3, Martellaro 3.
MORE BAY AREA BOYS BAY AREA BASKETBALL RESULTS
OAKLAND SECTION FINALS
MCCLYONDS 70, OAKLAND 53: Frank Otis had 18 points, William Cherry 14, Demario Sims 12 and Damon Powell 10 as McClymonds, the state’s No. 8 team and likely foe in a NorCal Division I final, improved to 28-0 with a convincing win over Oakland, which got 16 points from Damian Lillard. Both teams advance to next week’s CIF North Region Tournament.
SAN FRANCISCO SECTION SEMIFINALS
MISSION 58, LOWELL 54: Damaree Hampton had 27 points and Harry Howard 14 as Mission (24-4) ended Lowell’s four-year run in the title game. Travis Hom scored 19 of his team-high 23 points in the second half for Lowell (22-9).
LINCOLN 63, WALLENBERG 45: Deend Parker had 18 points for Lincoln, making its first title-game appearance since 2003. Travis Barabin led all scorers with 24 points for Wallenberg (25-3).
CENTRAL COAST SECTION SEMIFINALS
DIVISON I
BELLARMINE 51, SERRA 49: Niyi Harrison sent home a two-hand breakaway slam dunk with one second left giving Bellarmine the dramatic victory. Bellarmine rallied from a 49-43 deficit in the final 2:55, tying the game at 49-49 on two free throws by Ricky Bose. A 3-pointer by Serra’s Matt Richardson missed with five seconds left, the long rebound went to Jordan Taylor who fed Harrison for the dunk sending Bellarmine fans into a frenzy. Stephen Lumpkins led Serra with 20 points.
OAK GROVE 71, PIEDMONT HILLS 39: Oak Grove avenged two previous overtime losses to its league rival this season with a convincing win as Kelly Kaigler scored a career high 28 points. Oak Grove, the two-time defending champion, made six 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a 26-4 lead.
DIVISION III
SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL 50, ST. IGNATIUS 40: The Irish (19-11), the fifth seed, didn’t allow a bucket in the final 6:39 and got 10 points from Jerry Brown in a tough semifinal win over WCAL rival St. Ignatius (18-10), which got 20 points by Vince Legarza and 14 from Paul Toboni.
RIORDAN 45, CUPERTINO 27: Riordan raced to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter and never looked back behind 15 points by Daniel Cannon and 12 points and 18 rebounds by Jorge Camacho.
NORTH COAST SECTION SEMIFINALS
DIVISION I
NEWARK MEMORAL 74, CASTRO VALLEY 70 (2 OTs): Fresno State-bound Chris Jones scored 22 points and E.J. Farris 20 for second-seed Newark Memorial (25-5), which fought back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out the exciting victory. A last-second layup by Bobby McCall helped send the game into a first overtime. Castro Valley made just 13 of 28 free throws.
DIVISON II
HAYWARD 60, WINDSOR 51: Davion Berry had 19 points as the top-seeded Farmers, on the road because it was not a league champion, knocked off fifth-seed Windsor. Ron Taylor and Clement Ani combined for 21 rebounds for the winners.
LAS LOMAS 70, CASA GRANDE 54: Brian Stafford had 36 points as third-seed Las Lomas (17-11) moved into the title game against Hayward at Oracle Arena on Saturday.
DIVISION III
CAMPOLINDO 49, ACALANES 39: Jack Trotter had 24 points and 14 rebounds leading the top-seeded Cougars (21-7) into the title game with a victory over defending champion and visiting Acalanes (19-9), which got 16 points from Joey Anderson.
DUBLIN 65, BISHOP O’DOWD 56: K.J. Scott scored 19 points leading upstart Dublin (23-6) past second-seed O’Dowd (16-12), which got 16 points by Justin Brue.
DIVISION IV
ST. MARY’S 62, ST. JOSEPH 38: Sophomore Dominique Lee had 20 points as St. Mary’s (29-1), ranked 11th in the state, rolled past league-rival and visiting St. Joseph.
KENNEDY-RICHMOND 79, SALESIAN 62: Jonathon Williams and Marvin Boadu had 20 points apiece and Gerard Markham added 17 leading second-seed Kennedy (26-4) to the semifinal victory over Salesian (21-9), which got 16 points from Desmond Simmons.
DIVISION V
BRANSON 71, UNIVERSITY 48: Two-time defending state champion Branson (26-3) had four players in double figures in a victory at College of Marin.
LICK-WILMERDING 55, ST. ELIZABETH 50: Marcus Wells had 37 points as sixth-seed Lick (24-7) shocked second-seed St. Elizabeth (23-8), which got 16 points from David Douglas.
Reports from the San Francisco Chronicle, Contra Costa Times, San Jose Mercury News and Hayward Daily Review contributed to this roundup.
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