A dandy start to boys hoop season in NorCal

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NEWARK, Ca. – Those who hung out in the Newark Memorial High gymnasium for nearly 12 hours on Saturday were paid off over the final 2 ½ of those, big time, for the effort spent.

And it’s difficult to imagine a more scintillating beginning to a high school basketball season than was offered up by the sixth NorCal TipOff Classic.

Event CEO Gerry Freitas knew he had assembled a nifty seven-game field for the annual event which serves as a proper way to get the hoops season – boys’ style – off and running in the Bay Area.

But he could never could have hoped for – much less imagined – the thrills and chills that were going to be produced in the final game of the long day in the spiffy home to Memorial High indoor athletic programs.

Sacramento and Antioch Deer Valley – expected to field two of the better teams in the north this season – hooked up in that final showdown of the event and those in the near-filled building were sent on their way afterward with a “hoops contact high”, of sorts.

With probably something approaching 20 lead changes throughout, Deer Valley finally prevailed, 97-96, via a steal and layup by senior guard Kendall Smith in the closing moments of a second, four-minute overtime.

The 6-foot-2 Smith, who figures to be quite hotly pursued by college coaches over the winter and spring, picked up his event-record 47^th and 48^th points with the game-winning shot.

And Smith needed an incredible – and unlikely – burst of five points over the final six seconds to send the contest into its first extra stanza.

With his team trailing by five, Smith was fouled while swishing a 3-pointer with a bit more than seconds to go and purposely missed the ensuing free throw.

The ball bounced off a several sets of hands before going out of bounds, with the officials ruling that it belonged to Deer Valley.

The ball was inbounded to Smith who turned a couple of quick dribbles into a 14-footer to extend the game.

The event’s stat crew credited Smith with hitting 20 of 27 shots from the field (including one of two behind the arc) and seven of 10 from the free-throw line to go with six assists and nine turnovers.

Hey! The teams committed 24 turnovers apiece, with the culprit more the rapid-fire, near-frenetic pace the game was played at rather than excessive ineptitude on the part the ball-handling and passing skills of those involved.

University of Kentucky-bound Marcus Lee also churned out some mind-boggling numbers for Deer Valley – 24 points; an event-record 25 rebounds; seven assists; five blocked shots; and five turnovers.

He, too, could have produced more than 40 points if he hadn’t missed so many point-blank attempts – he was 10 of 30 from the field, with about 10 of those missed being failed dunk or layup tries – and if had not clanged, and missed, 11 of his 15 free-throw attempts.

Senior guards De’Von Boyd (31) and Aaron Cameron (28) combined for 59 of Sacramento’s points and were a combined nine of 16 from behind the arc.

If only the regional and state playoff games prove this dynamic in February and March!

Here are brief looks at the other six games:

*Dublin 75, Freedom 63: Six-three left hander Jojo McGlaston, another unsigned senior, dropped in 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help his team stay relatively in control throughout en route to the victory.

*Heritage 66, McNair 48: Heritage got double-figuring scoring from four players after breaking out to a big early lead and then coasting.

Shonn Briggs, a 6-5 junior, added eight points for the winner and if the last name is familiar, it should be, assuming you’re a follower of football of the NFL variety.

His father is Lance Briggs, the linebacker of the Chicago Bears.

*Pleasant Grove 73, St. Patrick-St. Vincent 63: Slick and quick senior point guard Malik Thames – whose brother, Xavier, starts at the same position for San Diego State – was clearly the dominant presence in this one for the winners.

Thames had 23 points and four assists.

*El Cerrito 79, Miramonte 53: Three players, Jovonta Carleton, Blake Rayford and Rae Jackson, combined for 49 points for the victors. Kiran Shastri had a game-high 23 points in the defeat.

*Antelope 57, McClymonds 42: Six-five senior Gabe Bealer had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. He, too, is among the best of the unsigned 12^th graders in Northern California.

  *Newark Memorial 60, Castro Valley 53: Forward Sultan Siddiq scored a game-high 22 points for the host victors.