NEWARK, Ca. – The headlining act going into the seventh NorCal Tip-Off Classic lived up to the pre-event hyperbole Saturday night in the Newark Memorial High gymnasium.
Ivan Rabb and his Oakland Bishop O’Dowd teammates broke out to a 14-zip advantage and then pretty much exchanged transition buckets the rest of the way en route to a 90-76 victory over Fresno Bullard in the seventh and final game of 11-hour event.
Rabb, on any short list that can be drudged up of the very best prospects in the national high school class of 2015, played with the ease of dominance of a dad playing Nerf Ball with his eight- and six-year-old sons, scoring 28 points (while hitting 13 of 17 shots; none of them jump shots to my recollection), grabbing 15 rebounds, blocking four shots and passing for two more buckets.
And teammate Paris Austin also put up a compelling on-court argument as to why he should always be mentioned in any discussions about the best junior guards in the west, and beyond, with 27 points (hitting three of eight attempts from behind the arc), five rebounds and four assists.
The Dragons of Coach Lou Richie don’t return to game action until Dec. 19, when they face Las Vegas Durango at Bishop Gorman during the extremely tough second Tarkanian Classic, where Gorman (and its junior post duo of Stephen Zimmerman and Chase Jeter) and Santa Ana, CA, Mater Dei (led by University of Arizona-bound Stanley Johnson) are respective possible semifinal and final opponents.
In the other six games Saturday:
*Newark Memorial 64, Modesto Christian 48: Center Matthew Thomas had 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, while guards Joey Frenchwood (15 and four) and Michael Pinckney (13 and three) combined for 28 points and seven assists for the host Cougars, who could prove to be one of the few Northern California-based squads capable of challenging Bishop O’Dowd in the post season.
*Danville Monte Vista 75, Hayward Moreau Catholic 56: Youth was served, in a figurative matter of speaking, as senior-dominated Monte Vista had a comfortable time while coasting past its freshmen- and sophomore-laden opponent.
Perimeter starters Grant Jackson (22), Trevor John (19) and Rishi Satoor (15) combined for 56 points for Monte Vista while 6-foot-8 Spencer Rust had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Damari Milstead led Moreau Catholic with 21 points while sophomores Armond Simmons and Oscar Frayer added 14 and 11, respectively.
*Oakley Freedom 77, Granite Bay 60: Senior forward Elliott Smith had game-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds for the Falcons while guard Rodney Pope added 15 points and five assists.
*Oakland 66, Brentwood Heritage 59: The much-smaller Oakland squad had no one who could challenge Heritage 6-6, 230-pounder Shon Briggs but Heritage didn’t have the quickness to cope with the Wildcats.
Briggs scored 39 points (hitting 17 of 24 from the field) and could have had close to 50 if he had been better at the free-throw line (where he missed nine of 14 attempts). He also snapped down 11 rebounds.
Senior guard Keith Hunter had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Oakland.
*Stockton St. Mary’s 65, Pleasant Hill College Park 56: Junior forward Lance Coleman, who spent his sophomore year at Salesian in Richmond, scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the winners, who pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Joe Demers scored 27 points with six rebounds for College Park before fouling out late in the contest after playing just 22 minutes.
*Castro Valley 55, Fairfield 53: Senior guard Jalen McFerren scored on a drive with five seconds to go after a Fairfield turnover for the victory in the opening game of the day.
Senior guad Sean Gray of Fairfield led all scorers with 15 points.
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