ALBANY — In a battle of two East Bay heavyweights, it wasn’t hard to spot the best player on the floor.
Salesian junior Carlton Perrilliat did it all for the Pride in their win over San Ramon Valley at Albany High School on Wednesday night.
Perrilliat scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists to lead Salesian to a 77-69 win over SRV in the North Coast Section Open Division semifinals. The Richmond school will play De La Salle for the second straight year in the Open Division championship game on Saturday at Dublin High.
“My teammates just fed me,” Perrilliat said. “My teammates were looking for me down there and I was just open. They gave me great passes and I was just able to finish.”
Perrilliat was a force on the defensive end as well, taking on the assignment of guarding SRV’s prolific guards on the perimeter. He finished with two blocks and two steals.
“There’s days like today where he’s just our best player,” Salesian coach Bill Mellis said. “He’s really getting overlooked a little bit with colleges. Someone should get him real fast because he’s super tough.”
Junior guard Elias Obenyah totaled 12 points, Asante Johnson had 10 and Leon Powe scored nine.
SRV’s Luke Isaak led the Wolves with 21 points, followed by Thomas Conley with 17 points and Elliot Conley with 16.
“Salesian played a great game,” SRV coach Brian Botteen said. “But with a De La Salle or a Saleisan, if you give them a 10-point lead, it’s going to be hard to overcome. They’re smart and they execute.”
The teams were tied at 16 after the first quarter, but Salesian built a comfortable lead with a huge push in the second period.
A shifty move to the basket and a crafty finish from senior Alvin Loving capped off an 8-0 run and pushed the Salesian lead to seven, prompting Botteen to call his first timeout at the 4:23 mark of the second quarter.
The Wolves responded and cut the Salesian advantage to four, but Johnson single-handedly took the game over to close the first half.
The sophomore scored eight straight points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left wing to give Salesian a 41-29 lead at halftime.
“He’s a really good shooter,” Mellis said of Johnson’s second quarter flurry. “He’s worked really hard in practice, he’s always working on his game. … It’s not surprising that he hit a couple of 3s in that quarter.”
Despite going into the halftime break down double-digits, the Wolves didn’t let up in the second half.
Salesian held a nine-point lead after the third quarter and were looking to pull away after a Perrilliat fastbreak layup pushed the Pride’s lead to 12 early in the fourth. But SRV shot its way back into the game.
A 3 from Isaak and two made free throws from Mason Thomas cut the Saleisan lead to five with just under 90 seconds left in the game.
With the game in the balance, Salesian found another unsung hero to close out the game.
On a crucial possession and with time running down on the shot clock, Obenyah found guard Isaiah Davis for a left corner 3. The junior netted the shot, giving Salesian a 73-65 lead. Later, he sinked two free throws to ice the game and send Salesian to its second consecutive NCS Open Division title game.
“I thought we just needed a big shot to just put a dagger in the game,” Davis said. “My teammates trusted me to hit the shot, so credit to them.”
Mellis added, “He’s not bothered by the big moment. He’s hit shots like that before, so it’s just another Wednesday for him.”
Despite the loss, SRV’s NCS playoff run is not over yet. The Wolves will play a third place game against Dublin on Friday – a game that will be crucial in deciding NorCal playoff seeding on Sunday.
“We need to have that game because it gives us an opportunity to have home games,” Botteen said. “There’s a lot to get ready for.”
Salesian will be vying for its 12th NCS title when it plays De La Salle on Saturday. Should the Pride pull out a win, they would be the first team to win multiple Open Division titles since the section created the division in 2020.
Salesian defeated De La Salle in the Open Division final last year, beating the Spartans 52-43 at Contra Costa College.
Mellis knows going back-to-back will be a challenge, even for a team as talented as his.
“Obviously, we have to deal with their size,” he said. “We haven’t played too many teams that have been bigger than us, so we’re going to have to figure that out.”