Alec Blair activated his clutch gene on Tuesday night.
The Oklahoma-bound forward scored a game-high 22 points and made every clutch basket down the stretch to lead No. 3 De La Salle to a 51-45 win over No. 4 San Ramon Valley.
Senior forward David Balogun had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
SRV guard Mason Thomas scored a team-high 17 points and Elliot Conley had 11.
The Wolves had a one-point lead at half, but Blair took over the second half. With the game tied at 41, Blair dribbled into the right side of the lane and finished strong at the rim with a foul to put the Spartans up three with under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Blair then hit a mid-range jumper on the wing to put De La Salle up 46-41 with 45 seconds left to take control of the game late. SRV cut the lead to just three late, but Ibrahim Monawar knocked down four free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game to seal the win.
San Ramon Valley dropped to 10-7, 1-1 on the season, but head coach Brian Botteen said he was proud of the way his team battled.
“De La Salle is a very good squad,” he said in a phone interview with the Bay Area News Group on Tuesday. “We came battle tested and game ready.”
De La Salle improved to 16-1, 2-0 and will travel to No. 6 Dougherty Valley on Friday in a matchup of two of the Bay Area’s top players in Blair and Jalen Stokes.
No. 10 Archbishop Mitty 68, Bellarmine 47
Caeden Hutcherson scored a game-high 22 points as Mitty routed Bellarmine at home. Senior Grayson Jalal added 15 points and Brady Clugage scored seven.
Will Corbett had a team-high 15 points for Bellarmine, which dropped to 10-3, 1-2. The Bells will host Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday.
Mitty (10-3, 3-0) plays at St. Ignatius on Friday.
Girls basketball
No. 12 St. Ignatius 58, No. 6 Sacred Heart Cathedral 48
On the same floor where Stephen Curry stars nightly for the Golden State Warriors, Lulu Giometti etched her name in the history of Chase Center.
Facing off against Sacred Heart Cathedral during the Bruce-Mahoney Classic in San Francisco, St. Ignatius’ freshman wunderkind went unconscious in the third quarter, burying three 3-pointers to power the Wildcats’ surge.
The two teams were tied 27-27 at halftime. SI led 50-36 after the third quarter and held on in the fourth to win 58-48.
Giometti finished with six made 3s, converted multiple shots from NBA range, and led all scorers with 18 points.
“It was a really competitive atmosphere, and I’m really happy we got the win,” Giometti said.
Giometti wasn’t missing much, and neither was SI. The Cats made six three pointers in all during the 23-point third quarter, including four consecutive to key a 14-0 run that gave SI full control of the matchup.
“Each team had a 45-minute shootaround,” said SI coach Maya Fok. “We really locked in when we came into this building, and the girls were ready. They came ready. They were mentally and physically ready.”
For SHC, things fell apart when the Irish couldn’t contain SI’s shooters, who regularly posted up well behind the temporary high-school length 3-point line.
“We could have done a lot better on defense,” said SHC senior forward Madison Eade, who led the Irish with 15 points. “If we (had) talked more, that was a big factor in switching or not switching on screens, getting through screens.”
– Christian Babcock
No. 4 San Ramon Valley 59, No. 3 Carondelet 55 (OT)
San Ramon Valley stormed back in the fourth quarter to notch a key league win against No. 3 Carondelet.
Carondelet led 44-39 at the 2:50 mark of the fourth quarter, but struggled with free throws late in the game. SRV freshman Kaitlyn Mills was phenomenal down the stretch as she scored 13 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
SRV has won its last five games and improved to 13-2, 2-0. The Wolves will host Livermore on Thursday.
Carondelet dropped to 13-3, 4-1 and will play Salesian at the MLK Classic at De La Salle on Monday.
No. 5 Pinewood 63, No. 8 Priory 38
Katherine Garr scored 19 points, Vallory Kuelker had 16 and Jolyn Ding totaled 12 as Pinewood defeated Priory 63-38 on the road. Glenn Reeves was in Portola Valley and has the story here.