LIVERMORE – Livermore’s loss to Dublin on Friday night wasn’t for a lack of effort.
The Cowboys scrapped and clawed until the very end, but it wasn’t enough to beat Dublin’s high-powered offense even with a ruckus home crowd by their side.
After a tight first half, Dublin proved to be too much for Livermore as the Gaels won their league opener 69-57 and improved to 15-1 on the season.
“Every game in the East Bay Athletic League is tough,” said Dublin coach Tom Costello. “When you play an upstart team that’s feeling good about themselves on a Friday night in their place, you’re going to get their best shot. But we weathered that part and we started to play the way we’re capable of playing.”
Dublin forward Cameron Anderson led the Gaels with 14 points and six rebounds. Jordan Morganstein totaled 13 points and five rebounds, junior Jaiden Jones added 12 points and Miles Pollard did it all for Dublin as he scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists.
The Gaels won their 20th straight game against Livermore dating back to 2004, but Friday’s contest was a much more difficult challenge for the Gaels. In the 19 games before Friday, Dublin had beaten Livermore by an average of 35.2 points. Livermore has not won a league game since 2014.
But the new-look Livermore team under first-year head coach Mike Tripp has made strides to becoming more competitive. The Cowboys entered their league opener with a 13-3 record – its best start to a season in over 20 years.
“In the past, we’ve kind of always been the doormat of the EBAL,” Tripp said. “People wouldn’t even prepare for us and they’d come in and get an easy win. But now they have to be prepared. We’re 13-4 and that’s pretty damn good. We play hard and we got some talent coming in. I think the main thing was believing they can believe in themselves and play good teams.”
After being knotted up at 12 after the first quarter, Dublin made its run in the second. The Gaels used a 10-0 run to take a 12-point lead midway through the second period. Livermore inched closer to Dublin’s lead before halftime, but trailed 33–25 going into the third quarter after a buzzer-beating steal-and-slam from senior Ramir Raymore.
In the second half, it was all Dublin.
A 3-pointer from Jones early in the third gave Dublin an 18-point lead. Later, an Anderson layup made the score 68-48 – Dublin’s largest lead of the night.
A few made 3-pointers and free throws by Livermore cut the deficit, but it was too late as Dublin’s lead was too big to overcome.
Freshman Amari Chandler and Dylan Wherry each had 19 points. Alessandro Martz had eight points, eight rebounds and a block.
Boys basketball
No. 1 Archbishop Riordan 64, Bellarmine 38
The Crusaders were too much for Bellarmine as they overpowered the San Jose school on the road. Christian Babcock was in San Jose and has the full story here.
No. 3 De La Salle 58, Monte Vista 30
De La Salle’s offense hummed as three different players scored in double figures and two others scored six or more points.
Senior guard Bryce Patton had 12 points, junior Ibrahim Monawar scored 11 and Oklahoma commit Alec Blair totaled 10 points as De La Salle (15-1, 1-0) defeated Monte Vista for the second consecutive year.
Max Nishikawa had nine points for Monte Vista, which dropped to 12-6, 0-1.
De La Salle is scheduled to host San Ramon Valley on Tuesday. Monte Vista travels to Granada on the same day.
No. 7 San Ramon Valley 81, No. 5 Dougherty Valley 76
Jalen Stokes scored a school-record 47 points, but it wasn’t enough to beat San Ramon Valley on the road. Read the full story here.
No. 14 California 56, Amador Valley 44
Senior point guard Dane Wallace led California to its first league win of the year as he scored 27 points, had two steals and blocked three shots in the Grizzlies’ 56-44 victory over Amador Valley. California’s Ketan Kumar added 13 points.
On a tough shooting night for the Dons, junior Cade Krueger had a team-high 20 points.
California improved to 16-2, 1-0 and will travel to Dublin on Tuesday. Amador Valley dropped to 13-3, 0-1 and will host Sacramento on Saturday.
Campolindo 59, Miramonte 49
Gavin Rendle scored 16 points, Ren Marchetti had 15 and Luke Devine had 13 points as Campolindo defeated Miramonte at home.
Campolindo (11-4, 2-0) won its second consecutive game and will host Alhambra on Monday. Miramonte dropped to 8-7, 0-2 and travels to Clayton Valley on Monday.
Leland 57, Evergreen Valley 50
Leland earned a hard-fought win over Evergreen Valley behind 17 points from Steven Watson. Gurkaran Khehra added 13 points and Daniel Garcia had eight.
Sophomore Hayden Nguyen had 20 points for Evergreen Valley, which dropped to 9-4. The Cougars will open league play against Oak Grove on Wednesday.
Leland (9-4) will also open league play on Wednesday against Silver Creek.
Los Gatos 77, Wilcox 38
The Wildcats had four players in double figures as they cruised past Wilcox.
Ethan Oppenheimer had led Los Gatos with 12 points. Dionysis Maroudas added 11 points and Anthony Martin and Owen Panu each had 10.
Wilcox got scoring from football standouts Semaj Clark (13 points) and Brayden Rosa (12 points).
Los Gatos (11-3, 2-1) will host Mountain View next Friday while Wilcox (7-3, 1-1) hosts Washington-San Francisco on Saturday.
San Mateo 45, El Camino 35
San Mateo needed all of Zidane Auzarang’s 21 points to beat a tough El Camino team at home.
Manav Ejjalaghatta added 11 points for San Mateo, which improved to 9-4, 2-0. The Bearcats will host South San Francisco on Wednesday.
Marco Melendez had a team-high 13 points for El Camino. The Colts are now 8-4, 2-0 and will play Summit Shasta at home on Saturday.
Westmont 67, Pioneer 57
A 23-point second quarter helped Westmont capture its 12th win of the season.
Down three points after the first period, The Warriors took a 37-26 lead at halftime and didn’t look back.
Senior guard Seth Reese had knocked down five 3-pointers and ended the night with 20 points. Gabe Mathiesen added 19 points and Jacob Froman had 12. Westmont made a total of 11 shots from beyond the arc.
Sam Stepan was a standout for Pioneer (7-6, 0-2), scoring 20 points.
Westmont (12-3, 3-0) will travel to Willow Glen on Wednesday. Pioneer will play at Branham on the same day.
Girls basketball
No. 3 Acalanes 87, Berean Christian 19
The Dons had their highest point total of the season as they defeated league foe Berean Christian by 68 points.
Senior Ariana Hallstrom had a game-high 23 points. Dulci Vail scored 15, Sofia Fernandez had 14 and Lexi Le totaled 11 points as Acalanes improved to 14-1, 2-0.
The Dons will travel to St. Mary’s-Stockton on Saturday in a matchup of two of NorCal’s top teams.
No. 12 St. Ignatius 46, No. 15 Valley Christian 42
Junior Sophia Sanchez scored 21 points as St. Ignatius won a close game against Valley Christian at home.
St. Ignatius freshman Lulu Giometti added 12 points as the Wildcats won their league opener.
Kenedi Nomura had a game-high 22 points and Anaya Bannarbie scored 10 points for Valley Christian.
St. Ignatius (7-4, 1-1) will travel to Archbishop Mitty on Saturday. Valley Christian (11-3, 0-2) is scheduled to host St. Francis on Tuesday.
Campolindo 33, Miramonte 25
It was all defense in this matchup of Diablo Athletic League rivals, but the Cougars got it done late.
Ali Mccauley scored 11 points for Campolindo and Lorelei Keenan had nine for Miramonte.
Campolindo improved to 10-6, 3-0 and will play Alhambra on the road on Monday. Miramonte dropped to 10-5, 1-1 and will host Clayton Valley the same day.
Half Moon Bay 71, Carlmont 42
Half Moon Bay notched its 10th win of the season led by a 22-point performance from junior center Zoey Lemoge.
Carlmont’s Willow Ishibashi-To knocked down four 3-pointers and ended the night with 19 points.
Half Moon Bay (10-2, 2-0) travels to Mills on Tuesday. Carlmont is now 6-6, 0-1 and hosts Westmoor on the same day.
Harker 46, Notre Dame-Belmont 31
Isabella Lo scored 16 points in Harker’s 15-point win over Notre Dame at home.
Harker improved to 11-2 and will travel to Castilleja on Tuesday in its league opener.
Sophomore Sammy Kakala totaled a game-high 19 points for Notre Dame, which dropped to 11-1. The Tigers will open league play against Menlo School on Tuesday.
Hillsdale 49, Menlo-Atherton 41
Daniella Sierra scored 15 points, Kiara Nitao had 11 and Hillsdale beat Menlo-Atherton to improve to 12-1, 2-0.
Molly Gray had eight points to lead Menlo-Atherton, which dropped to 7-5, 1-1 and is scheduled to play at Sacred Heart Prep on Saturday.
Hillsdale will play Aragon at home on Tuesday.
San Mateo 41, Terra Nova 36
San Mateo captured its ninth win in 10 games, defeating Terra Nova on the road.
San Mateo Sophomore Kaitlyn Schuh scored a team-high 14 points and Yanira Nunez added nine.
Sophomore Reese Kelley had a game-high 16 points for Terra Nova, which dropped to 7-5, 1-1 and will host Oceana on Wednesday.
The Bearcats improved to 10-4, 2-2 and are slated to travel to Jefferson on Wednesday.