Two teams who faced off in last year’s CIF Open Division playoffs met again, headlining the NorCal Ultimate Challenge at San Leandro High School, and the game did not disappoint. Salesian, after playing a nip-and-tuck first half, gathered momentum in the third quarter and held Modesto Christian at bay for the remainder in an 80-70 victory.
Carlton Perrilliat scored 30 points, including 20 in the second half, and fellow junior Elias Obenyah added 19 for the Pride (3-0). Salesian’s efficiency was off the charts, as they shot 55% from the field, including 44% from three-point territory, and outrebounded their opponent by about a 2:1 ratio. Those extra attempts proved a key difference as the Crusaders (1-2) shot just a notch below the Pride from the field, with even more three-pointers made.
Gavin Sykes, a Long Beach-bound guard for Modesto, had another electric performance, scoring 26 on 11-of-20 shooting after lighting up Moreau Catholic for 38 and checking Oakland for 21 in the first two games of the season. Trevor Dickson flew just under the radar, however, with five three-pointers on five attempts, in an 18-point evening. Myles Jones and Elijah Payne tacked on 11 apiece.
The first half saw 12 ties or lead changes, with the teams at times trading baskets in a flurry. Two-thirds of the game’s treys found the bottom of the net in the first half as well. But in the second half, Salesian seemed to play a grittier style of ball that paid off. Perrilliat, Obenyah, Alvin Loving, and Leon Powe controlled the boards, and Perrilliat and Obenyah utilized the lanes for scoring.
The last tie occurred at the halfway through the second quarter, when Modesto Christian tied it at 35. The Pride took the lead on a three-pointer and never looked back.
Perrilliat was 12-of-17 from the field, with two threes, and four-of-six from the free throw line. His quiet first quarter consisted of just one field goal attempt, which he converted. Then in the second quarter he kept the Pride afloat by scoring 10. An emphatic dunk off of a fast break in the third seemed to be a turning point. Obenyah, who also stands 6’5,” did most of his damage in the second half, on both sides of the ball. He had 13 of his point total but also had three steals and collected six rebounds.
Perrilliat acknowledged that the team can come out too slowly out of the gate, but he and Obenyah both emphasized the team’s coaching, preparation, and depth as key factors in the team’s success.
“It starts in practice,” Perrilliat stated. “It starts with the people who don’t even play…just stuff you don’t even see. It starts from the last person on the bench to the first person on the bench, from the managers to the coaches to the players, getting us prepared for the week.”
Obenyah credited a “defensive mindset” as key and cited the scouting personnel as making a particularly positive contribution. “They’ll make it game-realistic so we’re almost playing the game before it happens. So a shout-out to them.”
In March of last season, top-seeded Salesian defeated the fifth-seeded Crusaders 64-52. That Modesto Christian squad fielded five seniors, while this year’s team is largely composed of sophomores and freshmen, with Sykes and Ry Atkins the only seniors. Salesian went on to win the NorCal Regional Final against Riordan, then fell in the State Championship to Harvard-Westlake.
Salesian, which rattled off wins against Beverly Hills and Ygnacio Valley to begin this season, will start league play when they host Pinole Valley on Tuesday before heading to the Gridley Invitational on December 12th. Though the season’s just begun, Obenyah said the goal is clear: “We’re going back there this year, and we’re going to win it.”
