Prep basketball preview: What Salesian is saying about its matchup with Duke commit and California’s top team
RICHMOND — Salesian coach Bill Mellis believes playing the best competition will prepare his team for the stretch run into the playoffs.
If that’s the case, competition doesn’t get much better than what Salesian will face on Saturday. The Pride plays defending Open Division state champion Centennial-Corona and its Duke-bound star Jared McCain at the “Crush in the Valley” showcase.
“I’m feeling great,“ junior forward Deundrae Perteete said after Wednesday’s 74-42 win at De Anza. ”They’ve got a great program and are coming off a state championship, and I know they’re going to be coming in confident. But our guys are going to be ready to play, too.”
The “Crush in the Valley,” hosted at Contra Costa College in San Pablo and engineered by Napa-based Prolific Prep, boasts a slew of talented high school and prep teams during its two-day weekend showcase. Games start at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, with the final tip-off that day scheduled for 9:15 p.m.
Mellis is good friends with organizer Philippe Doherty and said his school was happy to help co-sponsor the event with Prolific Prep. Doherty gifted his buddy a rematch of a barnburner in February 2020, a 59-51 Centennial-Corona win featuring a freshman McCain.
“Now they’re all seniors and they’re really darn good,” Mellis said. “We’re looking forward to playing them, and it will be a fun event.”
Outside of the deadeye shooter McCain, Centennial-Corona also rolls out 6-foot-10 UCLA-bound Devin Williams, one of the nation’s best rim protectors.
While Centennial-Corona has star power few teams can match, it is far from the only stacked roster Salesian has played this season.
Coronado-Nevada, Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks and Canyon-Anaheim are elite programs that Salesian has played competitively against.
“I think playing those games puts our team in a good position,” point guard Aaron Claytor said. “We’ve experienced tough games against high competition, so we’re going to be composed coming into this game.”
For a team in the middle of its league schedule, a showdown against Centennial is also something of a welcome relief, as odd as that might seem.
Regardless of the result, Mellis expects his team to take something away from the high-profile game.
“We liked those games and seeing where we were at, and now we’ll see where we’re at against probably the best team we’ll play all year,” Mellis said. “It’s such a high-level game and it’s such a highly ranked team, we’re going to benefit from it, win or lose.”
SATURDAY’S CRUSH IN THE VALLEY SCHEDULE
8:45 a.m. — Albuquerque Prep vs. Veritas
10:30 a.m. — Our Savior Lutheran-New York vs. Trinity International-Nevada
12:15 p.m. — Moreau Catholic (10-5) vs. Folsom (18-1): After struggling through a 79-55 loss to San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno at the De La Salle MLK Classic, Moreau Catholic will have to play another NorCal power in Folsom. The Sacramento-area school boast wins against St. Ignatius and Montgomery. Moreau Catholic’s top scorer Kellen Hampton averages almost 22 points per game.
2 p.m. — Bishop O’Dowd (8-9) vs. Grant-Sacramento (10-6): A young Bishop O’Dowd team notched one of its best wins of the season at De La Salle’s MLK Classic, a 65-62 victory over Taft-Woodland Hills. Amos Hodgson hit six three-pointers and MIles Dixon had the game-clinching free throws. Grant lost to Moreau Catholic and Campolindo earlier in the season.
3:45 p.m. — Clovis North vs. Monterrey Trail
5:30 p.m. — Prolific Prep (21-0) vs. Dream City Christian (20-2): Arguably the premier prep school in the country, Prolific Prep boasts four players in 247Sports.com’s Top 100 for the class of 2023 and 2024. Senior guards Aden Holloway and Trey Green are committed to Auburn and Xavier respectively. 6-11 junior center Yves Missi is committed to Baylor. Junior Zion Sensley attended Archbishop Riordan as a freshman and is rated as a four-star prospect.
7:30 p.m. — Salesian (14-6) vs. Centennial-Corona (17-3)
9:15 p.m. — Redondo Union vs. Vanden