St. Patrick-St. Vincent 74, Fremont Oakland 45
Christian Trusclair had just splashed one 3-pointer to give St. Patrick-St. Vincent a double-digit lead when he found himself open on the next possession in the third quarter.
The 6-foot-2 sniper didn’t hesitate on his second attempt either, letting it fly before watching the ball rip through the net.
That pushed SPSV’s lead over Fremont-Oakland to 15, and the rout was on as the Bruins began to run away with the 74-45 victory in the Damian Lillard Classic at Oakland HS.
“My teammates set me up to be in those positions,” said Trusclair, who ended the night with 23 points. “We came out there and got the job done.”
Fremont only trailed 31-25 at halftime thanks to the individual brilliance and scoring arsenal of Jaylen Wheeler, the Salesian transfer who scored 17 of his game-high 28 in the first half.
Wheeler was comfortable making pull-up triples, slashing into space for floaters and stopping on a dime for midrange shots at the elbow.
“He was killing me, I gotta admit,” Trusclair said of Wheeler. “I didn’t think he was gonna come out and bust it like that.”
The game turned in the second half when SPSV began to dominate the glass. Despite being at a size disadvantage, the Bruins boxed out with gusto on both ends of the floor, and were rewarded with easy shots.
Gobbling up every loose ball also kept Fremont out of the open court, thus nullifying the Tigers’ speed on the break.
“If you use good technique and find a body to box out, it makes (rebounding) easier,” SPSV coach Derek Walker said. “We had five guys paying attention too. That was a big difference.”
Tyriq McNeal, who at 6-foot-8 was the tallest player on the roster, scored 12 and provided interior muscle. Dominique Trotter scored 11, and guard Duece Walker poured in 16.
SPSV improved to 6-2, while Fremont-Oakland dropped to 7-6.
Bethel 49, Oakland 40
The host of the Damian Lillard Classic and its namesake’s alma mater did not fare well in its second game at the tournament. The lowlight was a third quarter in which Oakland was stuck at 25 points for all eight minutes.
“That had never happened to us in my whole time here at Oakland,” longtime coach Orlando Watkins said. “We didn’t make enough adjustments, and that’s on us as a coaching staff.”
Anthony Lacy was one of the few bright spots on the team, constantly grabbing offensive rebounds and playing the role of rim-protector. His energy also produced a team-high 10 points for the Wildcats.
Bethel was led by center Dwight Stricklen’s 14 points and wing Daamon Brown’s 11. As alluded to earlier, Bethel outscored Oakland 17-0 in the third quarter.
Zaymani Mitchell scored seven for Oakland, Couraji West scored five, and Pinole Valley transfer Jonathan Chapple put in all five of his points in the fourth quarter.
Watkins said his team is still trying to integrate three transfers and five sophomores that were on JV last season, and said he was not surprised by the Wildcats’ off night.
“It’s gonna take time,” Watkins said. “We’re not going to be the best we can be until maybe late January.”
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Rodriguez 71, Skyline 56
Skyline was able to stay competitive with Rodriguez for most of the game, but the visitors pulled away from the Oakland school in the fourth quarter to come away with a comfortable victory.
Center Elijah Alexander was a load inside for Skyline, scoring a team-high 18 points. Lorenzo Burrell-Camp also put in 11, mostly on tough layups and drives. Many of Skyline’s points were scored after its trapping defense forced a turnover.
“We picked up our energy on defense and started pressing,” Skyline coach Marcus Norman said. “We stopped playing so soft.”
Edison-Fresno 57, James Logan 34
It was another tough game for James Logan as the Colts dropped to 2-10. However, there were a few bright spots. Kays Ziada, Jeremiah Watts and Gabe Flores each scored seven points, and right behind them was Uynam Trinh with six points.
