DANVILLE — De La Salle did its best to deflate San Ramon Valley’s revved-up student section Tuesday night, taking charge in the first quarter behind the many skills that its best player, junior Alec Blair, brings to the court.
But it wasn’t until the final second rolled off the clock as San Ramon Valley’s desperation shot from near midcourt fell harmlessly away from the basket that the visitors could finally exhale.
De La Salle survived its toughest road challenge of the East Bay Athletic League schedule, prevailing 60-58 over San Ramon Valley to secure no worse than a tie for the league’s regular-season championship while locking up the top seed in next week’s league tournament.
The Spartans (22-3, 8-0) can clinch the outright title with a win Friday at home against California. Granada, a team De La Salle beat last week, is one game behind with one game to go.
“It was a great win, on the road against an awesome team,” De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder said. “They’re so good.”
San Ramon Valley could have made it a three-way tie for first had it beat De La Salle. But for the second time in five days, the Wolves (20-5, 6-2) lost to a contender for the championship by the identical score. Granada won at home over SRV 60-58 on Thursday.
The way the game Tuesday started, it looked as if it would be a long night for the home team.
Blair scored 12 of his 24 points in the opening quarter, which included a big-time dunk, as the Spartans surged to a 23-11 advantage.
“I think we were surprised,” SRV coach Brian Botteen said. “They came out and gave us their absolute best first half. Everything they wanted they were getting. We were just saying to the players that normally in a double-digit deficit against De La Salle, people don’t recover, which again speaks to the resilience of our group.
“It could have gone any way at the end, a couple of bounces here or there, a couple of stops.”
SRV got to within single digits in the second quarter, but the margin was back to 10 as the half was about to end.
Fortunately for the Wolves, there was enough time for Luke Isaak to do his thing. The SRV shooter dribbled up the sideline and fired a shot from halfcourt that appeared to have a mind of its own. The ball hit on the left side of the rim and somehow dropped in.
The momentum carried over to the third quarter as the Wolves held DLS to six points to take a 43-41 advantage.
“We thought we should have had ’em after the first quarter,” said DLS senior Arshawn Salkhi, who finished with 11 points. “But we let it slip a little bit. We’re such a tight team. We stuck with it and we were able to come out of here with a W.”
Leo Ricketts’ 3-pointer from the wing — his only points of the game — gave De La Salle a 53-50 lead with 4:25 left.
Mason Thomas’ drive to the basket, part of his 15-point game for SRV, pulled the Wolves to within 53-52.
Related Articles
San Ramon Valley girls wear down Carondelet in battle of East Bay heavyweights
Video: What our guys think about NCS’s major changes to its playoffs
High school girls basketball rankings Jan. 30, 2024: Bay Area News Group Top 20
Prep roundup: Campolindo, Branham win again, Benicia hands Ygnacio Valley first league defeat
High school boys basketball rankings Jan. 30, 2024: Bay Area News Group Top 20
Back and forth the teams went down the stretch, trading points points but not the lead.
Down 59-58, SRV grabbed a defensive rebound with 19 seconds to go and made its way up court. But before the Wolves could take a shot, Blair stole the ball in the paint and drew a foul with three seconds left.
He made the first and missed the second, opening the door for SRV to win with a 3-pointer.
But the final shot didn’t come close.
“They had a hell of a crowd, hell of a team,” Blair said. “Props to them. It was a good game. I am sure we’ll see them again later.”
