CONCORD — For about half a quarter, the highly anticipated showdown between Salesian and Archbishop Riordan at De La Salle’s MLK Classic looked like a mismatch.
Riordan led 10-0.
But once Salesian settled in, there wasn’t much Riordan could do. The Pride swarmed defensively. It crashed the boards. It hit big shots.
It took the energy from Riordan and didn’t let up, rolling to a 61-48 victory before a packed house that included numerous college coaches, Cal’s Mark Madsen and Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett among them.
Isaiah Davis came off the bench to give Salesian, the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team, the early spark. The 5-foot-11 sophomore scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half. He made five 3-pointers.
Alvin Loving, held scoreless through two quarters, made three big 3-pointers in the third quarter, finishing with 11 points. Carlton Perrilliat added 10 points.
But under longtime coach Bill Mellis, Salesian (18-1) is never about one player.
The Pride plays hard, smart and shares the ball — elements that will make the Richmond powerhouse a challenge for anyone when the postseason starts next month.
Sixth-ranked Riordan, an athletic team that features 6-foot-8 senior Zion Sensley, frustrated Salesian in the opening minutes with its length and zone defense.
But the San Francisco school’s momentum didn’t last long.
“It just took a minute because they’re long and they had good length,” Mellis said. “We needed to play a little harder and not look so wide-eyed. I don’t know where that came from. It was fine. We needed to calm down.”
Given Salesian’s resume — third place in the top division at a prestigious Southern California holiday tournament, only one loss on the season — there was really no reason to panic about a double-digit deficit minutes into the game.
And Salesian did not flinch. Not at all.
“We have a group that has adapted to a whole bunch of things this year,” Mellis said. “In LA, there were teams that pressed us, zoned us, or in Idaho. We’ve played great teams that did different things against us. We kept adapting and figuring out ways to win and figuring our what was going to be successful. It’s a smart group that figures it out.”
Salesian cut the deficit to 16-10 after the first quarter. It held Riordan (9-4) to four points in the second quarter to take a 26-20 lead into the locker room. By the end of the third quarter, Salesian stretched the advantage to 50-36.
“I feel like we’ve been in more tough spots,” Davis said. “I felt like we were fine. We were just a little nervous.”
Davis’ 3-pointer near the end of the first quarter cut the margin to six. He hit another 3-pointer to start the second quarter and didn’t stop shooting when the opportunities came.
“I feel like it was a first shot kind of thing,” he said about his hot hand. “I didn’t really get that many shots up in warmups.”
Sensley had 21 points for Riordan, 12 in the first quarter. No other Riordan player finished with more than five points.
How big was this game?
“I feel like it was really important, to show that we’re the No. 1 team in NorCal,” Davis added. “This just proves that, really.”
Both teams return to league on Tuesday. Salesian visits De Anza and Riordan has a big one at Archbishop Mitty.
