ALBANY — It was a classic Salesian win.
For four quarters, the Pride blitzed and rattled visiting Modesto Christian as Salesian Bill Mellis sent body after body to wear down a potent Crusader offense.
Salesian, carried by its defense, defeated Modesto Christian 66-53 at Albany High on Wednesday in the first round of the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs. The Richmond school will travel to top-seeded Archbishop Riordan on Saturday in a rematch of the 2024 NorCal Open Division final.
“We thought today we could run a bunch of guys out there and it worked out pretty good,” Mellis said. “We always want to put pressure on their best players and keep shuffling guys in.”
The Pride leaned on their depth as nine different players contributed meaningful minutes through the first three quarters.
Carlton Perrilliat led Salesian in scoring with 19 points. Sophomore Ronnie Selleaze gave Salesian a huge energy boost in the second half, totaling 11 points and dishing out four assists. Guard Elias Obenyah had one of his best defensive games of the season as he recorded four steals and got it done on offense, scoring 14 points.
Salesian bounced back in a big way after a blowout loss to De La Salle in the North Coast Section Open Division championship game on Saturday.
“We weren’t on the same page on Saturday,” Selleaze said. “But we just talked through it, had more team bonding and got on the right page. We wanted to prove it in a positive way in this game.”
The two teams played tight until the middle of the second quarter as Salesian found its groove attacking the basket.
A no-look pass from Obenyah to Perrilliat for a strong slam dunk kicked off an 8-0 run that Salesian went on to end the first half. The Pride took a 30-22 lead going into the third quarter and didn’t allow Modesto to retake the lead again.
Salesian used an effective man-to-man press that forced Modesto Christian into quick shots and sloppy turnovers.
Salesian totaled 13 steals and made the Crusaders turn the ball over 20 times. The Pride took tactical measures to try and tire out Modesto Christian’s two Division I guards in Myles Jones (Stanford) and Gavin Sykes (Long Beach State).
“We wanted to make them work and tire them out,” Mellis said about stopping Jones and Sykes. “They had to work for their points.”
While Jones finished with 14 points and Sykes with 21, their buckets came on an array of difficult pull-up jumpers and long distance 3-pointers that Salesian ultimately lived with.
“We just wanted to mix it up, keep rotating guys on them and continue to move the defense around,” Perrilliat said.
In the final period, Modesto Christian threatened Salesian’s lead, cutting the Pride’s lead to five with two made free throws from Ry Atkins.
But that’s as close as the Central Valley school would get.
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Salesian got key baskets from Obenyah, Perrilliat, junior Leon Powe and sophomore Asante Johnson throughout the fourth period. The dagger came when senior Alvin Loving swished a left-wing 3 off a flare screen that gave Salesian a 14-point lead – its largest of the game – with two minutes left.
Wednesday’s win marked Salesian’s eighth victory over Modesto Christian in the last 11 games. The Pride have now beaten the Crusaders in back-to-back NorCal Open Division playoff games.
Salesian will have another big test when it plays Riordan on Saturday in the regional semifinal. Riordan has been dominant all season and beat Salesian in the Gridley Invitational 52-51 behind a go-ahead 3 from Texas A&M commit Jasir Rencher with seconds remaining.
Mellis knows facing Riordan a second time will be an uphill battle.
“They have size, athleticism and really skilled players,” Mellis said. “We’ll have our hands full, plus it’s totally different because it will be in their gym. We’ll have to deal with that adversity and hopefully we learn from the other night (against De La Salle) and not get out of sorts.”
