Bishop O'Dowd forward Miles Dixon (1) grabs a rebound in O'Dowd's victory over Alameda. (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group)
Boys basketball
Bishop O’Dowd 63, Alameda 62
Josh Green, running unhindered by the ball but conscious of the seconds dwindling down, found himself open on the right wing with under 30 seconds left.
The Bishop O’Dowd sharpshooter stopped, jumped, and let a three-pointer go.
In front of a packed Alameda gymnasium split between visiting O’Dowd supporters and Hornets fans who could taste the team’s first league win, Green watched the ball begin and then complete its journey into the bottom of the net.
O’Dowd (7-5) took the one-point lead with 23.8 seconds left thanks to Green’s clutch shot, and then held onto the victory.
“We lost our first game in the league last year, so we wanted to come in and get the win this time,” said Green, who scored 15. “I wanted to come up big for my teammates.”
Alameda (7-5) entered the matchup with momentum, having won the bronze division at the Classic at Damien in La Verne. Meanwhile, O’Dowd, happy to be back in the East Bay, had gone 2-2 at the Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines.
“It feels good to be back, but it feels even better to get a win,” O’Dowd coach Lou Richie said.
It was a tight game throughout. O’Dowd led 14-13 after one quarter, but Alameda had a 31-29 advantage at halftime. The home team took a 42-35 lead midway through the third quarter and appeared poised to run away.
But a string of Samuel Chavarin layups, free throws and threes helped O’Dowd end the third quarter tied at 46. Chavarin scored 12 points, and fellow senior Leo Chapman scored a team-high 18 for O’’Dowd.
Alameda wing Jesse Kim, who scored nine points, hit a three that put Alameda up 62-58 with under two minutes left in the game. Nick Gabriel-Yingling led the team with 14 points, and Alameda’s Zion Moore scored 11.
But after O’Dowd hit a shot to cut it to two points, Green took care of the rest as O’Dowd started its league campaign 1-0.
No. 1 Salesian 79, Vallejo 34
The Bay Area’s new No. 1 team looked to be in top form on Wednesday night when it dismantled Vallejo in the teams’ league opener.
Football standout Carlton Perrilliat showed that he’s a two-sport star by scoring a team-high 12 points, and Elias Obenyah was right behind him with 11.
After proving himself as a crunch-time assassin at Damien, Zander Jimenez scored 10 stress-free points in the blowout.
AJ Ocsona led Vallejo with 14 points, and Benicia transfer Darrell Hurd put in nine. Salesian improved to 14-1 while Vallejo fell to 3-9.
No. 2 De La Salle 62, Granite Bay 34
Following two straight losses to end its time at the Classic at Damien, De La Salle got back on track at home in a comfortable rout over Granite Bay.
Alec Blair did a little bit of everything with 15 points, 10 boards and four assists. Shooting guard Arshawn Salkhi scored 15 to tie Blair with the team lead, and Leo Ricketts had 10 points and five dimes. Forward David Balogun had eight points and nine rebounds.
Girls basketball
No. 2 San Ramon Valley 69, Whitney-Rocklin 37
The Wolves enjoyed a balanced scoring effort as the Wolves improved to 13-1. Sofia Bowes led the team with 17 points, and Sierra Chambers poured in 14 points in the first half.
Amanda Kerner hit four 3-pointers to score her 12 points, and Avery Knapp and Ava Horrocks combined for 17 points.
HOW DOES MY TEAM MAKE THE ROUNDUP
The easiest way to appear in the Bay Area News Group high school sports roundup is to email the score and statistical leaders to highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com or put your box score on MaxPreps after the game. If that doesn’t work for you, you can post the score and leading scorers on X (formerly Twitter) and tag our high school team — editor/reporter Darren Sabedra (@DarrenSabedra) and reporter Joseph Dycus (@joseph_dycus).
Originally published at Joseph Dycus