San Ramon Valley clears first NCS Open hurdle, the next one will be even taller
DANVILLE — There were no secrets on Thursday night when San Ramon Valley played host to Granada in the first round of the North Coast Section Open Division playoffs.
The East Bay Athletic League teams had met twice previously, with each winning once.
In the rubber match, Granada gave an inspired effort as it played without its best player, senior captain NaVaughn Long, sidelined because of a shoulder injury.
But down the stretch, San Ramon Valley was simply too good as the Wolves prevailed 77-68 to advance to the semifinals on Wednesday against top-seeded Salesian.
Luke Isaak was sensational for San Ramon Valley, finishing with 28 points to surpass 1,000 for his career, a four-digit total that teammate Seamus Deely achieved last week.
“We played way better team basketball in the second half,” Isaak said. “The first half, we were forcing shots. The second half, we played team basketball, locked down on defense and we were able to get it done.”
Granada (22-4) led by three at halftime on Damien Miles’ 3-pointer at the buzzer, the sophomore’s third basket from beyond the arc in the second quarter. He had 14 points.
The visitors extended the advantage to seven in the third period before San Ramon Valley (25-5) went on a 20-6 run that provided the separation the Wolves needed to turn the final eight minutes into a free-throw contest.
When that happened, Granada was cooked.
San Ramon Valley made 25 of 28 free throws in the game, including 17 of 19 in the fourth quarter. Mason Thomas was 9 of 10 in the final period, Isaak was 5 of 5.
Conversely, Granada was 14 of 24 from the foul line for the game.
Still, Granada coach Quaran Johnson said he was pleased by the manner in which his team for overcame the absence of a key player to make the game competitive. Long, injured before a loss to SRV in the EBAL tournament last week, watched from the bench in a sweatsuit. He hopes to be back for the Northern California regionals.
“We fought our tails off,” Johnson said. “I was extremely proud of my guys. There are no moral victories. We lost. The better team won. I thought that there were times where we got a little bit too anxious because of that lineup, because we’re not used to playing with that group of players. We kind of didn’t know how to handle that situation. It cost us.”
San Ramon Valley lost at Granada 60-58 during the league season. In the EBAL tournament last week at Granada, SRV broke open the game in the second half to win 80-56.
The Wolves started quickly Thursday, opening an 8-2 advantage a few minutes into the game.
But the score tightened when Granada began to crash the boards with aggressiveness. In one sequence that SRV coach Brian Botteen noted postgame, Granada grabbed four offensive rebounds on the same possession, leading to a Spencer Langowski layup.
Langowski led Granada with 27 points. Cortevious Taylor added 19 points and Miles finished with 14.
“I thought that they were playing harder than we were,” Botteen said. “We said it at half, too. This is our third game of the year (against Granada) so we’re not always going to have our best game. But this is not a good time to have an average game. We had to do a better job of stopping the direct drives, which they were getting what they wanted, and the rebounding.
“I thought the game changed in the beginning of the first half where they had four or five offensive rebounds in a row. We were just sitting and watching. It gave them life because we were starting to break away.”
Once SRV regained control in the third quarter, its lead kept widening, eventually reaching 75-60 when Isaak swished two free throws.
In addition to Isaak, Mason Thomas (17 points) and Deely (11 points) scored in double figures for SRV.
Now, the Wolves will set their sights on Salesian, which had a opening-round bye. The Pride will bring a 27-1 record into the semifinal matchup at Contra Costa College.
“We know what we need to do,” Deely said. “We haven’t scouted them yet. But we know what it’s going to take. They’re one of the best teams in the state and one of the best teams in the country for a reason. It’s going to take a lot of time to prepare, a lot of time to focus in on them to try to pull off the upset.”