Live Blog: Castro Valley Beats De La Salle to Take First NCS Title in School HIstory

North Coast Section Division I Championship

No. 2 De La Salle (24-4) vs No. 1 Castro Valley (27-1)

McKeon Pavilion, Saint Mary's College

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Live Blog

It took awhile to get the Castro Valley student section cleared out, but it looks like we're ready to get going here from McKeon Pavilion This place is an absolute madhouse. People are sitting on stairs, they are lined up two-deep behind the basket —I can't imagine how it would be physically possible to get more people in here and still have a basketball game.

Starting lineups:

Castro Valley

Dawson Johnson, Alex Foster, Chris Read, Roderick Bobbitt, Juan Anderson

De La Salle

Duke Da Re, Travis Pacos, Amadi Udenyi, Elliot Pitts, Kelvin Morgan

1st Quarter

7:39: Duke Da Re with a 1-and-1 for DLS to open it up DLS 3-0.

6:10: Roderick Bobbitt answers with a 3 for CV. This should be tough to pull off, I'm shooting video for this game, taking stats and running these updates. 

4:59: Bobbitt picks up his first foul ... he needs to stay out of trouble tonight.

4:35: Chris Read missed a pair of free throws, still 3-3.

3:45: Read dunks to put CV up 5-3. CV is a full court press ... it just caused a rare DLS turnover.

1:53: Bobbitt just picked up his second foul with CV still leading 5-3. Could be a story line there, stay tuned. 

There are more people here than there was for Gonzaga-SMC. No joke. 

1:07: Juan Anderson, and-1. Castro Valley 7-3

END 1 — Castro Valley 7, De La Salle 3

The game is definitely going at a pace ideal for DLS, but CV definitely looks like the better team so far. Castro Valley's students are lined up 4-deep behind the basket nearest the CV bench.

2nd Quarter

6:13: Da Re hit a 3 for DLS, then Read was 1-for-2 from the line for CV. CV 10-6

4:57: Back-to-back buckets for DLS from Udenyi and Pitts ties the game at 10.

3:00: CV 16, DLS 15 — Travis Pacos hit a 3 for DLS, Chris Read with a nice bucket underneath for CV.

2:28: Read, Foster and Bobbitt all have 2 fouls for CV. 

HALFTIME — Castro Valley 20, De La Salle 17.

Points — CV: Read 7, Bobbitt 5, Anderson 4, Foster 2, Thompson 2. DLS: Da Re 6, Pacos 5, Udenyi 2, Battle 2, Pitts 2.

3rd Quarter

6:44: Udenyi scored to open the 2nd half for DLS — Anderson just missed 2 free throws for CV. 20-19 CV.

5:36: Pacos with a layup to put DLS up for the first time at 21-20, but Bobbitt draws a foul and hits 1 of 1 to pull CV back even.

4:47: Dawson Johnson just passed the ball off the backboard to Juan Anderson who dunked. CV 23-21. The place went nuts.

4:02: Bobbitt and Foster now have 3 fouls. Battle hits 2 free throws. 23-23

3:34: CV now up 28-23

1:23: Pacos hit a 3 then found a lane for a layup to pull DLS to 30-28, but Bobbitt answered with a 3. CV 33-28.

4th Quarter

7:45: Johnson with a nice off rebound and put back to put CV up 35-28.

6:55: Pacos with a nice bucket for DLS. 35-30.

5:45: Bobbitt dunks on a breakaway to put CV up 41-32, but he picks up his 4th foul moments later.

5:02: Foster bucket and the foul ... time out DLS. Foster will shoot the free throw with the Trojans leading 43-32.

4:47: Battle misses the front end of a 1- and-1 for DLS. CV comes down and Bobbitt makes one heckuva shot to put CV up 45-32.

Castro Valley 60, De la Salle 42. Final

Congratulations to the Castro Valley Trojans, who are NCS boys basketball champions for the first time in school history. They'll  learn of their NorCal fate on Sunday.

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This has been a long time coming for the Castro Valley Trojans.

Last year, when the team was eliminated in the NCS semis and then in the NorCal quarters, the losses never really seemed like a big deal. 

Not because the team wasn't disappointed with its playoff departures — it surely was — but because everyone who follows high school basketball in the area knew the Trojans were built for this year.

NorCal basketball's equivalent of "The Big Three" is Castro Valley's Roderick Bobbitt, Juan Anderson and Chris Read. The trio have started for the Trojans since sophomores on a team which went 23-5. That's when talk of a state title was born.

By going 27-1 during the regular season, the Trojans validated the hype which has been building since 2008. This team was expected to be playing for the NCS title tonight and it would have been a surprise if it wasn't.

Talent-wise, the Trojans, who are ranked No. 55 in the nation by Rivals.com, are clearly the class of Northern California and should not only be expected to win tonight's game, but should enter the NorCal playoffs as the No. 1 seed and painted the favorite to represent the upper half (or third?) at the Arena Formerly Known as Arco on March 26.

That being said, De La Salle is never a tough out. 

Is this De La Salle team as physically imposing as some of its teams from the past? No, but it is still a group capable of winning a state title.

The high-intensity defense the Frank Allocco-coached team is known for is as good as ever, and the team's offensive spacing and precise offense lends itself to open looks and backdoor layups. 

In Amadi Udenyi and Travis Pacos, De La Salle has two players it can rely on for consistent scoring and sharp shooting. Duke Da Re is capable of knocking down key shots when needed.

In all likelihood, we could see a rematch of this game in the NorCal title game.

The Trojans are the No. 1-ranked Division I team in NorCal by Cal-Hi Sports. De La Salle is ranked No. 4, but eliminated No. 3 San Ramon Valley on Wednesday and already beat No. 2-ranked Sheldon earlier in the season. 

How they got here:

De La Salle: The Spartans went 22-4 during the regular season and captured the East Bay Athletic League title with a record of 13-1. Key wins during the season included Fairfield, San Ramon Valley (, game 2) and . They beat and in the playoffs.

Castro Valley: The Trojans were 24-2 on the court during the regular season, but were awarded a win against Salesian after it was ruled the Pride used an ineligible player in its . Key wins include: , , , , , Bishop O'Dowd twice (, ). The Trojans beat Antioch and Newark Memorial in the playoffs.

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Castro Valley Trojans (27-1) — stats courtesy of MaxPreps.com

No. 2 De La Salle Spartans (24-4)

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NCS D-I Girls:

Berkeley 55, Carondelet 53: Carondelet led 52-43 after a bucket from PortiaVelasco with 7:47 left in the game, but the Cougars' only point the rest of the game came on a free throw. The top-seeded Yellowjackets went on a 12-1 run to finish the game and took the lead for good on a bucket from Khristina Hunter with 24 seconds left. A shot from Carondelet's Hannah Huffman from deep was no good at the buzzer. 

I think we can all expect to see Berkeley-Carondelet Part IV in the NorCal title game in a few weeks. Both teams whad their moments in this one, but it was the 'Jackets that came through with clutch baskets down the stretch to pull it out.

Look for video highlights from this one late tonight.

Carondelet 16 16 18 3 — 53

Berkeley 16 19 8 12 — 55

Top Scorers

Carondelet: Payne 13, Huffman 12, Velasco 10, N.Romeo 8, Russi 8.

Berkeley: Culberson 20, Boyd 15, Hunter 10

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CLICK HERE for a Live Blog of the D-II girls game between Clayton Valley and Dougherty Valley.