Clayton Valley, Ygnacio Valley, De La Salle, Carondelet seek high NCS placements with strong league results
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Jan. 20, 2025) — Several local high school basketball programs have begun East Bay and Diablo athletic league schedules on the right note as they seek to burnish their season records and battle for high seeds in the North Coast Section playoffs that begin in a month’s time.
Concord parochial school neighbors Carondelet (13-4) and De La Salle (16-1) have compiled the most impressive non-league results as they get into the heart of their strong EBAL schedules.
The DAL basketball schedule features all 13 schools playing a single round of games in both the boys and girls divisions which might cause some headaches at the Feb. 16 NCS seeding meeting when it comes to placing local teams in seven divisions for the playoffs that run Feb. 18-Mar. 1. The DAL will have its league playoffs for the top six teams Feb. 12-15.
De La Salle opened the year with a 14-game winning streak that was ended in the championship game of the Hoophall West tournament in Arizona by Harvard-Westlake, the No. 3 team in MaxPreps national rankings. The Spartans are No. 30 in the national rankings and third in California Division 1 as they get into the meat of their competitive EBAL schedule.
The EBAL dominates NCS boys rankings with DLS 1st, Dublin 3rd, San Ramon Valley 4th, California 6, Dougherty Valley 9th and Amador Valley 11. Clayton Valley Charter is 14th and Ygnacio Valley 16th for the other top local boys teams.
New placements
In the new base NCS division placements for both girls and boys teams, De La Salle, College Park and Clayton Valley Charter are in Division 1. Mt. Diablo, Northgate and Carondelet in D-2, and Ygnacio Valley and Concord in D-3. When it comes to actual placement in playoff divisions (Open and six divisions), teams will be seeded according to their MaxPreps rankings but no more than two divisions higher or lower than their base division.
Carondelet’s non-league schedule included games against teams from Oklahoma, Arizona, Florida and Arkansas. They are currently No. 2 in state Division 2 rankings. Among EBAL teams, San Ramon Valley is 2nd, Carondelet 4th, Dublin 10th and California 11th in NCS overall ratings. The Cougars began EBAL play with four straight victories but lost in overtime to SRV this week.
Clayton Valley Charter girls are ranked sixth in NCS with the Ugly Eagles 12-5 overall and 4-0 in DAL. Northgate (13-5) is third in NCS D-2 rankings top-rated Carondelet.
Mt. Diablo (10-8) is seeking its fourth straight post-pandemic NCS and NorCal playoff berth as they sit in the top 10 of D-2 teams.
Veteran standouts pacing boys teams
Local boys teams vying for top basketball honors have some high-powered players leading the way this season. Alec Blair (De La Salle), Elijah Perryman (Clayton Valley Charter) and Antonio Kellogg Jr. (Ygnacio Valley) were well known off previous season’s exploits, and they have not disappointed in their senior year.
Blair is a 6-7 point guard who has committed to play basketball and baseball at Oklahoma starting next fall. The lefthander is the key man in the Spartans lineup that, as always, stresses defense with a controlled offense that often chokes off the opponent’s offense while limiting its own players from posting flashy stats.
Perryman was the DAL most valuable player as a junior and first-team all-league as a sophomore when CVCHS won its second straight NCS title. This year, the Ugly Eagles (11-6) have sophomore Zion Grissom joining Perryman in the backcourt and the duo are combining for 27 points, 6.3 assists and three steals a game.
Kellogg is filling the stat books with a 20.8 per game scoring average on 60% shooting. His Wolves are 9-8 but 0-3 in DAL ranking No. 7 in state D-3 rankings and 19th overall in NCS.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.