Modesto Christian narrowly escapes De La Salle to advance to NorCal Open final
A matchup between Modesto Christian and De La Salle in the Northern California Open Division semifinal came down to the wire.
The Crusaders needed a stop coming out of a timeout leading 57-56 with 1 minute, 3 seconds left in the game and less than 20 seconds on the shot clock.
After playing man-to-man the entire game, the Crusaders switched to a 3-2 zone, forcing sophomore Alec Blair into a double-clutch three-point shot from well behind the line that missed the rim and hit the left side of the backboard.
A shot clock violation when they desperately needed a defensive stand.
Neither team would score for the remainder of the game, as the top-seeded Crusaders beat the No. 5 Spartans, 57-56, to advance to the Open Division Regional Final on Tuesday.
“A lot of it is just my respect for coach (Marcus) Schroeder for De La Salle,” Modesto Christian coach Brice Fantazia said of the decision to switch defenses. Schroeder was an associate head coach at Saint Mary’s College before returning to De La Salle. “He’s one of the best coaches in the country. I knew he was going to draw something up, so we kind of just wanted to throw him off with the zone. And it worked.”
In gaining the first overall seed in the NorCal Open Division, the Crusaders earned a first-round bye. After a week without a game, they got out to a slow start Saturday, falling behind 10-2 in the first quarter.
Tuesday’s matchup will be just as tough against St. Joseph-Santa Maria, which Modesto Christian played once already this season at De La Salle’s tournament in mid-January. Jeremiah sealed the game for the Crusaders with a block as time expired. Modesto Christian won by a point.
“The Open Division is a different beast compared to everything,” Fantazia said. “It’s one of the toughest high school basketball tournaments in the country. The games are always like this. You don’t see 10-, 15-, 20-point wins in the Open.”
The Spartans’ length made it difficult for Modesto Christian, which had three players miss the week of practice because of illness. The Spartans forced them into tough shots and sophomore Alec Blair scored 10 of his 21 points in the quarter.
“We came out a little rusty,” Fantazia said. “Their length and their team defense shocked us a little bit early, but I knew we would adjust.
The Crusaders clawed their way back into the game. Sophomore Zeke Davis connected on two timely second-quarter threes and Bj Davis scored eight points in the frame. By the end of the quarter, it was just a two-point game.
“They were really focused on BJ and Jalen tonight … so somebody needed to step up and hit shots,” Fantazia said. “Last year as a freshman, (Davis) was huge for us in the playoffs. We know what he’s capable of, I just think he just needed to be confident, step in and make big shots … and he did that.”
Jalen Brown opened the third quarter with a left corner three, and Prince Oseya scored five straight points as the Crusaders opened the second half on a tear.
Oseya’s full offensive repertoire was on display Saturday. He scored on putbacks, pull up two-pointers and hit two 3’s.
“Prince can shoot,” Fantazia said. “A lot of people don’t know that because we run our stuff through our guards so much. When we do our offseason workouts, we track everything and he’s a very good shooter … and tonight we were able to see that.”
Said Davis: “That’s new. He stepped up in a big moment, so I’m proud of that guy.”
Kodey Weary followed a miss with a tip-in that was part of a 10-0 Crusader run in the first three minutes of the third. By the end of the period, they held a 48-44 lead.
Once again, Davis played the role of closer for the Crusaders.
In a back-and-forth final quarter, the guard scored the game’s final points with less than two minutes left.
After getting a pass at the top of the key, Davis dribbled behind his back between four De La Salle defenders and into the middle of the key. He collected the ball and scooped in a right-handed layup to give Modesto Christian a 57-56 lead.
The Spartans had one final chance with 13 seconds left. Schroeder drew up a play for Blair to get the ball on a post up, but Modesto Christian forced a contested pull up jump shot. Jeremiah Bernard rebounded the ball with 0.8 seconds left.
“Moments like that, I know in my head that I worked for this and I made for this,” Davis said of the game-winning layup. “So I’m gonna step up every time.”
Said Fantazia: “He’s not one of those kids who shoots every time he touches it. He gets his when we need it. Every timeout, he was just saying, ‘Coach, we’re not losing. We’re not losing.’ He willed us to win.”
The Crusaders advance to their second straight CIF NorCal Open Division championship, but this time they will host.
Tuesday, Fantazia is hoping the home atmosphere and experience in the Open final will play into the team’s favor.
“It’ll be the first time in 209 history that a game of this magnitude is in our area,” he said. “That’s big.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2023 at 8:21 AM.
