March 13, 2007

Oak Grove wins CCS Division I championship

Eagles win second CCS title and jump to No. 18 in state rankings

By Ali Abdollahi
Editor

The Oak Grove boys’ basketball team advanced to the school’s first-ever Northern California championship game one week after earning the CCS title with a 50-45 victory over Piedmont Hills on March 3. The CCS crown is the second for Oak Grove, and it’s first since 2002. They will face McClymonds High (Oakland) for the NorCal championship at Stockton Arena March 17.

Oak Grove senior Marshawn Landrine launches a three-point shot in the Eagles CCS Semifinal victory over Bellarmine on Feb. 28. Landrine scored a game-high 16 points against the Belles.

The Eagles reached the NorCal final by following up their CCS run with victories in the first two rounds of the NorCal playoffs, extending their winning streak to 18 games. After defeating the team from Sheldon High (Sacramento) at home 64-55 in the first round, Oak Grove played host to Oakland’s Skyline High in the NorCal semifinals.

Skyline controlled the tempo in the first half, using defensive pressure to force the Eagles into several turnovers. Oak Grove found themselves in an unfamiliar position at halftime; trailing 29-23. But the Eagles outscored the Titans by 18 points in the second half en route to a 62-50 win.

Oak Grove seized control in the third period, utilizing defensive adjustments to hold Skyline without a field goal the entire quarter. Oak Grove junior Stacy Long switched to defend Skyline’s best scorer, junior Kwame Vaughn, at halftime, holding him to just one field goal in the second half. Long and junior Kelly Kaigler played frantic perimeter defense, and funneled all Skyline penetration into the waiting arms of the Eagles’ star center, junior Tyree McCrary.

McCrary blocked ten shots to go along with his 13 points and 16 rebounds. “We just tried to funnel their guards to (McCrary),” said Eagles head coach Rich Young. “He did the rest.”

Kaigler netted a game-high 23 points, scoring from all over the court, and added nine rebounds and two blocks.

Outscoring the Titans 16-5 in the third period, the Eagles brought their home crowd to life. The change of momentum that began early in the second half got its exclamation mark when McCrary capped-off seven straight Oak Grove points with a thunderous putback dunk that sent their fans into a frenzy.

The Eagles never looked back, keeping the Titans at a safe distance for the remainder of the contest.

The win in the CCS title game avenged Oak Grove’s only loss of the season, a one-point defeat at Piedmont Hills on Jan. 3. Though the Eagles (29-1) routed their Mt. Hamilton Division rivals from Piedmont Hills by 42 points in their second meeting Jan. 26, their third contest of the season with the Pirates would prove to be a more difficult task.

The game, played in front of a packed house at Santa Clara University’s Leavey Center, began as a back-and-forth contest. Oak Grove was led by McCrary, who tallied 15 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocks, leading the Eagles in all three categories.

Though the Pirates kept the game close throughout the first half by employing a spread offense designed to slow the game down, Oak Grove began asserting its dominance toward the end of the second quarter.

Piedmont Hills actually led 20-18 late in the second period when the Eagles began a 13-0 run carrying into the third quarter that gave them command of the game. McCrary blocked four shots in the third quarter alone, helping Oak Grove maintain a 40-32 advantage going into the final frame.

The Pirates made a final push in the fourth quarter that created some very tense moments for the Eagles and their fans. Piedmont Hills shrunk the deficit to 46-42 with under three minutes remaining and had possession of the ball with an opportunity to cut the lead further. But Long knocked the ball loose, dove to the floor to secure the ball, and passed while on his back to Kaigler, who raced down the floor for a momentum-changing lay-up. The Pirates would never get any closer.

While Piedmont Hills was successful at slowing the game down for much of the contest, Oak Grove demonstrated its superiority around the basket. In addition to McCrary’s aggressive defense, five other Eagles’ players recorded five or more rebounds, and junior Mark Forrest added three blocked shots.

With a roster that features 10 juniors and only three seniors, most observers believe Oak Grove is in good shape to defend their title next season.

CCS Semifinals: Oak Grove 61, Bellarmine Prep 48
The Eagles advanced to the championship game with a 61-48 victory over Bellarmine College Prep on Feb. 28. It seemed that a different player stepped-up in each of the Eagles’ CCS Playoff victories. In the semifinals, that player was senior Marshawn Landrine.

Oak Grove shot poorly in the first quarter, with McCrary missing his first four field goal attempts and Kaigler committing two offensive fouls that forced him to the bench. But a three-point play by Forrest at the end of the period pushed the Eagles to a 12-6 lead.

Though Oak Grove pushed their lead up to seven during the second quarter, the Belles rallied late in the half to tie the game at 24. Just when it seemed that Bellarmine would go to the locker room with the momentum on its side, Landrine came to the rescue, nailing a contested three-pointer over two Bellarmine defenders as the halftime buzzer sounded.

Landrine hit another three early in the third quarter to push the lead back to seven, and the Eagles led by nine going into the fourth period. Bellarmine made a quick surge at the beginning of the fourth quarter to close within four points, but, once again, the Belles’ efforts were thwarted by Landrine. This time, he answered a Bellarmine three-pointer that made the score 40-36 with a hard drive to the basket and a conventional three-point play that pushed the lead back to seven. Landrine finished with a team-high 16 points.

Kaigler’s break-away dunk later in the period put the Eagles up by 14 and sealed the outcome.

McCrary struggled mightily from the field, not sinking his first basket until late in the third period, but he was a menace on defense. He officially recorded six blocked shots, including one which he sent into the fifth row of the bleachers. But McCrary’s relentlessness and long arms disrupted countless Bellarmine shot attempts. Despite his poor shooting night, McCrary shot well from the foul line and still managed to score 10 points.