Boys Basketball: Giusti, Tollefsen Lead Wolves to NCS Semifinals

No. 3 San Ramon Valley 73, No. 6 Deer Valley 62

The Star: San Ramon Valley's Jordan Giusti scored 28 points and Mark Tollefsen added 25.

The Turning Point: The Wolves were trailing 32-24 before going on a 19-2 run which bridged the second and third quarters to take the lead for good.

The Quote: “This is how it's been all year. Either Jordan has a big game or I have a big game, but tonight we both had big games." — Mark Tollefesen.

Who's Next? San Ramon will play No. 2 De La Salle on Wednesday at Saint Mary's College in Moraga at 7 p.m.

The Bottom Line: The Wolves weathered a hot start by Deer Valley, but once the Wolverines cooled down from the field San Ramon proved to be too much. San Ramon will get another crack at De La Salle after falling to the Spartans in the North Coast Section and NorCal semifinals last year.

——————————

At this point in the season the scouting report on the boys basketball team should be fairly easy to put together. Offensively, the Wolves are about as close to a two-man show as there is in the North Coast Section. 

It's been Jordan Giusti and Mark Tollefsen that have carried the Wolves all year and in Friday's quartefinal game nothing changed. Giusti scored a career-high 28 and the Tollefsen added 25 as third-seeded San Ramon defeated No. 6 Deer Valley 73-62.

“This is how it's been all year," Tollefsen said. "Either Jordan has a big game or I have a big game, but tonight we both had big games."

The win will pit San Ramon (26-2) against No. 2 De La Salle (23-4) on Wednesday in the semifinals at Saint Mary's College in Moraga at 7 p.m.

Deer Valley came out in an extended zone defense and it resulted in eight SRV turnovers in the first quarter, while the Wolverines jumped out to an early 19-13 lead. 

"We had some unforced turnovers early against their big zone," San Ramon coach John Raynor said. "We improved (taking care of the ball) as the game went on."

Tollefsen's 10 first-quarter points kept the Wolves close as Deer Valley (21-7) was hot from the field. Once the Wolverines cooled off, San Ramon took control.

In a six-minute span begining with a pair of free throw from Tollefsen with three minutes left in the first half, San Ramon went on a 19-2 run which turned an eight-point deficit into a 43-34 lead. After Kendall Smith ended Deer Valley's scoring drought with a bucket, the teams traded traded scores for nearly the rest of the game.

Giusti, who was more of a distributor last season in the Wolves' run to the NorCal semifinals, played arguably his best game of the year. Eighteen of his 28 points came in the second half and his ability to penetrate Deer Valley's zone was crucial duringthe Wolves' big mid-game run.

Deer Valley cut the lead to 58-54 with 4:45 left in the game, but the Wolves answered with a 10-4 run to put the game away.

Unlike last year when all four NCS Division I semifinalists received bids to NorCal's, only the teams that reach the championship game will advance past section play this year. The change means the winner of SRV-DLS Part III will be moving on to NorCal's while the loser's season will be over.

"It we lose, we go home," Tollfesen said. "We want to keep playing."

San Ramon topped De La Salle 53-47 when the teams met in Concord on Feb. 1, and DLS won .

Bryan Marvin (nine points) and Dave Dobrynski (seven points) continued to give the Wolves valuable playoff minutes 

DV