Boys Basketball: Gauchos Top Berkeley, Control ACCAL

El Cerrito 66, Berkeley 65

The Star: The Gauchos starting guards, Bobby Syvanthong and Marcellus Pippins, both starred. Pippins led the team with 17 points while Syvanthong directed the offense, triggered the fast break, and scored 14 points of his own.

The Turning Point: Justin Johnson tipped in a missed shot by Syvanthong to give El Cerrito the 66-65 lead with 12 seconds remaining.

The Quote: “We knew they would fight, and they did. It was a dog fight. It was a battle.” -- El Cerrito coach Michael Booker

Bottom Line: Barring an unforeseen collapse, El Cerrito will win the ACCAL title. Wins don’t get much bigger than this one.

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The players jumped and danced, leaping into each other’s arms and saluting the crowd. All the while, coach Michael Booker stood on the sideline, taking it all in.

“Wow,” he said, laughing. “Wow, wow, wow.”

That about sums it up.

Justin Johnson scored on a tip-in with 12 seconds remaining and Berkeley missed a buzzer-beating shot as the Gauchos defeated the Yellowjackets 66-65 on Thursday. The win gives El Cerrito a season sweep of Berkeley. Barring a major collapse down the stretch, the Gauchos should win the ACCAL championship.

“We set out to win the league at the beginning of the season,” Booker said. “We still have five more games, but this was big.”

With center Eric Nelson struggling with foul trouble, El Cerrito’s guards took over. Bobby Syvanthong directed the offense, pushing the tempo and getting others involved, all while scoring 14 points of his own.

“He’s the MVP of the league,” Booker said of Syvanthong. “He runs the show.”

Sophomore shooting guard Marcellus Pippins led the Gauchos with 17 points. Pippins hit two 3-pointers and got into the open floor for several layups.

“I was trying to dunk it,” the generously-listed 5-foot-9 Pippins said. “I just couldn’t get it down.”

“Marcellus isn’t an inexperienced player anymore,” Booker said. “We count on him now. He’s really come along as a big-time player for us.”

Berkeley took an early lead, but El Cerrito dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Yellowjackets 27-12 to take a 37-28 lead into halftime. Berkeley fought back in the third quarter and took a lead going into the final minute of the game.

During a timeout with about 20 seconds remaining, an El Cerrito cheerleader was dropped while performing a toss. She laid on the ground for about 20 minutes as the game was paused, but she was able to move her legs and was eventually helped off the court.

When play resumed, El Cerrito drew up a play for Syvanthong. The point guard penetrated into the lane and put up a floater. When he missed, forward Justin Johnson crashed the boards and tipped in the go-ahead score.

“I drove and missed, but my teammate was there,” Syvanthong said. “I was happy.”

And although the Gauchos still have five games remaining, Syvanthong is ready to celebrate.

“It feels good to be back-to-back champs,” he said.

To read a detailed play-by-play of the final sequence, click .

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No. 6 El Cerrito 66, No. 9 Berkeley 65

1 2 3 4 F ECHS
10 27 15 14 66 Berkeley 16 12 23 14 65 Individuals — (fg ftm-fta tp) El Cerrito
Nelson 1 1-2 3, Syvanthong 6 2-3 14, Condor 2 0-0 4, Jenkins 5 1-1 11, Pippins 7 1-1 17, Johnson 5 2-3 12. Berkeley Shabazz 5 2-3 13, Amey 2 0-0 5, Eppenger 6 0-1 12, Morning 0 1-1 1, Morris-Walker 5 5-5 18, Johnson 3 1-1 7, Mims 2 1-1 5. 3-point goals: El Cerrito 2 (Pippins 2). Berkeley 5 (Morris-Walker 3, Shabazz, Amey).
Records: El Cerrito 16-5, 7-0 ACCAL. Berkeley 16-4, 6-2. ACCAL Boys Basketball, Feb. 3, 2011
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