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Greg Harris

Temidayo Yussef goes up for a layup over two defenders in Friday's game.

The St. Joseph Notre Dame High School (SJND) Pilots and Alameda High School Hornets' boys' varsity basketball teams came out big winners in last weekend's Island Classic exhibition contest at the SJND gymnasium.

The Pilots defeated the St. Elizabeth Mustangs last Friday in an 82-23 rout, in which they led wire to wire.

It was obvious from the start of the game the Mustangs were no match for the Pilots' size and athleticism. The Pilots jumped out to a 20-4 lead, just four minutes into the first quarter, after an offensive rebound and put back by Temidayo Yussef. Yussef and the Pilots controlled the offensive boards all game rebounding the ball at will.

"We send four people to the board after every shot," said SJND head coach Don Lippi. "We have one guy stay back, but we feel if we attack the boards we'll get a lot of rebounds, which will hurt the other team's defense."

The Pilots led 31-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Pilots kept up the pressure in the second quarter. Lamont Banks of SJND scored a layup and was fouled after a St. Elizabeth turnover. Banks made the extra free throw and the score ballooned to 44-10. After another Mustang turnover, Marcus Harris threw an outlet pass down the court to James Choyce who scored a layup to make it 52-12 late in the second quarter.

"I like the way our team played in the first half," said Lippi. "We forced a lot of turnovers and we had 17 assists. That shows we were moving the ball well."

The Pilots led 61-12 at the half. The second half was so out-ofreach that Lippi put in most of the back ups and softened the team's offensive attack. The Pilots scored just 21 points in the second half after exploding for 61 in the first.

"I'm proud of the way our guys won with class and respect," said Lippi. "We didn't try to run up the score or anything like that." The Pilots still outscored the Mustangs in the second half 21 to 11.

The Pilots also defeated University, 66-45, bringing their overall record to 4-0. The Pilots will play Monte Vista in Danville today.

Alameda over University, 68-56

The Hornets trailed 11-0 at the end of the first quarter and 27-25 at the end of the first half in the Island Classic Friday. The second half belonged to the Hornets as their offense finally got in rhythm. The Hornets outscored the Red Devils 43-29 in the second half. Alameda also defeated St. Elizabeth, 61-26. The win brings their overall record to 4-1. The Hornets took on Tennyson in Hayward Wednesday.

Pre-Season Play for Encinal

Encinal lost to El Cerrito 63-61 Friday. The loss gives the Jets a 2-1 record. They will face River Valley in Yuba City today.