The 2016-2017 high school basketball season is in full swing and Alameda teams already picked up some impressive victories last week.

St. Joseph Notre Dame
St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) men’s team won the 29th annual Chris Vontoure Spartan Classic in Concord Saturday, Dec. 10.

The Pilots won the championship game 46-40 over host De La Salle, improving to 5-1 on the season. On their way to the championship game, the Pilots defeated Serra of San Mateo 50-38 in the first game and St. Patrick-St. Vincent of Vallejo 71-69 in overtime in the second contest. 

The Pilots were led by team captains senior Jadé Smith, senior Darne Duckett and junior Cameron Ba. The guard trio averaged a combined 45 points per game in the three games and were selected to the All-Tournament team. Smith, a Pepperdine University commit, was named Tournament MVP. 

The Pilots will play Westmoor of Daly City in its next game on Saturday, Dec. 17.
The women’s team destroyed San Domenico of San Anselmo 72-23 on Dec. 6. Four players scored in double figures. However, they lost to Presentation of San Jose 38-36 on Dec. 10. They will play Swett of Crockett on Tuesday, Dec. 20. They are 4-1 on the season.

Alameda
The Alameda men’s basketball team had three blowout victories in the previous week. The first game was a 54-34 win over Maria Carrillo of Santa Rosa on Dec. 6. The Hornets distanced themselves from the Pumas little by little. After finishing the first quarter with a 14-8 lead, they finished the first half with a 29-18 lead. They outscored their opponents 16-9 to put the game away. 

Alameda knocked off McClymonds of Oakland easily 61-24 the next day on the road. The Hornets saved its most dominant victory of the week for last as they drubbed Mt. Diablo 89-39 on Friday, Dec. 9. Alameda led the Red Devils 47-21 at halftime. They scored 38 points in the third quarter alone, one less point than Mt. Diablo scored in the entire game.

Alameda entered the week 1-2 overall. So the three-game winning streak brings their record to 4-2 overall. The Hornets will play Emery today in their next game.

The women’s team went 2-2 last week. Alameda scored victories over Arroyo of San Lorenzo (59-34) on Dec. 8 and American of Fremont (66-54) on Dec. 9. However, they did lose to San Ramon Valley of Danville (53-46) on Dec. 6 and California of San Ramon (65-38) on Dec. 10. The Hornets are 5-3 overall and will take on Concord on Dec. 20.

Encinal
Encinal won its last two games. After losing the first two games of the Elk Grove Bill Cartwright Classic to Johnson of Sacramento 82-57 on Dec. 1 and to Bear Creek of Stockton 59-55 on Dec. 2, the Jets rebounded to beat Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento convincingly 92-64 in the seventh-place game on Dec. 3. The Jets used the momentum from the previous game to defeat Ygnacio Valley of Concord 64-51 on Dec. 8. The Jets are now 2-2 overall.

Encinal will take on San Marin of Novato in its next contest today. 

The women’s team picked up two victories last week. The Jets withstood a strong effort from Pinole Valley on their way to a hard-fought 56-50 victory on Dec. 7. The Jets followed that with a much easier 50-30 win over Skyline of Oakland. The Jets are now 4-3 on the season.