Salesian pushed to brink by Clayton Valley in NCS Open final. But survives.

SAN LEANDRO — Time was almost out for Salesian on Saturday night, the section championship it had come to San Leandro’s gymnasium to capture was slipping away.

Someone needed to step up, someone needed to make a stop, someone needed to score.

That someone was Stanford-bound Elias Obenyah.

With less than 30 seconds left in the North Coast Section Open Division championship game and his team trailing Clayton Valley Charter by a point, Obenyah made a steal near midcourt and drove to the basket for a layup.

Bedlam on the Salesian side.

Then … panic.

Before Clayton Valley could inbound the ball, Obenyah knocked it away. The officials, thinking it was Salesian’s second delay of game warning, were ready to call a technical foul and award Clayton Valley free throws and possession.

In a one-point game with 12.7 seconds left, that would have been enormous.

But after a lengthy discussion, the officials correctly determined that the previous warning was for poor sportsmanship — not a delay — and kept the possession with Clayton Valley but no technical foul.

Clayton had two more possessions in the waning seconds — a missed shot on a drive to the basket and a wild heave sandwiched between one made Salesian free throw — and that was it.

Final: Salesian 51, Clayton Valley 49.

On a night filled with the officials calling fouls, the top-seeded Pride became the first two-time NCS Open champion since the section added the division in 2020. It was the Richmond private school’s 12th section championship overall.

“It was a weird game,” longtime Salesian coach Bill Mellis said. “It was hard for the players. The way this game was called, it was hard. And here’s the thing: That’s a tough game to call for the officials. Those are good officials, and they’re doing their best. But I think a lot of players were frustrated. Both coaching staffs. It could have gone either way.

“It wasn’t Elias’ best game by any means. But he made that steal and the layup, and we got the defensive stop.”

Obenyah, who led the Pride with 13 points, was the center of attention after he and his teammates hoisted the first-place trophy and received their gold medals. He took pictures with anyone who asked.

At that point, he could finally breathe freely, something he couldn’t do much of the game and especially when the officials were huddling after his delay of game.

“I was worried it was going to be a tech,” he said. “But my coach kept reassuring me.”

Salesian (27-3) was the best team in the NCS during the regular season but had its hands full during its two playoff victories.

The Pride overcame an 11-point second-half deficit in the semifinals to beat De La Salle, the team that defeated Salesian in last season’s Open final.

On Saturday, second-seeded Clayton Valley (26-4) made it clear from the outset that it was up for the challenge, hardly a surprise given the defensive intensity with which coach Frank Allocco Jr.’s teams play.

The Ugly Eagles led 29-27 at halftime when Chris Berry, who had 11 points off the bench, buried a 3-pointer just before the break.

Jett Tran’s two free throws with 2:14 left in the third quarter widened the Clayton Valley lead to 42-33.

But that’s when the game turned.

Clayton Valley didn’t score again until Tran made one of two free throws with 5:26 to go. At that point, Salesian led 44-43. It didn’t help that one of Clayton Valley’s big men, Zion Grissom, was on the bench after picking up his fourth foul earlier in the quarter.

“They’re big, strong at every position,” Allocco said. “We just didn’t have all the great matchups we have sometimes. I think at that point of the game, Zion might have been on the bench with foul trouble, or certainly not himself because he had four fouls. He can’t attack the basket like he normally does. There’s just not much margin for error when you’re playing Salesian.”

In spite of the foul trouble — and fouls were an issue for both sides as the officials called 22 of them in the first half alone — Clayton Valley ran a perfect play to take the lead with 90 seconds to go.

A old-fashioned weave ended with 6-6 Cannon Simpson, who had 13 points, driving to the basket for a slam to put the Ugly Eagles in front 49-48.

It looked as if that basket might hold up until Obenyah made the play of the night for Salesian, which also got 11 points from Carlton Perrilliat Jr. and eight from Jahlil Lindsey, including six in the fourth quarter.

“The intensity we played with in the fourth quarter was a reflection of how hard we practice and the competition we have with each other,” Lindsey said. “The fourth quarter was just about who wants it more, and I feel like this win reflects on how bad we really want it.”

Now both teams will await their NorCal destinations on Sunday, with Salesian a lock for the state Open Division and Clayton Valley possibly joining the Pride in the top classification.