28th MLK Jr. Classic at De La Salle features three of California's top 8 teams

St. Joseph, Riordan and Salesian among the top squads at the longstanding event to honor the civil rights leader

St. Joseph-Santa Maria senior guard Julius Price has been a starter for one of the state's top teams for four seasons and after this season is headed to Stanford to play. St. Joseph takes on the host team De La Salle in one of the prime matchups of Monday's 28th Martin Luther King Jr. Classic. / Photo: Dennis Lee

CONCORD, Calif. — The 28th edition of the Martin Luther King Jr. Classic presented by De La Salle on Jan. 19 promises to be another memorable day in Northern California.  

The seven-game event has been a fixture for more than a quarter century in the Bay Area and featured such memorable NBA players as Aaron Gordon, Jalen Green and Leon Powe.

The Classic has passed the test of time, demonstrated this season with the showcase of Powe’s son by the same name who stars for the state’s No. 8 team Salesian of Richmond. 

• RANKINGS | California Top 25

The Pride are one of five Top 30 teams in the state, according to the computer rankings of MaxPreps on Jan. 14. The others are No. 4 Riordan, No. 6 St. Joseph of Santa Maria, No. 27 San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno and No. 29 De La Salle, the host school. 

High School On SI rankings has Riordan at No. 6, St. Joseph at No. 7 and Salesian No. 8.

Add in five time Northern California champion Modesto Christian, 2015 State Open Division champion Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, the only NorCal team to win the state’s highest division, Oregon’s No. 4 ranked team Central Catholic of Portland along with Southern California powers St. Pius and Riverside Poly, along with defending Northern California Division 3 champion, The King’s Academy-Sunnyvalle, perennial Bay Area power Moreau Catholic, perennial Sac-Joaquin Section power Sacramento and 11-1 Palma of Salinas, and the 28th field promises to provide a great day of boys basketball matchups.  

• TICKETS | Session 1 | Session 2

"The MLK Classic has been a Bay Area basketball tradition for 27 years and we are proud to host so many high-caliber programs each year,” said De La Salle fifth-year coach Marcus Schroeder, a former associate head coach at St. Mary’s College and captain of De La Salle’s last state championship team in 2006. “The 28th edition of the MLK Classic brings in some of the best teams and coaches in the state with St. Joseph, St. Pius, Salesian, Riordan, and others all participating in this year's event. One of Oregon's best teams, Central Catholic, will also participate. We are excited to host another great year at the MLK Classic."

Jrob Croy of Riverside Poly soars in for a dunk over a Moreau Catholic defender in last year's 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. Croy returns to play King's Academy in the 11:20 a.m. game on Monday. / Photo by Dennis Lee

All games will be live streamed with longtime play-by-play announcer Pat O'Rourke and color commentator Stephen Shea.

• LIVE STREAMS | All games

Here are game-by-game previews with game times, top stars, pertinent faces and side notes as well. All records, rankings and statistics were after games of Jan. 10, 2026. 

• 2025 DLS MLK CLASSIC | Live updates last season

SESSION 1

Sacramento vs. Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland)

LIVE STREAM

Time: 10 a.m.

Head coaches: Sidney Duplessis (Sacramento), Lou Richie (Bishop O’Dowd)

2025-26 records (as of Jan. 10): Sacramento 8-7, Bishop O’Dowd 9-5

Points per game (allowed): Sacramento — 69.6 (56.4), Bishop O’Dowd — 73.1 (63.1).

Terrific trios: Sacramento — PF William Phillips, G King Mastin, SF Adrian Galloway. BOD — F Kaiden Gibbs, F Ajahni Charles, G Naas Griffin.

Briefly: Sacramento opened the season in style with wins over Fairfield (89-34) and Armijo (102-21), but then lost seven of eight. Its up-and-down season continued with five straight wins, including an 87-59 win over Nevada power Bishop Manogue. … Phillips, a 6-8 freshman, is one of the top ninth-graders in Northern California. … O’Dowd also opened impressively with seven straight wins, beating the same Bishop Manogue team 79-60, and another Nevada power Bishop Gorman (84-81) while taking the championship of the Wild West Shootout. …. But a humbling 82-37 setback to the state’s No. 1 team Sierra Canyon sent the Dragons reeling, followed by Damien Classic defeats to Texas power DeSoto (89-86) and defending state Open Division champion Roosevelt (80-65). … The Dragons feature a nice combination of size and quickness. 

King’s Academy (Sunnyvale) vs. Riverside Poly

Mahamadou Diop is swarmed by three King's Academy defenders during California (CIF) State Division 3 title game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento last March. The King's Academy will need to play more swarming defense to knock off Jrob Croy and his Riverside Poly teammates in Monday's 28th MLK Classic at De La Salle. / Photo by Dennis Lee

LIVE STREAM

Time: 11:20 a.m. 

Head coaches: Cameron Bradford (King’s Academy), Travis Showalter (RP).

2025-26 records: King’s Academy 10-2, Riverside Poly 7-12

Points per game (allowed): King’s Academy — 76.4 (54.5), Riverside Poly — 48.1 (52.9)

Terrific trios: King’s Academy — SG Boss Mhoon (16.7 ppg), G Xavier Barnett (16.0 ppg), G Claxton Ladine (16.0 ppg). Riverside Poly — PG Jrob Croy (St. Mary’s College signee), F Carter Athens, F Xane Machie

Briefly: Coming off a 24-11 season, Poly is still trying to recover from a six-game losing streak, which was snapped with a 54-51 win over Hillcrest. … Poly defeated Moreau Catholic 66-56 last year at the MLK Classic when Croy erupted for 26 points. … King’s Academy is the defending Northern California Division 3 champion, losing 52-51 in the state finals to San Gabriel Academy. … Mhoon, a 6-5 small forward, is the No. 37 2028 recruit in the nation, according to 247Sports. He already has offers from Stanford, Nevada, USF and San Diego. He fractured his ankle and is not expected to play against Riverside Poly. … The Knights went 27-5 last season with Mhoon as the team’s third, fourth or fifth option. … King Academy’s only losses were to large schools Mitty (62-55) and McClatchy-Sacramento (71-66). … After Christmas, the Knights really got it going offensively, exploding for 93, 97, 94 and 85 points.  

Palma (Salinas) vs. Moreau Catholic (Hayward)

Moreau Catholic coach Frank Knight has never lost his passion after coaching in three different decades / Photo: Dennis Lee

LIVE STREAM

Time: 12:20 p.m.

Head coaches: Brian Driscoll (Palma), Frank Knight (Moreau Catholic)

2025-26 records: Palma 11-1, Moreau Catholic 11-3

Points per game (allowed): Palma 75.3 (50.9), Moreau Catholic 64.5 (52.5)

Terrific trios: Palma — G Tai Suich, G JJ Saucedo (fourth-year starter), F Ashton Marshall. Morea Catholic — G Isaiah Clendinen (19.4 ppg), C Brenden Williams (13.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg), Kareem Jackson (11.4 ppg). 

Briefly: Palma’s lone loss through 12 games was a 70-63 home loss to Dougherty Valley. … The Chieftains scored a season high on Jan. 3 a 104-66 win over Carmel when JT Harreld had 36 points and Jacob Diaz added 23. … It was the first time Palma crossed triple digits since 2019. … Driscoll went 21-8 in his first season last season after Palma went a combined 25-28 the previous two seasons. … Morea Catholic lost 54-53 (Olympian) and 64-62 (Victory Christian Academy) in back-to-back backs out of state starting on Dec. 29. … Knight has led the Mariners to 10 20-win seasons since 2013-14. … Top wins this season have come over Cardinal Newman (49-43 in OT), Oakland (75-50) and Alameda (66-64). 

SESSION 2

Central Catholic (Portland Ore.) vs. St. Pius X-Matthias Academy (Downey)

LIVE STREAM

Time: 3 p.m.

Head coaches: David Blue (Central Catholic), Donte Archie (St. Pius X)

2025-26 records: Central Catholic 6-4, St. Pius 11-6

Points per game (allowed): Central Catholic 64.5 (56.9), St. Pius 66.9 (62.2)

Terrific trios: Central Catholic — G Zamir Paschal, G Robbie Long III, F Donovan Miller. St. Pius — G Kayleb Kearse, G Dominic Gallardo, G Dayvion Gates

Briefly: Central Catholic is one of the top programs in Oregon and as usual put together a challenging early schedule, which included consecutive losses to Davis (76-73), Timpview (69-53) and Southridge (76-72), teams with combined records of 31-8. …The Rams won a combined 50 games the last two seasons, against 12 defeats, including winning the Oregon 6A title in 2024  behind current Oregon freshman standout Isaac Carr. It was Central Catholic’s first state finals appearance since 2013. … The 2025-26 Rams are guard heavy, also featuring juniors Malcolm Weatherspoon and Isaac Bongen. … Despite seven new players from last season’s 18-11 team, the Warriors have many quality wins including a 67-64 double-overtime win over De La Salle at the Holiday Classic in Torrey Pines. … Other impressive wins came over JSerra Catholic (67-62) and Francis Parker (68-63). … The Warriors also feature one of the day’s top freshmen in Darrelreon Morris, a 6-foot point guard. 

St. Joseph (Santa Maria) vs. De La Salle (Concord)

Davit Pachulia (40) is De La Salle's leading scorer after erupting for 29 points on Tuesday in a big win over Dougherty Valley. / Photo by Sam Stringer

LIVE STREAM

Here are game-by-game previews with game times, top stars, pertinent faces and side notes as well. All records, rankings and statistics were after games of Jan. 10, 2026. 

Head coaches: Tom Mott (St. Joseph), Marcus Schroeder (De La Salle)

2025-26 records: St. Joseph 17-2, De La Salle 15-2

Points per game (allowed): St. Joseph 87.0 (54.4), De La Salle 61.4 (40.5).

Terrific trios: St. Joseph — G Julius Price (23.5 ppg), Malcolm Price (22.0 ppg), G Gunner Morinini (13.7 ppg). De La Salle — G Abrahim Monawar, F Davit Pachulia, Mariano Lopez-Aarden. 

Briefly: Those who thought St. Joseph would fall back to mediocrity after the graduation of then state career scoring leader Tounde Yessoufou were seriously mistaken. That’s because Mott had major success before Yessoufou arrived from West Africa in 2021. In fact, the year before the current Baylor Bear star — he’s the team’s second-leading scorer through 15 games at 17.5 points per game — the Knights were 27-3, one of seven 20-plus win seasons for Mott between 2013-2021. … His 2025-26 squad is the highest scoring team in the state, having broken the 100-point barrier four of the team’s first six games. Julius Price, a 6-3 senior and fourth-year starter, has signed to Stanford, and has scored more than 20 points 13 times and at least 30 four times with a season-high of 39 in a 77-74 loss to Oak Cliff (Dallas, Texas). He’s scored more than 2,200 points in his career, including 266 three-point makes. …. Price’s junior brother Malcolm is more of a playmaker and driver to the basket. The two combine for 10 assists per game. … Down low, 6-8 sophomore Williams Sacre (10.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg) is a big presence. … With the graduation of four starters, including the program’s career scoring and rebounding leader Alec Blair, the Spartans have also surprised, even after being surprised in its own Chris Vontoure Classic, losing to Marin Catholic (64-60). The Spartans have won 12 of 13 since, with the only loss to 67-64 in double-OT to St. Pius. … In the first meeting of the two programs, playing styles will be tested, with De La Salle countering the highest scoring team with one of the best defensive squads, having given up less than 40 seven times, including ridiculously low games of 10, 18 and 21. ...Pachulia, the oldest son of former NBA veteran and two time champion Zaza, scored a career-high 29 in the team's most recent game, a 75-66 win over Dougherty Valley. He, and 6-7 forward Lopez-Aarden, leads the team in scoring at 13 points per game. ... The player with arguable the most upside is 6-8 junior Olanre Owoborode, a transfer from Heritage who Tuesday had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno) vs. Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco)

USF-bound point guard Andrew Hilman is a fourth-year starter for Riordan. / Photo by Dennis Lee

LIVE STREAM

Time: 5:40 p.m. 

Head coaches: Brad Roznovsky (SJM), Joey Curtin (AR)

2025-26 records: San Joaquin Memorial 14-3, Riordan 9-1 

Points per game (allowed): San Joaquin Memorial 67.5 (54.0), Riordan 74.0 (59.1)

Terrific trios: SJM — F Parker Spees (6-9), G-F Sajjin Sidhu (6-4), G Ty Schalk (6-2); AR — PG Andrew Hilman (USF commit), C JP Pihtovs, G DJ Armstrong

Briefly: Possible preview of a Northern California Open Division game, the two teams have never met. … Roxnovsky is in his 14th season as head coach for the Panthers, who have won 238 games since 2015-26 while losing just 87. … It started out humbling for Roznovsky, going 15-12, 6-21 and 10-13 his first three seasons. He has won at least 20 straight since with an average win total of 23.8. … The Panthers opened the season with nine straight wins, finishing off with victories of 65-64 (overtime) and 72-71 over Clovis West and Westminster Academy, respectively. … Other key players for SJM are Jaxson Silverstrom (6-2) and Dominick Olanrewaju, a 6-6 sophomore. … Riordan is the defending Northern California Open Division champion and in Hilman and Pihtovs, they may have the best G-C tandem in Northern nCalifornia. … Riordan is coming off perhaps the greatest season in storied history of the West Catholic Athletic League by winning 14 straight games by an average of nearly 40 points per game. … The Crusaders got two major pieces on Jan. 1 in foreign exchange students Emmanuel Ahamefule, a physical 6-9 wing, and 6-4 super shooter Gabriellus Kerys. They combined for 30 points off the bench, in their first games of the season, during a 67-47 win over Monte Vista-Danville at the Bay Area Classic on Jan. 3.   

Salesian (Richmond) vs. Modesto Christian

Salesian's Carlton Perrilliat (21) has been a four-year starter for the Pride and is also one of the Bay Area's top football players. / Photo: Greg Jungferman

LIVE STREAM

Time: 7 p.m.

Head coaches: Bill Mellis (Salesian), Chris Teevan (Modesto Christian)

2025-26 records: Salesian 13-2, Modesto Christian 11-4

Points per game (allowed): Salesian 70.6 (54.5), Modesto Christian 65.1 (54-1)

Terrific trios: Modesto Christian — G Trevor Dickson (21.1 ppg), F Somto Patrick (12.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg), G Siincere Hudson. Salesian — F Elias Obenya (Stanford signee), F Carlton Perrilliat Jr., G Asante Johnson

Briefly: Two of the more storied programs in Northern California, Salesian holds a 9-3 series lead since 2004. The Pride has won the last four meetings, including 71-53 earlier this season at the Gridley Invitational and 66-53 in the Northern California Open Division first round. … After losing to Southern California power Crespi, the Crusaders won four straight, including a decisive 69-47 win over Amador Valley, which was ranked No. 15 in the state to start the season. … Hudson, a 6-3 junior, played his first game against Crespi and in two games is averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. … Salesian is a winning machine, starting in 2015-16, going 28-5, 27-5, 30-2, 31-1, 25-7, 26-11 (2 pandemic-shortened season), 26-9, 31-2 and 27-4. … According to CalHiSports, Mellis has won 681 games over his 26-year career and is closing in on Newark Memorial’s Craig Ashmore (683) and Milpitas’ Steve Cain (684) on the Bay Area all-time list. Mellis ranks 10th on the all-time Bay Area list and No. 1 among active coaches.  … In the Gridley title win over Modesto Christian, Perrilliat Jr. had 20 points, Leon Powe 15 and Isaiah Davis 12. Perrilliat and Obenyah were selected to the All-Tournament team. … The Pride’s biggest win of the year might have been 61-58 over St. John Bosco at the Damien Classic, where Obenyah went for 21 and Johnson 14. Obenyah became the 13th player in Salesian history to break 1,000 points in a career.