CIF NorCal boys basketball: Dougherty Valley turns tables, takes down family, No. 2 Clayton Valley Charter

CONCORD, Calif. — To the victor goes the spoils perhaps works in most facets of life, but when it comes to athletic competitions, the loser often gains an upperhand.

If they meet again.

Boy, was that the case in Dougherty Valley-San Ramon’s impressive 59-55 Northern California Division 1 quarterfinal win Thursday at second-seed Clayton Valley Charter-Concord, a team which just knocked off the Wildcats 55-50 in the same gym a week ago in a North Coast Section Open Division semifinal game.

In that game, the Wildcats (23-10) rushed their shots, turned the ball over and got just a combined 15 points from their top top scorers Rashod Cotton and Alonzo Walker. The dynamic duo average better than 35 per game.

High school boys basketball California — Dougherty Valley junior guard Luke Hansen, shown here at Santa Barbara TOC, had 12 points, set the tone in the first quarter with three 3-pointers and added a key steal late to lead the Wildcats to a 59-55 win at Clayton Valley Charter in a Northern California Division 1 quarterfinal game Thursday. | Photo by Mike Bouffard

On Thursday, Cotton, a lightning quick 6-foot-2 shot maker had 22 points and Walker, a rugged, high-flying 6-4 sophomore contributed 17, including the final two to seal it with five seconds to play after Rylan Sevilla broke a 55-55 tie 30 seconds earlier with an inside bucket.

Dougherty Valley will now travel to third-seed Folsom (27-6), a 63-61 winner over Franklin, in Saturday’s semifinals. The Wildcats were coming off an 84-58 first-round rout of another Sac-Joaquin Section foe Destiny Christian Academy-Sacramento on Tuesday, the first Northern California playoff victory in school history.

Big early blows

“It’s like a prize fighter,” Mike Hansen said about playing an opponent you just lost to recently. “You kind of get to see who you fight, and then if you don’t get killed, but just get roughed up a little bit, you go back and regroup. We made a couple of adjustments.”

The biggest adjustment is they came out swinging from the get-go and connected, making their first five three-point attempts, two each by Cotton and Hansen’s junior point guard son Luke Hansen. That gave the Wildcats a 15-5 lead and remarkably, the Eagles (27-5) never led once.

MONEY MAKER! Rashod Cotton with 3-pointer at buzzer gives Dougherty Valley 31-25 lead over Clayton Valley. Luke Hansen is the difference. He has 12 points. DV has 8 3-pointers. 1 two-pointer. pic.twitter.com/v2fI7rQbuz
— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) March 6, 2026

They tied the score only twice at 3-3 and eventually at 55-55 with 2:11 left on two free throws by Zion Grissom (14 points).

But the home team wouldn’t score again, missing three shots, two free throws and turning the ball over on a steal by Hansen with 37.5 seconds remaining.

It was extremely disappointing for Clayton Valley Charter coach Frank Allocco Jr., who thought his team’s defensive intensity early was largely the difference.

“It took us some time to get going and I don’t know why that is,” Allocco said. “But we just didn’t have the same level of intensity (as the first game). Early in the game we just couldn’t get stops.”

Which is the team’s staple, having given up 30 points or less 10 times this season, including remarkably stifling wins over Acalanes (58-13), Alhambra (54-15) and Berean Christian (60-21). Clearly, with the firepower of Cotton, who had 30 in Tuesday’s first-round win, Walker and Sevilla and shooting prowess of Hansen and Devyn Ranola, who had a team-high of 17 in the last game against Clayton Valley, Dougherty Valley was capable of big numbers.

5 shots, 5 3s

But 15 points in the first four minutes, and 20 by the end of the quarter definitely was a change from the previous week.

“This team has a fearlessness,” Mike Hansen said. “They know not to be afraid to shoot if they're open. Let it rip. … Tonight we hit them early and then our defense hung around long enough to get stops and I mean we did a hell of a job on the glass against a much bigger group.

“This group is fearless man.”

It left the Eagles battling upstream all night long, which they did all night long behind the play of Grissom, Vince Ellis (14 points) and instant offense off the bench by Charlie Sullivan (11 points).

“We definitely battled back and had a chance to make a couple plays and didn’t,” Allocco said. “We kept battling.”

They fell behind 15-5, but three straight threes of their own, two by Ellis and one by Grissom closed to 15-14.

Difference maker

But Luke Hansen hit a triple and Cotton made two free throws to close the quarter.

A quick 6-0 run on layups from Ellis, Simpson and Grissom closed it to 23-22, but Dougherty Valley finished the half on an 8-3 run.

The Wildcats always seemed to have an answer.

It was something of a clinic by both coaches, both sons of famous Bay Area coaches — Allocco whose dad by the same name won 654 games (87% winning percent) and three state titles at Northgate-Walnut Creek and De La Salle-Concord.

Hansen’s father Tom won multiple East Bay Athletic League titles during his 21-year career at Foothill-Pleasanton, where the basketball gym is named after him.

Not only do they come from coaching blood, but they became cousins by marriage when Mike Hansen married Frank Allocco Jr’s first cousin. The family ties have made the Dougherty Valley-Clayton Valley Charter showdowns somewhat strained and pressure packed, no more than in the last week.

Family ties

Regarded as two of the top coaches in the Bay Area, this was their fourth meeting. Each has now won two. Allocco Jr. had a feeling when he saw Dougherty Valley on the same side of the bracket, the meeting was inevitable. Allocco said Tuesday: “It’s never fun to play them just because of Coach Hansen being family. We had a feeling we’d see them again. It’s going to be quite a challenge. They’re tough and competitive and we have all respect for them.”

After Thursday’s loss, Allocco said: “I know how much Mike pours into this. I know me and him are over the top with it. We really get after it. So it’s difficult for sure, but once we get out there, we’re competitors and both trying to give our best.”

High school boys basketball CIF — Mike Hansen (left) and his cousin by marriage Frank Allocco Jr. before Thursday's Dougherty Valley at Clayton Valley Charter boys basketball game in CIF Northern California Division 1 quarterfinals March 5, 2026 | Photo by Mitch Stephens

When the final horn sounded, Hansen hurled a fist passionately and celebrated openly. During post game interviews, his wife Megan approached and the two kissed. “Your kid (Luke) was unbelievable,” he told her with his voice cracking with emotion.

Mike Hansen had a stellar night himself. He called a pair of out-of-bounds plays for layups, and the Wildcats executed down low late after attacking from three-point land early.

The combination of a payback win, spot in the NorCal semifinals, victory over family, Luke’s big game and considering Hansen is the only coach Dougherty Valley has ever had — he took over in 2008-09 and went 2-23 — he said “winning the other night and then doubling it up tonight against a very talented group like them, it’s huge,” he said. “I would say it’s probably our biggest win in school history for sure.”