High School

De La Salle, Ibrahim Monawar keep faith, overcome Moreau Catholic, prep version of Jalen Brunson

Fourth-year Spartan guard observing Ramadan leads his team to wild California playoff win despite improbable buzzer-beater, 32 points from Isaiah Clendinen

Mitch Stephens

Ibrahim Monawar, shown here during De La Salle 28-5 season in 2024-25, led the Spartans to a big North Coast Section Open Division opening night win on Feb. 19, 2026 with a team-high 17 points, 15 coming after halftime.
Ibrahim Monawar, shown here during De La Salle 28-5 season in 2024-25, led the Spartans to a big North Coast Section Open Division opening night win on Feb. 19, 2026 with a team-high 17 points, 15 coming after halftime. / Photo by Dennis Lee

CONCORD, Calif. — De La Salle’s basketball team — particularly senior point guard Ibrahim Monawar — was built for all of it on Thursday. All the adversity.  

* A rising, skilled, determined and superbly-coached Moreau Catholic team, riding a 14-game win streak. 

* A career 32-point performance by seemingly unstoppable Moreau junior left-handed guard Isaiah Clendinen, whose game reminds many of a prep Jalen Brunson. 

* Even an improbable, circus three-point buzzer-beating shot from the deepest corner of the court to end regulation and force overtime — by none other than Brunson, er, Clendinen. 

The battle-tested Spartans, the regular season champion of the rugged East Bay Athletic League, absorbed all of it in a wild 71-68 North Coast Section Open Division first-round home victory. They advance to Wednesday’s semifinals against top seeded Salesian-Richmond (25-3) at Albany High School. 

Salesian received a first-round bye as did second seed Clayton Valley Charter-Concord (25-3), which will host sixth-seed Dougherty Valley-San Ramon (21-8), an 83-79 winner at Marin Catholic-Kentfield (23-5). 

Monawar, the only returning starter off last season’s 28-5 NCS Open championship squad, a fourth-year player, third-year starter and the only player with any real considerable experience heading into this season, shrugged off all of it and never lost faith. 

Literally. 

No food, no water, big buckets

In fact, he double downed on it, following his own devout Muslim beliefs all day by observing Ramadan, a month-long daily sunrise-to-sunset fast of no food or water to show empathy for the less fortunate. 

When the game hung in the balance, even while Clendinen was making one impossible shot after another, Monawar kept encouraging, pushing and leading his team. When Monawar speaks, his peers listen, his coaches say. He's earned trust through hard work, strong play and conviction.

“I kept telling the guys, ‘we’re good, we’re good, we’re going to come back to win this game. Just relax and keep playing together,’ “ he said.

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De La Salle senior point guard Ibrahim Monawar after first-round North Coast Section Open Division win over Moreau Catholic on Feb. 19, 2026 / Photo by Mitch Stephens

Not only was the 6-foot-3 Monawar leading with words, he scored all but two of his team-high 17 points after halftime, including 10 in the fourth quarter that include two key three-pointers.  

"For me, just hitting those shots, I love that moment, I live for that moment," he said. "At the end of the day, it's all Praise be to God. I'm really blessed because it's the second day of Ramadan and I'm fasting right now so a shout out right now to all my Muslim brothers and sisters who are joining with me."

On the court, he led a balanced attack that included 16 points from Davit Pachulia, 15 points and 10 rebounds by 6-5 junior Olanre Owoborode and a combined 17 by Mariano Lopez-Aarden and Noah Ledrech. 

Ultimate Spartan

“Ibrahim took over at  times and played so well in the second half and overtime,” De La Salle coach Marcus Schroeder said. “He’s been through so much in his career at De La Salle and continues to show why he’s such a great player and the ultimate Spartan.” 

But every February, when Ramadan falls, Monawar has followed his faith, which leads to adjustments in his energy level, but empowers his resolve and spirit, he said.  

Many NBA players over the years have observed Ramadan during long playing stretches, most famously Hakeem Olajuwon, Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown.

On Thursday, Monawar “Woke up at 4:50 (a.m.)," he said. "Had a meal, prayed my morning prayer at 5:30, then the whole day had no food and no water, and then I got to eat and drink about an hour before the game.” 

When asked if fatigue set in at any point in Thursday's game, Monawar smiled big. “It was tough, it was tough, especially when it went to overtime. My body started to feel it. But I knew we had to win this game. I’ve been through it before. Coach (Schroeder) adjusts always and gives me some breaks. I’ve had experience with it.” 

Jalen Brunson clone

But no one could have experienced the dagger that Clendinen drilled to end regulation. 

Monawar looked like he himself made the decisive dagger with his second three-pointer of the fourth quarter to go up 60-52 with just over two minutes left. But then it was all Clendinen with seven straight points on a three-pointer, a midrange make and then an acrobatic leaner in the lane, to cut the deficit to 62-59. 

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Isaiah Clendinen (23), shown here in a 2024-25 game, scored a career-high 32 points in his team's 71-68 overtime loss at De La Salle on Feb. 19, 2026 / Photo by Lizeth Lafferty

After an Isaiah Dotson steal, Clendinen took a 3 from the top of the key that was partially blocked by Owoborode giving Moreau one last chance with 2.2 seconds left from its own baseline.  

Moreau Catholic coach Frank Knight called timeout and set up an inbounds pass in the corner to Clendinen, who was hounded by Monawar, the Spartans top perimeter defender.

Fighting through a couple of screens, Monawar actually tipped the inbounds pass where Clendinen retrieved to the deepest part of the corner. 

He turned immediately and while falling away ever so slightly, from behind the backboard, he sent a high-arching shot that spun around the basket and down, sparking an instant combustion of screams from the Moreau faithful, groans from the Spartan fans and general “I can’t believe what I just saw,” from everyone else. 

The Mariners mobbed Clendinen, while the Spartans, who had a couple fouls to give, collectively shook their heads and tried to regroup. 

“I’ve never even practiced that shot,” said Clendinen, who says he's been told more than once that his game mirrors Brunson, the New York Knicks' All-Star guard. “I mean we practice coming off screens in the corner. But once he poked it away, I kind of almost gave up on it, like there’s no way I’m gonna grab it and make it. Honestly, I thought I might have ran out of time. I just tried to put it up as fast as I could.” 

Four more minutes

Said Monawar, who plays with Clendinen on AAU circuits: “Once I poked it away, I sort of let up thinking it was going out of bounds. I should have gone harder, but you gotta hand it to Isaiah. It was a heck of a shot. He played a great game.

"But we were like 'we got this. Let’s go. We have four more minutes.' ” 

Said Schroeder: “I’ve been in that moment before as a coach and my job is to get the team to move on and focus on the next four minutes. That said, (Moreau) scored the first four of overtime so our guys had to stay even more composed. And be even tougher.” 

That’s where playing “in the toughest league in Northern California,” according to Owoborode, paid off. The Spartans had won their first seven games in league this but lost three of their last four including 70-59 to Dougherty Valley in the EBAL playoff finals. Five of the remaining eight NCS Division 1 teams are from the same EBAL. 

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De La Salle junior forward Olanre Owoborode after scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 71-68 overtime win over Moreau Catholic on Feb. 19 / Photo by Mitch Stephens

Even after Clendinen’s dagger, buckets from Dotson (10 points) and Kareem Jackson (16 points) to start overtime, and Monawar a tad weary, the Spartans simply drew on their toughness and experience.

Pachulia, the son of two-time NBA champion Zaza Pachulia, went in for a layup, Monawar followed with a jumper to tie it with 2:03 left, and Lopez-Aarden, a high-flying 6-7 post gave the Spartans the lead for good, 68-66, on a putback with 58 seconds remaining.

After Clendinen missed a three for the lead, Pachulia got the defensive rebound then for good measure, essentially put it away with a three-pointer on a feed from Lopez-Aarden with 15 seconds left.

Two free throws by Clenndinen closed the gap to 71-68 but it wasn’t enough. 

Though the very young Mariners, with just four seniors, came up short, they proved a lot to themselves, Clendinen said. 

Lofty upside

All teams in the Open Division advance to the CIF Northern California playoffs in two weeks and Moreau Catholic will take on Marin Catholic in a consolation game on Wednesday. They’ll likely be among a loaded NorCal Division I field starting March 3. 

Though Moreau’s highly touted 6-10 sophomore center Brendan Williams finished with just four points, he had 12 rebounds, four blocks and did an excellent job clogging the middle.  When he picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, De La Salle dominated the paint.

“Everyone on the court at the end of the game for us is returning next year, so we have a lot of upside,” Clendinen said. “I liked how we competed tonight. There were many times we got down by six or eight then we came right back. I’m proud of the way my teammates fought.

“That’s a great program we played tonight. I’d never faced them before. They’ve been in the Open finals like the last four years in a row and we were right there with them. We easily could have won that game."   

Monawar is the only current Spartan to be on the last three of those teams, which all told have won 98 games against 26 losses. It's not a coincidence, Schroeder said. It's his conviction.

“Ibrahim has been underrated his entire time at De La Salle in my opinion,” said Schroeder, a 2006 De La Salle graduate, a state champion, a player at Princeton and 10-year St. Mary’s College assistant and associate head coach. “His continued discipline and focus on his improvement and the team have never wavered in four years. I have absolutely loved coaching him.”

Published
Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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