Top 10 high school basketball performances at 2025 De La Salle MLK Classic

After 12 hours and seven games, we couldn't get these 10 performances out of our heads

Tounde Yessoufou of St. Joseph drives to the basket against Modesto Christian in the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

CONCORD, CALIF. — We picked the top 25 players to watch heading into Monday's 27th De La Salle MLK Jr. Classic.

• TOP 25 PLAYERS | Heading into the 27th DLS MLK Classic

Here were the 10 most memorable players/performances after watching 12 hours and seven games of end-to-end high school basketball at De La Salle Monday.

• LIVE UPDATES | Complete results, 27th DLS MLK Classic

There were no big blowouts and there were no buzzer-beaters, but the action was end-to-end with a high degree of skill, athleticism and competitive edges.

1. Tounde Yessoufou (St. Joseph-Santa Maria)

Tounde Yessoufou of St. Joseph drives to the basket against Modesto Christian in the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

Who else? With about five seconds left in the half, Modesto Christian's Myles Jones, a Stanford commit, swooped in for a layup attempt that was contested hard by Yessoufou. The shot glanced high off the backboard, didn't draw iron and St. Joseph's impressive 6-foot-7 senior Matas Siskauskas rebounded and with the length of the floor to go just flipped the ball to the muscular 6-6 Yessoufou who immediately zoomed the other directions, splitting two defenders on a nifty dribble drive near midcourt, taking four dribbles total (the De La Salle court is short at probably 75 to 80 feet) before lifting off just past the free throw line. No, he didn't have time to go all the way to the rim for a memorable dunk, so instead he floated the ball up just before the horn and it swished softly through the net, for two of his game-high 25 points. Combine that with four 3-point makes in eight attempts, one to just beat the third-quarter buzzer, showed that the Baylor bound Yessoufou is far more than just an elite, power post scorer, able to outmuscle smaller less developed high school kids. He's an ever-evolving, improving, versatile scorer which makes him a high major recruit — ranked the No. 13 senior in the nation by 247Sports — and made him the obvious most memorable athlete/player in the one day event. His 25 points (he also had 12 rebounds) pushed him to 3,286 for his career and to No. 6 all-time in state history, according to Cal-Hi Sports, past Casey Jacobsen (3,284) of Glendora. He's chasing all-time leader DeMarcus Nelson, of Vallejo and Sheldon, at 3,462 should become No. 1 by the end of the regular season. And, most important to Yessoufou, he led the Knights (19-1) to a crazy-good 67-62 win over a gallant and determined Modesto Christian team (14-5) that trailed by 14 entering the fourth quarter, when it scored 16 straight points to eventually take a 62-58 lead with 3:01 remaining before St. Joseph scored the game's final nine points. See Yessoufou's postgame comments below on his team's toughness, his development as a player, respect for Modesto Christian and his druthers on whether to play in the North or South at regional time.

2. Gavin Sykes (Modesto Christian)

Guard Gavin Sykes of Modesto Christian soars to the basket against St. Joseph in the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

The biggest reason for the big comeback — along with the outside shooting of Trevor Dickson (14 points) and all-around game of Jones — was the 6-4 Long Beach State commit who seems to love to play at De La Salle. He went Mano O Mano with Yessoufou and matched his 25 points on 10 of 18 shooting while adding four rebounds and five assists. He scored 11 in the fourth quarter on a variety of shots, driving hard to the bucket — his tough driving and-1 over Yessoufou gave the Crusaders their first lead since the fourth quarter, 58-56 and his assist on a four-point play by Dickson made it 62-58. He had dunks and 3-pointers and always seemed in control. He improved on his 22.4 scoring average.

3. JRob Croy (Riverside Poly)

Jrob Croy of Riverside Poly soars in for a dunk over a Moreau Catholic defender during the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

The silky smooth 6-5 junior guard with offers from Stanford and Washington State went scoreless during his team's 66-56 comeback win over Moreau Catholic. But Croy, the son of a college coach, never panicked, drilled a second-quarter 3-pointer and was off and scoring with 25 points in an impressive victory. Croy said he's normally a quick starter but understands defenses are going to come after the team's No. 1 threat. Plus he had plenty of help from Chris Holland (21 points) and big plays from physical off guard Cam Dodson, who drilled a highly contested three-pointer to finish off an 18-3 third quarter and put Poly in command. Croy drilled two of his four 3-pointers in the third and added a pair of driving layups. Croy was equally impressive in post game interview (below), revealing his God given name on his driver's licence of James Robert.

4. Ahzeil Franklin (Monterey Trail)

Ahzeil Franklin of Monterey Trail takes a jump shot over a Redwood defender during the 27h MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

All the Monterey Trail hub-bub, and rightfully so, is around 6-7 freshman DeVaughn Dorrough who came in averaging 19.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, but his teammate Franklin, a 6-5 senior stole the show right from the get-go in a 61-53 win over Redwood-Larkspur. Franklin went baseline twice to send down powerful dunks in the first quarter, then drilled four 3-pointers in the second en route to a game-high 23 points. Afterward (see interview below) he revealed that he's had only one game where he got so hot from outside — the team's season opener — and he simply got juiced being at such a big event. He came into the game averaging 8.9 points per game.

5. Kellen Hampton (Moreau Catholic)

Kellen Hampton of Moreau Catholic drives to the hoop defended by a Riverside Poly player during the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

Inside, outside, midrange, Hampton was pretty unstoppable, especially when the Mariners jumped out to leads of 19-11 and 34-28 over Riverside Poly in the first two quarters. The 6-7 wing signed to the University of Pacific finished with a game-high 26 points, making 11 of 20 from the floor, including 3 of 6 on three-pointers. He also had a game-high eight rebounds, three steals and a block.

6. Elliot and Thomas Conley (San Ramon Valley)

Elliot Conley of San Ramon Valley drives to the basket over a Bishop O'Dowd defender during the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

The senior 6-4 twins were literally unstoppable in the third quarter of the team's 76-66 win over Bishop O'Dowd when the Wolves took complete command. They scored all 17 points in the quarter with Elliot finishing with a game-high 22 points and Thomas asdding 19. Elliot has been a starter for two years and big contributor for three seasons when the Wolves have really emerged as a Northern California power, last season taking the NorCal D1 title. He's a high-flier — he had two dunks in the game — tough defender and excellent defender. Thomas is a first-year starter and the glue to hold the team together, according to coach Brian Botteen, to go along with the team's top all-around player Luke Issak, a UC Irvine signee, who had 18 points. Elliot said in a post-game interview (below) he and his brother have had probably more than 1,000 games of one-and-one over the years.

7. Semetri Carr (Redwood)

Cal-bound Semetri Carr with two of his team-high 22 points for Redwood in 61-53 loss to Monterey Trail. pic.twitter.com/OMw3R9W4Zn

— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) January 20, 2025

The Cal-bound 6-1 guard who transferred from Branson has only been eligible to play (due to sitout rule) for less than a month but clearly has adjusted well as a leader and take-over player when needed. He scored 22 points in the Giants loss to Monterey Trail, 10 coming in the second quarter after Monterey Trail took a 15-8 first-quarter lead. Strong with the ball, excellent outside shooter and good in the midrange, there's a reason Mark Madsen made him such a priority to sign early.

8. Carondelet vs. Salesian girls

Carondelet's basketball team celebrate a 66-65 victory over Salesian at the 27th De La Salle MLK Classic by surprising coach Kelly Sopak with honorary posterboards, balloons and flowers. / Photo: Dennis Lee

Though it was hard to beat St. Joseph's win over Modesto Christian, for sheer competitiveness, fearlessness and in the end, historical ramifications, Carondelet's 66-65 win over a relentless Salesian team was right there as far as games go. Freshman Niylah Christopher (15 points), Layla Dixon (13 points, 12 rebounds) and point guard Sophia Ross (11 points) led Carondelet to coach Kelly Sopak's 500th career victory during this his 20th season. Afterward, after the seventh game of the day, Carondelet players surprised Sopak with some bright poster boards commerating the big win. Salesian, which got 19 points from Vanessa Parilla and a combined 24 by twins Jamia and Janiya Sawyer made him sweat as he expressed in the postgame interview.

9. Darius Wabbington/Ryder Portela (Sunnyslope)

Rider Portela of Sunnyslope takes a jump shot in front of a De La Salle defender during the 27th MLK Classic. / Photo by Dennis Lee

The duo scored 14 points apiece leading the Arizona power from Phoenix to defeat California's No. 9 team De La Salle 53-46. Obviously battle-tested, well coached and rugged on the inside, the Vikings really took control in the second quarter and never relinquished the lead. Wabbington a 6-10 sophomore who has offers from Arizona State, Cal, Washington, LSU and Maryland drilled a 3-pointer in the first half and showed a strong combination of toughness, touch and soft hands. The 6-6 Portela, the son of 18-year head coach Ray Portela, showed off his complete skill set in all facets, including a thoughtful post-game interview, deflecting his own talents by paying tribute to his teammates and opponents, even though he has numerous Division 1 scholarship offers. (See interview below).

10. Salesian boys

Guard Ronnie Selleaze of Salesian dribbles against Clovis West in the 27th MLK Classic at De La Salle High School. / Photo by Dennis Lee

It's so hard to single out any one player on the Pride and its why they are 18-1 this season and 50-3 over the last two. Coach Bill Mellis masterfully shuffles in disciplined, athletic, unselfish players, who are focused on getting the ball down the court quickly, efficiently ("why are we dribbling?" Mellis kept yelling) and with usually good results, as proven in a 81-42 win over Clovis West. Sophomore Ronnie Selleaze, a transfer from Mexico (his dad played their professionally) led the team with 13 points and Carlton Perrilliat, an All-Bay Area football receiver, had 12.