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Following up a tough win against the towering frontcourt of Skyline last week, the Berkeley High boys’ basketball team was looking to avoid a letdown against a much smaller Balboa (San Francisco) squad. No problem. 

Going over, around and through the hapless Balboa players, the Yellowjackets (2-0) dominated the entire game, ending up with an easy 84-42 win. Four Berkeley players scored in double figures, led by forward Louis Riordan’s 16. Guard Allyn Washington chipped in 14 despite sitting for much of the second half, while forwards Ramone Reed and Jahi Milton scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.  

Defensive terror Byron St. Jules led Berkeley with five steals, repeating his frenzied harrassment of the opposing point guard he showed against Skyline. Berkeley’s full-court press forced Balboa into a huge number of turnovers, and as a result they got off almost twice as many shots as the Bears. 

“We want to make teams work all the way up the court, and to expend their energy getting the ball across the half line,” said Berkeley head coach Mike Gragnani. “We just wore them down.” 

That made up for a bad shooting day, as the ’Jackets made just 27 of their 70 shots. Balboa made nearly half of their shots, but that didn’t make up for throwing the ball around the court like a pinball.  

The claustrophobic conditions in the Balboa gym, which has walls within a foot of the court on all sides, seemed to effect the home team more than the visitors. But Gragnani was still unhappy with his team’s sloppy turnovers. 

“We’re an intense team, and sometimes intensity on offense makes you play too fast,” he said. “We need to slow the ball down and get good shots.” 

Gragnani praised Reed for his play against the Bears. Reed, who is being recruited by several major colleges for football, pulled down 11 rebounds to go with his 12 points and two steals. 

“Ramone was a real leader on the floor today,” Gragnani said. 

Contact Jared Green at jared@berkeleydailyplanet.net.