Sterling McClanahan decided his bag wouldn’t be necessary. No crossovers or Eurostep to avoid the defender. He didn’t even slow down. Instead, he charged straight at the defender in front of him. A bull seeing red.
Or, rather, a hooper seeing rim.
“I was like, ‘If he jumps with me, I’m putting him on a poster,’” McClanahan said. “I was already thinking that in my head. I said, ‘If he jumps, it’s bad for him. I’m not shying away from contact. I’m going to put him in the rim.’”
His target — Columbia 6-foot-4 guard Rashaud Bradley — did jump with him. And McClanahan followed through on his internal promise.
McClanahan, a sophomore guard who finished with eight points, cocked the ball back with his right hand, tomahawk style, and slammed it over Bradley.
The Nest exploded with cheers. Everyone on the Hawks bench sprung to their feet, hands on their heads. Head coach James Giacomazzi sprinted down the side of the bench, not celebrating but rather trying to keep his team in check.
With 7:02 remaining and the Hawks up by 18 points, McClanahan’s dunk acted as the final nail in the coffin in their eventual 91-80 home victory in the second round of the 3C2A NorCal Regional playoffs.
Elijah Mobley led the team with 28 points. Alongside him was fellow sophomore guard Jorren Edmonds, scoring 23. Down the stretch, the pair took turns cooking Columbia’s defense. They scored 10 straight points and 17 of the team’s last 23.
Following McClanahan’s physical display of supremacy, he added another. He tapped the top of his head while staring at his victim. He turned toward Campbell, making sure to bump his shoulder as he passed by. McClanahan then yelled into the crowd — a final declaration.
He earned a technical foul for taunting. The moment encapsulated the animosity, the physicality, the emotions tied to a playoff game.
That same energy will be needed on Saturday, March 8. With a trip to the state tournament on the line, the fifth-seeded Hawks visit the fourth-seeded Modesto Pirates — the Big 8 Conference Champions who’ve won 17 straight and are 13-0 at home.
“We have a lot of respect for their staff and their team and what they’ve done this year,” Giacomazzi said. “They’ve earned all that they got. They earned the home game. But we’re not a bad road team, either. And we like and we thrive in hostile territories.”
The playoff intensity came to a boiling point, but not on the court. Rather, a few fans needed to be separated with 1:24 left in the first half. It’s a scene the Nest has seen before.
The last time the Hawks made it to the state tournament, a fan incident nearly derailed the season. In a game against Foothill College on Jan. 20, 2023, two Hawks players — CJ Ward and Jaden Phillips — were involved in an altercation with opposing fans. The Livermore Police Department was called to the scene, with nine officers arriving. Phillips never played another game for the Hawks. Four days later, Coast Conference Commissioner Dale Murray made the decision to ban fans from the Hawks’ four remaining regular-season home games. The ban was lifted for the playoffs.
Then, last season, a fight broke out between fans when the Hawks hosted the City College of San Francisco Rams on Jan. 26, 2024. Campus security broke up the fight, and all fans were escorted out of the arena. Again, Livermore Police were called. The Hawks and Rams played the second half in an empty gym. No spectator ban was implemented.
Against Columbia on Friday, the conflict was personal for the Hawks. One of the disputants was the sister of twin guards Elijah and Elliot Mobley. When Elijah saw she was involved, he headed over towards the crowd.
“I saw him (a member of the crowd) start saying something to my sister,” Elijah explained. “So I got emotional. It’s an emotional game — win-or-go-home. So I just feel like I let the emotions get the best of me.”
The fans were not removed from the game. The PA announcer informed the crowd any more raucous behavior would result in the rest of the game being played without fans.
One member of the conflict was taken off the court by another bystander before returning in the second half. The Mobley family — their mother, brother and sister — had spirited conversations with campus security. When the second half began, the siblings moved behind their mom. The two security officers stood by the side of the bleachers.
The atmosphere settled down, but the Hawks turned up.
Following a missed free throw by Columbia freshman forward Ahsan Huff, Edmonds pushed the pace. He fired the ball to freshman guard Coby Christensen, who drilled a three from the left wing. The next possession, he caught the ball on the right wing, pump-faking a defender into the air and side-stepping into another three. Splash.
Columbia missed their next shot. Frustration prompted an ill-advised foul on McClanahan with 9.7 seconds remaining. He made both free throws.
Then, Edmonds’ pressure on Bradley as he dribbled the ball up the court prompted the Columbia guard to step out of bounds. It gave the Hawks the ball back with 4.2 seconds. Plenty of time for Edmonds.
He leaned to his right, crossed back left, drove to his spot inside the three-point line and rose up over two defenders. He drilled it as the buzzer sounded.
A 10-to-2 run, sparked by the playoff intensity brought by the Nest crowd.
“I feel like that just woke up a different Las Positas,” Elijah Mobley continued. “I feel like that just made our team play 10 times harder. S–t, we went on like an eight, 10-0 run to push it (the lead) up 15.”
Along with Christensen, the Hawks got substantial input from their whole bench. Freshman forward Jaden Woodard scored 11. Freshmen reserves Damian McAlister and Richard Banks were impactful on defense with active hands and aggressive rebounding.
Their deep rotation was key to their defensive strategy against Bradley, who came into the game averaging 23.9 points. The Hawks threw multiple defenders at him, usually doubling or even triple-teaming him. He scored five in the first half and finished with 19 points.
“We wanted to kind of fatigue them,” Giacomazzi said. “I knew if we could utilize more fresh bodies, steal a minute or two here or there… It just kept our guys a little fresher.”
Perhaps it’s why McClanahan had enough lift to take off for his dunk. The significance of which was heightened by who was on the receiving end.
Bradley is Columbia’s best player.
“Seeing their best, their top dog be dunked on like that, I feel like that really broke their spirit,” sophomore guard Elijah Mobley said. “I feel like that was the breaking point in the game. They tried fighting back, but I just feel like they didn’t have enough after that.”
***
TOP PHOTO: Elijah Mobley staring down his defender, Dean Perry. Mobley led the Hawks in scoring with 28 points, setting up a date with No. 4-seeded Modesto. (Photo by Ian Kapsalis/ The Express)
Jakob Arnarsson is the Managing Editor and Sports Editor of The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @JakobA2004
