Joven Dulay & Chase Rollins (left) of the Folsom boys team had their photo taken on top of the platform at the Golden 1 Center press room. At right is Breyana Kimmons and Nina Cain of the McClatchy girls team. Photos: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
The beam outside of the Golden 1 Center doesn’t get lit for high school games, but the teams that earned CIF Sac-Joaquin Section boys/girls basketball titles on Thursday & Friday are all worthy of being in the spotlight. The Folsom boys and McClatchy girls capped the schedule with D1 titles on Friday and both look strong entering next week’s CIF NorCal regional playoffs (in the Open Division). Other boys teams winning titles were Stone Ridge Christian in D6, Woodland Christian in D5, Casa Roble in D4, Christian Brothers in D3, and Rocklin in D2. Other girls teams winning titles were Faith Christian of Yuba City in D6, Bret Harte of Altaville in D5, Liberty Ranch of Galt in D4, Colfax in D3 and Atwater in D2.
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It was not a good night to be the top seed in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title games played on Friday night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Both the Modesto Christian boys and the Folsom girls were denied in their bids for a fourth straight title and a second title in three years. The Crusaders lost to the Folsom boys while the school’s girls team lost to McClatchy of Sacramento.
Boys D1
Folsom 64, Modesto Christian 53
Following a 19-point semifinal win against No. 2 seed and state No. 18 Inderkum of Sacramento, the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs employed a suffocating defense to turn back the Crusaders and prevent them from winning a fourth straight section crown.
Modesto Christian (24-8), which was No. 17 in the most recent State TOP 30 rankings, usually is led by senior guard Gavin Sykes, who had 45 points in Tuesday’s semifinals vs Lincoln of Stockton. Sykes was shut down to just 15 points by the Bulldogs, who had five-star junior football quarterback Ryder Lyons guarding him for about half the time and used others on him as well.
It’s been a great year for Folsom head coach Mike Wall. Not only did his team win the top divisional title in the Sac-Joaquin Section, but former player Jaylen Wells has emerged as a rookie of the year candidate in the NBA. Photo: Mark Tennis.
“It’s just the way we’ve played defense all year,” said Folsom head coach Mike Wall, who is in his 31st season and has won more than 500 games. “The defense was really intense tonight and I think it wore them down a little bit and gave us that extra distance for the win.”
Modesto Christian was able to stay close even with Sykes being shut down because of the play of senior Ty Atkins and sophomore Trevor Dickson. Atkins had 14 rebounds and 15 points while Dickson made four three-pointers and scored 12 points.
The Bulldogs only led by 46-44 entering the fourth quarter. Senior Chase Rawlins, Folsom’s leading scorer, then had all eight points in a 8-2 run to give Folsom a 54-46 lead. Modesto Christian never got closer than four points through the final buzzer. Rawlins ended with a game-high 25 points. Six-foot-9 junior center Siyahe Siaisiai also made an immediate impact when he came into the game on defense in the first half plus he drained a couple of three-pointers. He finished with 12 points.
Wall captured his fifth section title, but the last time the Bulldogs won one was in 2014 at the old ARCO Arena. Wall also talked about how much confidence the team gained when it took down legendary program Mater Dei of Santa Ana in December by 41 points to win a tournament in Rancho Mirage.
“It really did,” he said. “We told them, ‘Hey, you’ve been against some of the most legendary teams anywhere’ and that effort of defense we played that night was gold standard. We also were shooting it unbelievably well with 19 three-pointers. This is the deepest team I’ve ever coached and the best shooting.”
The Bulldogs (28-3 and will be moving up from No. 22 in the state rankings) will likely get a home game in the first round of the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs and probably will be either the No. 3 seed or the No. 4 depending on whether the CIF puts Central Section D1 favorite St. Joseph of Santa Maria in the north or south. The Knights still had to play their section final on Saturday.
Update: In Sunday’s CIF pairings, Folsom did get a bye and got the No. 3 seed (with St. Joseph placed in the south). It will play next against De La Salle of Concord (the No. 2 seed) and will be a regional semifinal on the road (so no home game). The Crusaders also are in the Open Division for the fourth straight year. It’s where they’ve always strived to be regardless of the fact they know it would be much easier to get to a CIF state final in D1. MC in the only first-round game on Wednesday vs Salesian of Richmond.
Girls D1
McClatchy (Sacramento) 64, Folsom 53
This title has been a long time coming for head coach Jeff Ota and his Lions’ girls. For many years, the SJS D1 bracket had been the domain of St. Mary’s High in Stockton. Folsom then rose up to win the title in 2023 with the Rams coming back to be on top last season with a win in the final vs the Bulldogs.
On this night, McClatchy not only got a big outing from University of Washington-bound senior Nina Cain with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but senior guard Breyana Kimmons also was converting tough shots and had 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Four-year starter Norret Lewis (Cal State Northridge) also had 12 points.
Daisy Throckmorton of the McClatchy girls holds CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 girls basketball blue banner. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Folsom’s Lily Bingaman connected on a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter that helped the Bulldogs get to within one point at 43-42. They also got it to 51-49 and 55-51 in the fourth quarter before a three-pointer by the Lions’ Mikayla Reyes made it 58-51. Folsom never came close again.
“It’s very difficult just to get here,” Ota said. “We kept on losing in our third (section) game (semifinals). Our anchors really stepped up, but everybody kind of chipped in with this win.”
Acalanes of Lafayette, a team that McClatchy lost to in a competitive game 74-67 on the road a few weeks ago, was the top seed in the CIF North Coast Section Open Division playoffs and and played its title game on Saturday vs San Ramon Valley of Danville. Acalanes lost big to San Ramon Valley, which caused McClatchy to drop down to the No. 5 seed in Sunday’s seedings. The Lions (24-6, No. 16 in the state) won’t therefore in fact get a home game for the regionals and instead are playing Acalanes once again in a first round game.
Kimmons is a player who at one time played for Folsom and was asked about how it felt to have such a big outing against her former school.
“My teammates found me and I was just being aggressive,” she said. “I prayed a lot before the game and God was with me. I went through a lot there and it feels good to win this game.”
Folsom (26-3) was up at No. 8 in the latest state rankings, including a win over Pinewood of Los Altos Hills (CCS Open finalist), so it wasn’t thought the loss would drop head coach Lynn Wolking’s team out of the NorCal Open Division. It did. The Bulldogs instead will be the No. 1 seed for the NorCal D1 bracket. Seniors Aryn Bright (14 points) and Sophia Mindermann (12 points) led the Bulldogs in scoring vs the Lions. New life for the girls indeed.
Boys D2
Rocklin 46, Jesuit (Carmichael) 45
The SJS D2 playoffs figured to be just as tight as D1 and that certainly was the case as No. 2 seed Rocklin earned the title on Thursday night’s finale in the final seconds over the No. 4 Marauders.
The Thunder, which on Sunday received the No. 1 seed for the CIF NorCal D2 playoffs, trailed by four points in the final minute, but cut it to 45-44 on a three-pointer by junior Reeve Slone. Then there was a steal and ensuing layup by Ely Willis that made it a one-point lead. Jesuit (22-9) then looked to run off the final 25 seconds of the clock for a game-winning shot, but that shot by senior Asher Schroeder bounced off the rim.
Schroeder led all scorers with 16 points. Slone, a football quarterback who has committed to Nevada, led Rocklin with 14 points. The Thunder (24-8) had a win over D1 champion Folsom in the Sierra Foothill League, but also lost to the Bulldogs, 65-48, and had lost in overtime in another league game to Jesuit. The Marauders were a new member of the SFL this season after previously being in the Delta League.
Girls D2
Atwater 65, Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 49
The Falcons hadn’t been to a section final in girls hoops in 37 years, but made their trip on Thursday to the Golden 1 Center a memorable one. They captured their first section title since 1988 by going on a 14-4 run to start the game and then a 12-2 run in the third quarter after the Falcons had cut the lead to 31-30.
Atwater (27-5) has a whirling dervish on offense with senior Karissa Hukill. She had a big night under the bright lights with 20 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and five assists. The Falcons also have a shot-blocking menace anchoring the defense with Cami Gibson. She blocked nine shots on the night and had eight points and 15 rebounds.
Christian Brothers, which had knocked off two-time defending D2 section champ Whitney of Rocklin in two overtimes in the semifinals, will take a 25-7 record into the NorCal playoffs.
Players and assistant coach Shawn Underwood give a greeting and show off their blue banner on a phone call to hospitalized head coach Jermaine Brown after their D3 title game on Friday over El Capitan of Merced. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Boys D3
Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 59, El Capitan (Merced) 56
After coming through the lower bracket as a 10 seed, El Capitan couldn’t complete an improbable run to the section title, falling short to the top seeded Falcons in a game the Gauchos led 21-7 after the first quarter.
Daniel Powers scored on several drives to the basket in the second quarter to jump start Christian Brothers. He had 16 points at halftime and helped the team get to a tie score at 32-32 at halftime. It was still just 47-45 going to the fourth quarter before baskets by Powers, Stephan Hewitt and Andre Rabb-Patterson pushed the lead to 53-45. El Capitan fought back to have a chance at a possible game-tying three-pointer on its last possession, but the Falcons were all over it and a final heave by Diego Ultreras had no chance.
Powers led all scorers with 25 points and had 10 rebounds. Hewitt had 19 points. Ultreras had 22 points for the Gauchos (20-11) and Anthony Jones had 18 rebounds.
Christian Brothers players and coaches were quickly on their phones after their championship press conference to send their best wishes to head coach Jermaine Brown, who has been in the hospital with health issues. Assistant coach Shawn Underwood had the helm for the championship game.
The win also was enhanced for the Falcons (25-7) since they lost to Sacramento High in the D3 section final last season.
Girls D3
Colfax 73, Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) 52
Make it three straight section titles for the Falcons, who this season are not going to match the 34 wins that they had in the last two years but could land in a spot in the upcoming CIF regional playoffs that could still get them to a third straight CIF state title game.
Kaia Diedrichs is one of the most versatile athletes in the state. The Colfax senior not only stars for the Falcons in basketball, but also does four other varsity sports. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The top seed in the bracket will head into next week at 26-6 and showed great depth in turning back the Bruins, the No. 2 seed who came into the day at 27-4 overall. Five players were in double-figures for 2023 State D3 Coach of the Year Roxanne Simpton, led by multi-sport star Kaia Diedrichs, who almost had a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Laurlyn Massick led in scoring with 15 points with Juliette James (who sang the national anthem before the game) right behind with 14 points. Madalyn Sigrist (11 points) and freshman Bella Chu (12 points) were the others in double digits.
Ponderosa has been led in scoring all season by Brooklyn Nordquist, who led the Bruins in the section final as well with 17 points.
Colfax lost in the 2023 CIF D3 state final to Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga and lost in the 2024 D2 state final to Harvard-Westlake of Studio City. With competitive equity seeding not used in the SJS, it’s safe to say that Colfax would be in a much higher division if it was in almost any other CIF section although the Falcons did move up this year from D4 to D3. On Sunday, the Colfax girls were placed at No. 3 in the CIF NorCal D2 playoffs. The top seed went to Caruthers, a team that Colfax beat in the NorCal D3 finals two years ago.
Boys D4
Casa Roble (Orangevale) 70, Natomas (Sacramento) 68
These two league rivals had split in two earlier matchups and it came down to the final seconds to decide a section title on Thursday evening. Natomas, the No. 1 seed, couldn’t score on a three-pointer at the end as Casa Roble held on for the win. The Rams had won 56-54 in an earlier matchup a few weeks ago, but lost to the Nighthawks, 73-57, earlier in the season.
The win was extra-special for the lads from Orangevale. It gave the school its first-ever section title and it’s a school that goes back to the 1960s. The Rams also have come back from a 0-27 season right before the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. They also were 2-25 and 2-25 in their two previous seasons before that.
Mason Pearcy Jr. had 21 points to lead Casa Roble. Leading scorer for the season Benny Ambriz added 17. The teams will take records of 28-4 and 24-8 into next week’s NorCal playoffs.
Girls D4
Liberty Ranch (Galt) 55, Riverbank 50
This is the division that Colfax used to be in, but there was still a dominant team at the top as the Hawks won their 27th straight game. They haven’t lost since a 2-2 start and this is a team that has volleyball players, including prime time junior guard Haley Smith, so it may have taken a few weeks for everyone to come together.
Smith was spectacular with 26 points and eight rebounds. Kendall Duree and Kamrynn Blevins both added nine points.
Riverbank (25-5) had a much more lopsided 66-40 loss to Liberty Ranch early in the season. The Bruins stayed within striking distance behind junior guard Leilani Olanolan, the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal Player of the Week from last week. Olanolan had 18 points.
With its record, we didn’t think Liberty Ranch was going to be D4 for the NorCal playoffs, but the Hawks not only stayed in D4 but were handed the top seed.
Boys D5
Woodland Christian 87, Argonaut (Jackson) 63
This game was the Romello Bruhn show as the high-scoring junior who averages more than 31 ppg dropped in a massive total of 49 points. The section office didn’t have a record known for most points in a section final when the game ended, but media relations director Will DeBoard and research through our own Cal-Hi Sports state record files showed a game of 53 points by Reeves Nelson of Modesto Christian in a 2008 section D4 final vs Encina of Sacramento. We don’t know of any other total in a title game above 50 points. A total of 52 points scored by Franklin of Elk Grove’s C.J. Morgan in 2014 was done in a semifinal game and not a final.
Bruhn made 4-of-8 on three-pointers and was 16-for-23 on field goal shooting overall to achieve his big number. We’ll have more on what he did when the next set of State Players of the Week is released on Tuesday morning. We haven’t yet picked Romello for that honor this season and were thinking he might be a good pick for next week. We were just glad to have arrived to the arena in time for the final minutes.
Woodland Christian won its 21st straight game and improved to 27-5. The Cardinals also got 19 points from Tanner Thomas.
Argonaut (25-7) was led by Mitchell McMahon with 25 points and J.J. Lundren with 21. That was still three points short of how many points Romello scored.
Girls D5
Bret Harte (Altaville) 45, Woodland Christian 42
Since this game was played on Friday before the D5 boys final, the possibility of a Woodland Christian sweep already was done as the Bullfrogs won it by outscoring the Cardinals 15-10 in the final quarter.
Maddie Kane knocked down 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had five steals to lead Bret Harte. Several of the girls were on the team two years ago that captured the CIF D5 state title. The top seed improved to 25-4.
The second seed Cardinals dropped to 26-6 overall. Bailee Broward had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Boys D6
Stone Ridge Christian (Merced) 49,
Sacramento Waldorf (Fair Oaks) 43
The Knights won their second straight D6 section title behind 25 points from Jaiden Sahota and will take a 23-8 record into the NorCal regionals. The Waves (27-3) only lost for the third time all season.
Girls D6
Faith Christian (Yuba City) 52,
Sacramento Adventist (Carmichael) 33
Leading scorer Lauren Harris of the Lions didn’t have one of her really big games, but had 23 points and 15 rebounds. Her team, coached by father Geoffrey Harris, won its second D6 section title in three years after losing in the title game to Sacramento Adventist last season. Presley Berry, also a junior like Harris, had 17 points. Faith Christian (26-2) will now be looking to win its first CIF NorCal D6 championship. The Capitals fell to 21-7 on the season.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
