CIF State Basketball — Division 1 roundup: Centennial girls, Damien boys win thrillers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The media room was filled. You could hear a pin drop. The Folsom boys, many slumped in their chairs, others with slumped shoulders, were waiting for their coach Mike Wall. So were reporters.

Wall was given a stat sheet and he poured over it as he walked up to the podum. He stopped a few feet short. He kept pouring. The room kept waiting. Finally, Wall winced, flinched even, then took his seat.

He immediately gave credit to his team, his opponent, the game, the atmosphere, but kept it real. His team dropped a 58-55 vice grip of a game to Damien in the CIF State Division I championship Friday night at Golden 1 Center.

"This hurts," he said.

He then revealed what made him cringe.

"Offensive rebounds," he said. "They had 11 and we had two. That was the difference."

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Indeed, these two teams battled shot-for-shot, pass-for-pass, make-for-make, but the offensive rebounding edge both coaches agreed was the difference as Damien (30-6) won its second straight title in three finals' tries.

Point guard Elijah Smith and shooting Zaire Rassshan (five three-pointers) led the way with 18 points apiece and Elijah Garner added 15. The high-scoring trio led coach Mike LeDuc to his 1,127th victory, which ranks No. 2 all time in state history.

Afterward, he spoke slowly, carefully but assuredly when evaluating what he called the most overachieving of his illustrious career. He's been coaching since 1980.

"Because I'm saying they're overachivers does not mean they're not great," LeDuc said. "It's just I had these guys in my all-time top three coming into today and they've moved themselves to the top. I've never had a team that has accomplished so much with what at the beginning we thought we were going to be able to accomplish."

The game was much like their season, though the Spartans, playing out of the Southern Section Open Division, have seen the top end talent in the country.

And though Folsom has not nearly the talent, LeDuc said Folsom frankly was harder to defend because they "can all shoot." he said. "You can't key on one guy."

The Bulldogs (29-7) proved that, but connecting on 20 of 43 shots, including 8-of-18 on three-pointers, keyed by Joven Dulay and Parks Weaver, who each scored 16 points and Jack Shull added nine. While Folsom got off 18 3s, Damien was able to take 12 more 3-point attempts, which Rasshan was able to take advanage of.

Afterward, Wall pointed to the offensive rebounding and a 10-0 run to start the second half which proved decisive. That cushion was held most of the second half, though back-to-back three-pointers in the final few seconds, including one from Dulay that dropped through with five seconds left, to make it 58-55.

With no timeouts, the clock clicked to zero and there was nothing Wall or the Bulldogs could do. Wall said that helpless feeling was the worst feeling you could have on a basketball court. But he did appreciate coaching and playing against the Spartans and LeDuc.

“Their level of execution was on another level from what we’ve seen all year from anyone we’ve played,” Wall said. “They just execute. They’re very poised. It’s a phenomenal team. All the credit to (LeDuc) for the discipline they showed. Very impressed with them as a team. Pretty incredible.”

The feeling was mutual. He had it since watching the Bulldogs at Damien's tournament in December. Folsom won the Gold Division of the tourney.

"Folsom has a great program, and they have a great coach, and we knew it was going to be a battle," LeDuc said. "We knew we had to be as tough as them and as smart as them. Folsom was in our tournament in Christmastime, and they won our Gold Division. I got to watch (Folsom) play, and I hadn’t seen them play, and I walked up to (Wall) and said, ‘Coach, you do an incredible job.’ So I knew how good those guys were and what a great coach he is.”

Girls: Centennial-Corona 73, Clovis 66

High school girls basketball — Centennial girls enjoy their first state title with 73-66 win over Clovis March 13 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. | Photo by Ralph Thompson

There wasn't much more than Clovis coach Cooper Steele or the Cougars could do. They played to their full potential, getting 21 points from Yazmin Aguillera, 19 by Sadie Sin and 16 from Amieya Walters.

The shot 48% from the field (27 of 57) and a ridiculous 52% from three-point territory, including 7-for-10 by Aguilera. The shared the ball beautifully, committing just 11 turnovers while dishing off 21 assists, seven by Sin.

Yet, Centennial's power, resilience and skill won out.

McDonald's All-American and Kansas signee Cydnee Bryant had 13 points and 13 rebounds and 6-foot-7 sophomore Sydney Douglas added 21 points and 10 rebounds, but it was the 25-point and seven-assist effort by Cal-bound Armanyie Reed that gave the Huskies (24-5) their first state title.

The Huskies also got 12 points from Talithakoum Poialii-Hunkin as the foursome of her, Bryan, Douglas and Reed combined for all but two of Centennial's total.

"We have two of the best bigs in the country that really, on any given night, even if I'm having the worst coaching night, these two will always make me look the best," Centennial coach Matt Tumambing said. "I don't think you wll find two more talented bigs that Bryant and Douglas."