Connor Haysbert is wise beyond his years.

The 6-foot-8 senior center has a good understanding of what he and his Center High School teammates are a part of this season.

The No. 2 Cougars, 20-2 overall, could be the best boys basketball team in the school's 28-year history.

Perhaps better than the Rich Manning-led Cougars of the late-1980s, or the 2003-04 overachievers that won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship, upsetting conference rival Foothill 53-52 in the championship game at Arco Arena.

It's the Antelope school's only boys basketball section title.

"I was at that game," Haysbert said. "I was in the seventh grade, and I remember how much I looked up to those guys. I knew winning was a big deal because it was against Foothill."

Center has long played in Foothill's shadow in the Capital Valley Conference. The Mustangs are perennial champions under coach Drew Hibbs, and they are the only area team to win two California Interscholastic Federation state boys titles.

Center, 10-0 in CVC, can secure its first conference championship since 1992 and extend its winning streak to 14 with a victory tonight at No. 11 Foothill (18-5, 8-2).

There is no lack of incentive.

Center coach Ray Gagnon said Center had gone more than 10 years without a league win over Foothill until Jan. 8, when Center prevailed 59-43 in Antelope.

Foothill defeated Center 50-49 Dec. 5 in the Jack Scott Tournament championship game. (The other loss was a 79-77 double-overtime loss to No. 4 Vista del Lago on Dec. 12).

"That loss only reinforced that we needed to work harder if we wanted to beat them in league," Haysbert said. "It really pushed us."

The Cougars are winning with many kids who have have played together on neighborhood blacktops since elementary school and couldn't wait to wear Center's powder blue and gold colors.

They have a veteran leader in Gagnon, who has won 365 games – 318 as the girls coach for 14 seasons – and a group of assistants, Pete Smith, Dave Zan and Ernie Taubodo, who have sons playing on the team.

"The chemistry is really good," said Gagnon, in his third season with the boys. "The kids have come through the ranks, so it's a close-knit group. We knew during the summer that we could be pretty successful."

No area team handled No. 15 Rio Americano like Center in beating the Raiders 60-42 in the Folsom tournament (Dec. 10).

"They're big, really disciplined and do not take bad shots," said Rio Americano coach Chris Jones. "They have all the pieces."

Center has size in Haysbert (15 points, 7.1 rebounds per game) and his younger brother Chad (11 ppg, 8.5 rebounds), a 6-7 junior forward. They have shooters with range in 6-2 senior Andres Martinez (11.6 ppg) and 6-1 sophomore Chris Smith, and an athletic senior guard in 6-3 Elliot Herald (13.5 ppg), a do-everything player.

But most of all, the Cougars have made a commitment to being one of the section's best defensive teams. They set the school record last season for fewest points allowed at 51.7 per game, but they are well under that this season at 46.5.

The Cougars are eyeing the Division III section title in a field that includes defending champion Sacramento, Vista del Lago, Foothill and No. 13 Del Oro. The Cougars also have targeted the school record of 26 wins, set in 1987-88 when the 6-11 Manning, who still holds most of the school's individual records, dominated the prep scene under the tutelage of current Sacramento State men's coach Brian Katz.

Connor Haysbert, with an interest in broadcast journalism and medicine, said he has had a few chances to talk during the summer with the former Syracuse player, who had a brief stint in the NBA.

"He's someone you look up to," Haysbert said. "He was in the exact same place back then that I am now."

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