In a light moment to try to jar the referees Saturday night at Power Balance Pavilion, Jesuit coach Greg Harcos hollered, "He's not that good!"

Harcos meant no disrespect, mind you, because if there's a leader who appreciates talent and effort, it's this one. His was a shout-out of concern in believing the referees were bailing out Darius Nelson, Sheldon's skilled big man.

In truth, he is that good, and so are the Huskies.

Top-ranked by The Bee all season, unbeaten in regional play and seasoned by a national schedule, top-seeded Sheldon downed third-seeded Jesuit 84-69 in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division I final that was expected to be a bit closer.

The teams' first two meetings came down to the final frantic moments, with Sheldon prevailing by three points both times to wrap up the Delta River League championship.

A third thriller? Sheldon would have none of it, pulling away in the second half with superb defense, patience on offense and yet another strong all-around game by senior leaders Nelson and Ramon Eaton and typical across-the-board contributions.

The Huskies (23-7) repeated as section champions with their third since 2007 in establishing themselves as the true large-school section power of this era, a mantle the Marauders held in the 1990s.

Nelson scored a game-high 27 points with 14 rebounds, days after he had 37 points and the game winner at the buzzer to stun Granite Bay in overtime.

The 6-foot-8 Eaton had 18 points and six rebounds in addition to handling the ball. Sophomore guard D'erryl Williams muscled in for 18 points, scoring on drives and putbacks.

"It's hard to win these, but I thought we did a great job," said a relieved Sheldon coach Joey Rollings. "I thought we did a great job in the second half with their press, and our press bothered them."

Predictably, there were plenty of highlight plays, fouls and emotions, but no one lost his cool in putting on a good show for a nice crowd.

Jesuit (22-9) was backed by its rowdy, white-shirt mob of students, who offered catchy chants such as "We got Reek," as in Kings star Tyreke Evans, who watched from a baseline seat after a day of foot rehabilitation. They also chanted, "God is on our side," humoring the Sheldon crowd, and "We believe" late when three-pointers made it closer midway through the fourth quarter.

But Sheldon had the final say. The Huskies were the more athletic team, and now they want more.

"We want to get to the state finals," Rollings said. "I think we can do it. We have the size, experience, and we get in the open floor, and we're hard to beat."

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