By Bill Paterson
bpaterson@sacbee.com
Even though his Center High School players were dejected for several days after their triple overtime loss to Vista del Lago in the boys Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals Wednesday at Cosumnes River College, coach Ray Gagnon thinks his guys will be ready to play tonight.
The Cougars (26-3) are playing Analy of Sebastopol (29-2) in tonight's California Interscholastic Federation Northern California Regional playoff opener at Antelope High School.
"It took us a little time to get going," Gagnon said. "The first thing we started working on is making sure the kids were re-focused and feeling good about themselves.
"There was not a dry eye among the starters after that game. They really expected to win.
"So we told them, 'We can see from your reactions that it really hurt. But it's supposed to hurt. You work your butts off all the time, so it shows how much you care.'"
Gagnon said three of his starters cramped up during the game, and a fourth did so at home later that night. Connor Haysbert, the Cougars' 6-foot-8 center, was in a lot of pain because of a tender ankle he sprained just before the end of the playoffs.
Gagnon played essentially six players, although a seventh made a brief appearance of "less than a minute" before halftime.
"It was incredible what they did," Gagnon said. "That's why I think we'll be ready. We don't want our last memory to be that we lost our last two games."
Gagnon feels his team has as good a chance as any to play March 20 in the NorCal D-III championship game at Arco Arena.
Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland (27-3) is the favorite, but Gagnon saw the Dragons play Miramonte of Orinda in the North Coast Section final on Friday and the Dragons, in winning 60-50, didn't look like the No. 1 team in Northern California, as they are ranked this week by Cal-Hi Sports and NorCalPreps.com.
"I was told by one writer that they played their C game, not their A game," Gagnon said.
He also saw defending D-III Northern California champion Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco (14-14) beat Burlingame for the Central Coast Section title on Saturday.
Good teams both, but not overwhelming.
He thinks his team, No. 2 seeded Sacramento and No. 4 seed Vista del Lago are all in the mix.
"Anybody can lose on any night in D-III," Gagnon said. "I'm terrified if we win (tonight) because we have to go up to Enterprise (of Redding) on Thursday. That's a three-hour drive."
But if Center beats Analy and No. 3 seeded Enterprise and the bracket plays out otherwise, Center could be back home on Saturday playing at Sac High.
"It will be a challenge but at this point the bottom line is that there are only going to be five teams in the entire state that will finish the season on a winning note," Gagnon said.
