Sacramento girls basketball rivalry renews in CIF NorCal Division I playoffs; who won?
For decades, this was just another game on the schedule, two of the region’s oldest high schools meeting in girls basketball with little more than personal pride on the line.
And for years after Title IX, the law that mandates gender equity, came into play in 1972, McClatchy and Sacramento players competed in gym clothes in front of a handful of spectators.
This decade, the programs became pioneers to the regional game, winning league and Sac-Joaquin Section championships, even CIF Northern California Regional banners and sending scores of student-athletes onto the college ranks via scholarships.
On Thursday night in Oak Park, an overflow crowd spoke volumes of how far the game has come, and it was fitting that the longtime Metro League rivals put on a show as both looked the part of big-time player in the vast ocean that has become prep girls sports.
Rallying from 14 down early in the fourth quarter behind three anchor senior starters, No. 8 McClatchy stunned top-seeded Sacramento 51-45 in a Division I quarterfinal.
It’s the second time this week a regional top seed was toppled after No. 16 Union Mine bounced Christian Brothers in D-III.
McClatchy outscored Sacramento by a 25-6 margin in the fourth quarter, thanks to the tireless efforts of seniors Kamryn Hall, Nia Lowery and Jenna Waki, each four-year varsity players who agreed that now was not the time for the season to end.
Waki put the Lions ahead for good 46-45 with a jumper with 55.6 seconds to play, Lowery made it 49-45 with a 3-pointer with 33.2 to go, and Hall’s two free throws with 12.9 left accounted for the final score.
Lowery, a 5-foot-11 guard/wing headed to Washington on scholarship, scored 10 of her game-high 20 in the fourth quarter. Hall, a 6-foot senior who handles the ball and can play in the post, had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Waki, a 5-7 guard who never wilted under a relentless Dragons pressing defense, had six points.
Samaya Beatty had seven for McClatchy (28-4), Imani Felix five and Jaidyn Wallace two.
Wallace’s father, Pat, was a star guard for McClatchy in the late 1980s who was a four-year starter at Sacramento State. He watched in wonderment Thursday, recalling his high school days in storied Dave Hotell Pavilion and pleased that the girls enjoyed such an energized scene.
McClatchy athletic director Rob Feickert was also giddy. He’s a 1980s graduate of Sacramento High who says, “McClatchy’s home for me now.”
“Not only did we beat the No. 1 seed but we beat our rivals,” Lowery said. “We play hard. This atmosphere is great for girls basketball. It helps for recognition for our sport.”
McClatchy is coached by the calm Jeff Ota and the energized Que K. Ngo. Ota said he was delighted for his seniors, including star players Hall and Lowery and the program’s “unsung hero” in Waki.
“We didn’t want to make this our last practice,” said Ota, a McClatchy star guard in the 1970s. “This rivalry has been renewed. The basketball gods were here.”
This was the first season the schools were not in the same league, dating to when McClatchy opened in 1937. Realignment shifted Sacramento (25-8) into the Capital Athletic League, and the school was no longer interested in continuing even a nonleague series.
As Lowery said, it’s good for the regional game.
McClatchy will play at No. 4 Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland for a semifinal. Sacramento’s season is over, as are the careers of four-year players such as Andriana Avent and RyAnne Walters. Those guards led the Dragons in scoring against McClatchy, going for 15 and nine points.
Antelope 53, Heritage 48 in Brentwood – The seventh-seeded Titans ended this D-I quarterfinal with a 16-1 run, and star sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel had 33 points to topple the No. 2-seeded Patriots, who beat Antelope 68-60 on Jan. 26.
Cosumnes Oaks 52, Clovis 43 in Clovis – Raenette McCrae had 12 points and 14 rebounds, Jasmine Hess had 10 and 10, Kendal Jones had 11 points and Jordyn Rosette had seven points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots to power the No. 7 Wolfpack past the second-seeded Cougars in D-II.
Union Mine 46, Aragon 34 in San Mateo – Carley Zaragoza had 20 points and 19 rebounds and Ali McDonald had 15 and 11 to lift the No. 16-seeded Diamondbacks to another big road win, topping the ninth seed.
Zaragoza and McDonald led the way in beating Christian Brothers earlier in the week.
Boys basketball
Grant 66, St. Joseph Notre Dame 58 (OT) in Del Paso Heights – Corey Yerger had 16 points, AJ McGee 12 and Davelle Brown 10 to power the Pacers past the storied Pilots of Alameda in D-II action.
St. Joseph has won seven NorCal and four state titles since 2004.
Rocklin 65, Pleasant Valley 62 in Chico – Donovan Lopez hit a 3-pointer for a 63-62 lead, and Cory Gohl’s two late free throws sealed it for the No. 13-seeded Thunder, who moved to 2-0 in the D-II field after falling in the section quarterfinals to Rio Americano. Pleasant Valley was the defending CIF State D-II champion.
For complete brackets, visit cifstate.org.
This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Sacramento girls basketball rivalry renews in CIF NorCal Division I playoffs; who won?."