Sheldon repeats as CIF NorCal Open champion; what makes this team so hard to beat

The dream season continues with one final lap to complete.

Sheldon High School trailed early Tuesday night against a familiar opponent, roared back and coasted home, downing rival Modesto Christian 57-48 in the CIF Northern California Open Division boys basketball championship.

An overflow setting at Cosumnes River College soaked in the new era of NorCal competition - programs from the valley playing at the highest level, whisking away Bay Area powerhouse teams of national renown. It was entertaining, it was defensive minded, and it was a balanced team effort with extra passes, trust and unity that pushed the Huskies to the last game of a long, exhausting season.

Sheldon will play another familiar outfit Saturday in the CIF State finals at Golden 1 Center. Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth won the Southern California Regional championship 83-73 over Mater Dei of Santa Ana.

Sierra Canyon, a high-profile program with the sons of retired NBA players dotted on the roster, beat Sheldon last season.

Sheldon beat Modesto Christian 64-61 at Golden 1 Center 10 days earlier in a similarly exciting show. The other tally of note out is that of the four final schools in the prestigious state Open Division — the big boys — the lone public school is Sheldon.

And the players are proud of that fact, championing their cause that a public school can stand tall in a continuing era that shows the private schools overwhelmingly dominate the Open in football and basketball.

“Saturday will be a statement game,” Sheldon senior guard Kaito Williams said. “We’re the only public school. We’re showing it can be done.”

Said fellow senior guard Justin Nguyen, the team catalyst, “It feels good to do this, especially as a public school. Not many do this.”

Sheldon (24-10) has done it two years in succession, making regional history in becoming the first to repeat in Northern California’s highest classification. Two years ago, Woodcreek of Roseville topped Sheldon in the NorCal Open final, a double-bonus for public school success.

Sheldon has two NorCal championships since 2013 under coach Joey Rollings. The one piece of hardware missing in a trophy case that also includes five Sac-Joaquin Section titles this decade is a state banner.

“That’s the one thing we haven’t done yet,” Rollings said.

Sheldon trailed 9-0 against Modesto Christian, settled down and then took off, using a 16-0 run to gain control. It was 32-26 at the half and 43-37 after three, and the Huskies sailed from there.

“Sometimes, it happens,” Rollings said of slow starts. “Little nervous and a little tired from the 30-minute warm-up. But that’s basketball. Down nine, then up, and we’re good to go.”

Nguyen was again superb at point guard, scoring a game-high 18 points, setting up the offense and hitting 4 of 6 3-point shots.

Sheldon is made up of homegrown student-athletes from within the Elk Grove Unified School District. The biggest name on the roster was a big-name addition in Marcus Bagley, a 6-foot-8 national-recruit junior who has a complete game. He spent his freshman season at Sierra Canyon, where brother Marvin Bagley III was a prep All-American before an All-America season at Duke last season. That Bagley is a key player for the best Kings team in more than a decade. He regularly attends Sheldon games to support his brother.

Marcus Bagley joined a Sheldon team that was already the best in Northern California. He had 10 points and four rebounds against Modesto Christian, easing back into the flow after missing most of the playoffs with a sore back.

Sheldon’s balance and depth is remarkable, and it overwhelms teams. It was collectively too much for Modesto Christian, a longtime power that was coming off a 56-55 win over unbeaten Salesian of Richmond, ranked second in the country by MaxPreps. Sheldon defeated De La Salle of Concord in the other NorCal Open semifinal. Sheldon was 0-2 against De La Salle this decade in NorCal play.

Kaito Williams had 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and five deflections in a stirring all-around effort. Josh Williams had seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Xavion Brown had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists. Xavier Brown, Darren Tobias, Dontrel Hewlett and Pierce Davis all contributed for Sheldon.

There is no ego on this team, just one united goal to win the final game.

“We have 10 to 12 guys who can play and score,” Nguyen said. “No one minds who scores. We do anything to win.”

Aaron Murphy led Modesto Christian (27-8) with 11 points. The 6-7 forward is headed to UC Davis to play for coach Jim Les, who attended Tuesday’s game.

This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 10:24 PM.