St. Mary’s stays atop Sac-Joaquin Section with convincing title win over Oak Ridge
The St. Mary’s girls basketball team remains on another level than the rest of the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Over the past two decades, the Rams of Stockton have routinely crushed Sacramento’s finest programs. This year’s Oak Ridge team was among the best in the area but the Trojans still fell to St. Mary’s 56-45 in Friday’s Division l championship.
It’s the 13th blue banner in a row for the Rams, spread across divisions l, ll and lll. It’s also the 15th in the last 17 years under coach Tom Gonsalves. St. Mary’s (23-4) has the most banners of any basketball team in the section with 21.
The teams were tied at 12 after the first quarter, but then St. Mary’s put its foot on the gas and smothered the Trojans with a relentless press. Oak Ridge (24-6) managed to cut the lead to nine with a minute left in the game, but the Rams were able to close out.
“We have a standard here,” Gonsalves said. “You didn’t see a lot of celebrating after the game because we have higher goals. The people who played here the past years are the ones who made the tradition. Our team this year is just trying to keep that up.”
St. Mary’s was paced by senior forward Amaya Oliver, who had 18 points. Tai Sherman chipped in 12 and Nia Anderson 10.
“Amaya is the best-kept secret in California,” Gonsalves said. “She’s going to be special.”
The Rams haven’t lost a section championship since 2007, when a Vicki Baugh-led Sacramento High team won 74-71. Baugh is one of the most prolific players in Sacramento history and went on to play for Pat Summit at Tennessee.
Playing on the big stage is the norm for the Rams. They have won 52 straight section playoff games and are 84-2 since 1999 in section playoff action. St. Mary’s is the only team in Northern California that has been in the prestigious Open Division since it started in 2013. The Rams will be in it again when NorCal brackets come out Sunday. Oak Ridge will be in the D-I tournament.
“I think we should be the second seed in the Open Division,” Gonsalves “If the North wants its best representation, I think we have proved that we can play against the best because of our schedule. The South is just brutal.”
Oak Ridge was playing in its first final since 2014, when it lost to St. Mary’s 77-53. The Trojans on Friday were led by sophomore Teagan Brown, who had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Kamryn Mangels had 10 points.
“Brown on Oak Ridge is really, really good,” Gonsalves said. “We knew after watching Oak Ridge on film we were in for a battle. They play very hard and if they would’ve shot better, it would’ve been a different game.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 8:50 PM.