Sheldon grinds out Division I section title win over gritty Capital Christian
There wasn’t a celebration after this one. Just profound relief.
The Sheldon Huskies were not sharp offensively Friday by any measure, but they defended as if their very basketball reputations depended on it. That was enough to repeat as Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champions.
Overcoming a sluggish start, horrendous free-throw shooting and the skill and tenacity of a rising-fast Capital Christian team, top-seeded Sheldon made stops down the stretch to win a foul-filled slugfest 49-46 at Golden 1 Center.
Players exhaled, coaches too, and then they danced and skipped down the back hallways on their way to the postgame interview room, delighted with the championship net and blue section title banner in hand. Sheldon (27-5) has run out of room in its bloated trophy case as this was the program’s seventh title since 2007 under coach Joey Rollings, a masterful defensive coach whose motto that defense always prevails continues to ring true.
“Wow,” he said. “When we play like that, you don’t expect to win. Our shooting was terrible. Our free-throw shooting was terrible, but we played great defense and beat a good team. We grinded it out.”
The grind continues next week as Sheldon likely will earn the No. 1 seed in the CIF Northern California Regional tournament. The Huskies are the two-time defending NorCal Open Division champions and have played national powers this season, including a victory over storied Mater Dei of Santa Ana.
But the Huskies know they’ll have to be better on the line, at the very least, to return to Golden 1 Center for the March 14 state finals. Sheldon made just 13 of 27 free throws. It shot 39 percent from the floor, found little flow, had no dunks and nearly fell to a Capital Christian team that starts one senior in Evan Johnson but has grown by the week under first-year coach Matt Filer and his staff.
That there were 40 fouls called was a glaring storyline when it never should be. The stop-and-start flow of the game between teams used to playing hard and physical sucked out any flow.
Sheldon’s super senior guard Marcus Bagley led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 4 of 8 3-pointers in looking like the best player on the floor and all of Northern California. He battled foul trouble, as did his teammates, but was in the game down the stretch when it mattered most.
Xavier Brown, a rock-solid Sheldon force all season, had 10 points and five rebounds. His free throw accounted for the final score after his first attempt nearly missed everything. He could only roll his eyes and laugh it off later. Dontrell Hewlett had nine points and Yaru Harvey, Josh Williams and Xavion Brown supplied defense and grit when their offense was largely absent.
Williams, the steady senior floor leader, was awarded the game’s “Spirt of Sportsmanship” award. He sighed when asked if this game was a relief. Sheldon players credited Capital Christian for its effort, given that the Huskies blew out the Cougars by 20 in an earlier nonleague meeting.
“We started slow, but we kept getting defensive stops, locking in,” he said.
Said Bagley, “We came out super slow. We knew we’d make our run. Our guys are resilient.”
Darrion Williams led Capital Christian with 17 points. The sophomore guard tied it at 44 with an inside bucket with 1:38 to go, and Bagley gave his team the lead for good with two free throws with 1:29 to go. Capital missed in the lane to tie with 29.6 seconds to go, and Hewlett rebounded, was fouled and made both for a 48-44 lead.
Filer, the Capital coach, said before the game, “we’re walking into a hornets nest” and was pleased that his bunch nearly conquered that nest.
The young Cougars still have a season left. They will likely be placed in the NorCal D-I field, fully capable of making a run to the finals.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 6:09 AM.