Prep boys’ basketball: Elk Grove wins a rare area state title. Why is it so daunting?
When it was over Saturday evening, when Elk Grove High School players and coaches collectively exhaled and held each other up for support, they studied their medals. That hardware had been draped over their heads some 30 minutes earlier at Golden 1 Center amid a championship glow, the student rooting section chanting, “Ellllk Groooove” behind them.
Some ran their thumbs over the CIF state championship medals to see if they feel as good as they looked. Others kissed them, then looked around to see if anyone noticed. Each Thundering Herd athlete and coach figured they could wind up here, admiring their spiffy winnings, but no one really understood the magnitude of it until they got here. That’s because getting here is no easy feat, and winning here — the last game of an arduous prep boys’ basketball season in this state — is even more difficult. Shoot, it sometimes comes across as darn-near impossible, given the competition and hurdles.
But here come the Herd, thundering in to add to the party. Elk Grove stands atop the state Division II heap, a survivor as much as a champion. The 62-56 victory over Foothill of Santa Ana capped the Thundering Herd’s season at 28-6, including an exhausting 7-1 run in the postseason, but it all means more than that. Records and scores are a blur now. This is rarefied territory, taking down a Southern California powerhouse and etching your school’s name in the state record books.
Elk Grove coach Dustin Monday described the achievement as “historic” and “unprecedented,” and he’s right. Elk Grove is just the sixth Sacramento-area school to win a boys’ CIF basketball banner. That’s right. Six winners over 40 years of these championships spread over five divisions.
And there is a refreshing theme, too. Each of the regional winners was a public school. This is noteworthy because private schools have no residential boundaries, and some across the state are notorious for luring players their way. The elite Open Division was created in 2013 to put the heavies — namely the private schools — into their own field. This allows everyone else to have a fighting chance.
Folsom was the first local to win it all, doing so under classy coach Stan Harms. He led the Bulldogs to the 1985 Division III championship. The calculating and unflappable Drew Hibbs, remarkably, did it twice at Foothill, winning CIF crowns in 1994 and 2003 in Division-III. Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills won Division-II honors in 2005 under clever coach Steve Scott, who had shooting star and eventual NBA veteran forward Ryan Anderson take his game inside in the biggest games, none bigger than taking down mighty Mater Dei of Orange County (and leaving coach Gary McKnight to still grumble that it was his most disappointing and surprising loss).
Pleasant Grove of the Elk Grove Unified School District won it in Division I in 2013 under impossible-to-rattle John DuPont as coach, and then here came this gritty, inspired Elk Grove group. The Herd was led by stars Ameere Britton and DaJon Lott — who has the best nickname since youth anywhere in “Money” — and the support crew consisted of guys who all grew up together dreaming of such fun and games.
Coach Monday said the key was cohesion, hope, talent, effort and a little bit more, a theme that each of the previous winners can relate to.
“That’s how public schools compete,” Monday said. “Keep the kids together.”
Why is it so hard to win it all?
So, what’s the deal? Why is it so daunting and difficult to win this thing? For starters, the Southern California talent pool is a great deal more vast and deep than the North, with a ton more schools, meaning a ton more athletes to pick from. The SoCal teams overwhelmingly win the state crowns in all sports, either gender. The sheer numbers alone down south, in terms of participation numbers, add up to success.
Jesuit reached the D-I finals under coach Hank Meyer in 1993 and ‘94, falling both times to Crenshaw of Los Angeles. Those Jesuit teams still rank as all-time area greats — Meyer, too. Sheldon, a rival of Elk Grove, has been the area’s elite program this generation, having won NorCal Open Division crowns in 2018 and ‘19 under coach Joey Rolling, each ending in losses to private-school monster Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth (and a dizzying roster of players whose fathers played in the NBA). Sheldon also played for the D-I state title in 2012, a loss to Mater Dei.
Those Sheldon teams have been deemed by area coaches and star players from decades past as the best in area history, better even than the Elk Grove power teams of 1974 and ‘75 under coach Dan Risley and all-time area great Bill Cartwright, who starred before the start of the CIF finals.
Sheldon is an example of how hard it is to win the final game, and Britton is an example of how hard it is to secure a scholarship despite his superlative efforts.
Elk Grove’s tireless 6-foot-2 senior guard is a scoring and defensive marvel, the team’s focal point. But he has no Division I college scholarship offers as of Saturday afternoon. Why? Well, that SoCal theme again. College recruiters are neck deep in that talent pool down south. There are bus loads of Brittons down south, though I’d surely argue someone needs to give this kid a shot. You can’t teach effort.
“Getting a scholarship in basketball is harder than any other sport,” Elk Grove athletic director John Heffernan said. “And what our school did tonight is hard to do. Really hard to do.”
Hats off to the Herd. And when’s the parade? There will be discussion on campus and with elected local officials to have it soon, in old Elk Grove, to celebrate the newest champion.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.