Storied San Joaquin Memorial wins first CIF boys basketball championship

The team is centered around its coach.

Brad Roznovsky graduated from San Joaquin Memorial High School in 1987, where he played a lot of baseball and a little hoops. Years later, when approached about the varsity basketball coaching opening, he wondered, “Do you have the wrong number?”

Turns out, it was the right call for the right man at the right time. Eleven years later as head coach, the proud alum celebrated the ultimate result.

Memorial defeated Pacifica Christian of Newport Beach 58-47 on Saturday afternoon at Golden 1 Center to claim the CIF State Division II championship.

It is the Fresno area’s first boys basketball state championship since the 1998-99 Washington Union Panthers won it all at the Division III level, led then by future NBA player DeShawn Stevenson.

This Memorial team, meanwhile, won the first state championship in school history. And that’s quite the felt considering the program’s steeped tradition includes players who reached the NBA.

Past Panthers stars include Cal-Hi Sports state Players of the Year from the early 1970s in Roscoe and Cliff Pondexter, and decades later with Brook and Robin Lopez and Quincy Pondexter.

Roznovsky is Fresno born and bred. He has lived the Memorial experience to the point that his own three kids graduated from Memorial. The coach said the school’s storied gym has barely changed since his “not very good” playing days.

“Memorial’s a special place.” Roznovsky said. “I had no idea I’d come back here. I was actually more of a baseball guy, but it’s pretty cool to get an opportunity to coach here. It really is an awesome place. I love it.”

It was an odd yet ultimately rewarding road to this championship for the Panthers. Memorial lost in the quarterfinals of the Central Section D-I playoffs on Feb. 17 against St Joseph’s of Santa Maria, which on Saturday night at Golden 1 played for the Open Division championship. Memorial then had to wait nine days to learn of its next opponent, waiting for section tournaments to conclude.

Roznovsky said his players were able to transform their mindset that week to prepare for this memorable run.

“We had our best three practices that week.” Roznovsky said. “We had some confidence to play, and depending on our seed, we knew we could make a good run. I mean, who wins a state championship after losing five or six in a row? We really were on a skid. We got together as a staff to figure things out and it was just a matter of kids buying in, and they did and that’s why we won.”

The Panthers endured a 1-5 stretch in the season with the lone victory coming against Pacifica Christian, of all programs, in a late December tournament. They won that game 68-55 and were determined to back it up in the rematch.

Among the Memorial stars on Saturday were senior anchors Mike Davis Jr. and Armari Carraway. Davis had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Carraway had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomores Julius Olanrewaju and Gerald Perry Jr. and junior Dre Davis combined for 19 points, six rebounds and a lot of overall effort.

Memorial made 5 of 16 3-pointers, including two by Dre Davis, in a game that featured eight lead changes and seven ties. Memorial’s largest lead was 15, in the fourth quarter, and the Panthers were never in serious jeopardy of losing after that. Memorial shot 16 of 35 and Pacifica Christian made 14 of 45.

Davis Jr. and Carraway said they will play in college, though neither is certain where. Roznovsky said they will be missed.

Roznovsky capped his 15th overall season with the program, including as an assistant coach. He said he values the relationships with all of his players, the stars and the reserves. Among his top alumni is Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, whom Roznovsky keeps in regular contact.

Good luck wishes from Jalen Green

“Jalen called me last night, so I still have a really strong relationship with him,” Roznovsky said, “The most (playoff) games I won with Jalen were two. I don’t know if there are any NBA guys behind me (at the media podium), but it’s a big deal to win this game. For our school, this program and our past teams, this is a major accomplishment.”

Panthers players also heaped praise on their coach.

“Yeah, we have a good relationship with our coach,” Armari Carraway said with a smile. “He’s obviously sent some players to the NBA so it’s fun being coached by him.”

Carraway said Memorial’s challenging schedule prepared the Panthers.

“This has been a journey for all of us,” Carraway said. “We kind of got thrown into the fire with some tough games right away like against Sierra Canyon. So we just had to come together and just buy into it, and that’s when we started to gel and just win games to be able to win this championship.”

The Panthers finished 26-9, including winning the County/Metro League. This was their first state-finals appearance, but not for the school in general. The Memorial girls made a run before losing last year’s CIF state championship against another Newport Beach-area team in Sage Hill.

Pacifica Christian was led by E.J. Spillman, Tanner Deal and Parker Strauss, each of them scoring 11 points. The Tritons finished 27-10.

This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 8:50 PM.

Joe Davidson

The Sacramento Bee

916-321-1280

Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.