Woodland Christian basketball makes history in CIF final, led by junior’s 49 points
Romello Bruhn hails from a high school tucked away in Yolo County, just off of Highway 13, and never mind his small-school status as an athlete.
This kid can play. And score, and electrify with a skill set that was on full display Friday afternoon at Golden 1 Center.
The 6-foot-3 junior guard for the Woodland Christian Cardinals leads the greater Sacramento valley in scoring at nearly 31 points a game, and his attitude, basketball IQ, athleticism and ability to score would fit anywhere. Bruhn dominated within the flow of the game, scoring 49 points for a well-coached team as top-seeded Woodland Christian raced past No. 2-seeded Argonaut, 87-63, to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship.
Bruhn’s monster effort may be a section finals record but there are no official records. Players have scored more than 50 in section playoff games but not in a title game, The Sacramento Bee has reported in the past and section assistant commissioner Will DeBoard confirmed Friday.
“It’s really nice (to have Bruhn as a teammate) because when he shoots, I don’t have to box out (for a rebound) — I know it’s going in,” said Woodland Christian senior forward and team leader Tanner Thomas, who had 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting.
Ever the team guy, Bruhn didn’t talk about himself but praised his teammates and coaches as the Cardinals made history in becoming the first Woodland school to win a section boys basketball championship. The Woodland Christian girls played for their first section title earlier on Friday, falling to Bret Harte of Angels Camp.
The Bruhn name is a familiar one in town. Romello’s father, Chris Bruhn, was a Bee All-Metro running back at Woodland High in 1999 and 2000 who played at Butte College and Washington State. Bruhn played football as an eighth grader but fell in love with basketball and has since been trained by his father, who sat courtside with family and friends.
Bruhn the player was humble in the thrill of lighting it up in a venue that has devoured many a scorer over the years, given the venue’s space and the stage. Bruhn said he “wouldn’t have any of these points without my teammates”, and he made sure they all handled and held the championship banner in a post-game media session.
After Bruhn and Taylor’s combined 68 points, the Cardinals received contributions from mainstays Malakai Baker (5 points, three steals), Cole Haines (2 points, two assists, three rebounds, four steals), Isaiah Hunt (2 points, five assists, five rebounds) and Noah Hinkle (5points, four rebounds).
A 2,400-point prep career scorer with a year to go, Bruhn wasn’t a gunner against Argonaut. He made 16 of 23 shots from the floor and 13 of 18 from the free throw line. He had 36 points after three quarters as Woodland Christian started to pull away against the Mustangs, who competed to the end, and he had 39 barely 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Bruhn scored on runners, layups and from 3-point land, and then capped his day with a dunk as the Woodland Christian rooting section celebrated. He then listed all the teams on campus that have won section championships in recent years, including football, softball, golf and baseball.
“It’s great,” Bruhn said of the game and his effort in general. “I realized that I was playing on the Kings court, a great experience that will always be a fun experience.”
Bruhn’s 49 points brought to mind the 52 that Franklin of Elk Grove guard CJ Watson dropped in 2004 in a Division I playoff game against Modesto. Woodland Christian coach Casey Neimeyer remembers, having watched Morgan go off in person. He and Morgan later became basketball teammates at the University of the Pacific.
“He’s come such a long way since his freshman year, knowing the game, learning how to play the game the right way,” Neimeyer said of Bruhn. “It was fun to watch him grow on the court. He was great.”
Neimeyer is deeply invested in Woodland Christian, which has 250 students. He has three sons attending the school that was established in 1999 after the Woodland Christian Schools program, starting from kindergarten through middle school, began in 1974
“It’s a special time,” the coach said. “The culture we’re creating, we don’t see it ending.”
Both teams advance to the CIF Northern California tournament that starts at home sites on Tuesday. The CIF will release those brackets Sunday.
Girls Division V final
Bret Harte 45, Woodland Christian 42
Maddie Kane scored 16 points and had nine rebounds, freshman Emma Russell had 13 points and eight boards and she made two free throws with 7.7 seconds left to account for the final score, as the Bullfrogs of Angels Camp won their first section crown since 1981 with runner-up finishes in 2022 and 2023.
The 2023 Bret Harte team wound up winning a small-school CIF state championship.
Woodland Christian senior guard and team captain Teagan Hayes had 7 points and five rebounds, and her top-of-the-key 3-pointer pulled the Cardinals to within 43-42 before Russell’s free throws sealed it. A 3-point attempt against defensive pressure missed at the buzzer for Woodland Christian, which had its 24-game winning streak snapped.
Cardinals coach Shiloh Sorbello has been the school’s head coach since 2013, and his teams endured seasons of 5-20 in 2016 and 11-16 before this school-record 26-6 season. His 6-foot, sophomore forward daughter, Siena Sorbello, had 12 points for the Cardinals.
Freshman Bailee Broward had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Woodland Christian and senior guard and captain Keziah Maldonado-Lemus contributed nine points and five rebounds.
Jeff Eltringham, in his 15th season coaching his alma mater, said Bret Harte is rooted in a small town that continues to back its student athletes, a theme for decades for the Calaveras County school.
“It’s super special for us,” he said. “These girls have played ball together since the third grade.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM.