Double duty: Placer boys, girls win CIF section titles double at Golden 1 Center
Golden 1 Center might as well have been Earl Crabbe Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Chants of “This is our house!” rang throughout the Gold Mine student section inside the home of the Sacramento Kings as the Placer High School boys and girls basketball teams came out victorious in their respective CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship games, backing up their No. 1 seeds.
Only 13 programs have pulled off the boys-girls section championship sweep in the same year. The Hillmen and Hillgals became the newest member of that list with both programs mindful of just how hard it is to just get here. Coach Tony Camillucci’s girls team defeated East Union of Manteca, 58-43, and Nate Swesey’s boys team followed with a 63-51 win over Beyer of Modesto, much to the glee of a background of Hillmen green.
What a momentous milestone for the 129-year-old school that is nestled in the heart of downtown Auburn, where the thing to do on Friday nights in the winter is to check out a home game in that old venue.
“It’s a great day to be a Hillmen and a Hillgal,” Placer boys coach Nate Swesey said.
The girls won their first blue section banner since 1990, the year the program won its lone CIF State crown under coach Jim Mallery, and the boys were victorious on this section title stage for the first time since 1988 when Wendell Witt was the coach.
The girls team backs the guys, and vice versa.
“First of all, I just want to give a shoutout to Tony Camillucci and the girls program,” Swesey said. “The community of Auburn showed up in full force today. There probably wasn’t anybody in town today.”
Family feel and fun at Placer
It has always been very much a family type of feel at Placer. Generations of family lineage pass through the small campus on Orange Street, so of course Saturday was a community event. Several of the current student-athletes who wear the green and gold have had parents or siblings who wore the same colors for the Hillmen.
In short, there’s a lot of pride in being associated with Placer. This includes Swesey. He’s a third-generation Placer product. Placer activities director, Mike Sabins, is also a Placer graduate, and he was in his element handing out championship hats at Golden 1.
“You can’t explain it. You have to live it,” said Camillucci, the girls coach, of the Placer school experience. “It’s a totally unique atmosphere. And people come back. They want to raise their kids in Auburn because they had such a great experience.”
It took more than 30 years for Camillucci to find one of his teams in a section final, not that he had bad teams. It’s that hard to reach the big stage.
“It was amazing, and it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Camillucci said. “But when I look at their faces, and they’re just so excited, that makes it all worthwhile. So yeah, I’m very happy, and I’m happy that we represent our school in a positive way.”
Placer girls’ climb
The Placer girls used a balanced attack with a rotation full of juniors to take down second-seeded East Union. Breely Shriver had 17 points to lead all scorers.
Brookelyn Dunkle had 15 points and six assists; Ginger Biddle added 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals; Lana Terrell grabbed eight rebounds; and Lucy Manley hit a pair of 3s off the bench.
Saturday’s win gave the Hillgals their fourth section banner. The Hillgals have never lost in a section final.
A Colfax High graduate of 1985 and a fine basketball player for the Falcons, Camillucci began coaching at Placer in 1997. He has more than 400 career victories with the program. Over the past four seasons, the Placer girls have increased their win totals from 13 to 15 to 22 to now 30 and counting, as the season on Tuesday will shift to the CIF Northern California Regional playoffs.
The entire Hillgals roster wove red and blue ribbons into their shoelaces on Saturday in support of Christian Brothers, which was devastated earlier this week with the sudden passing of beloved freshman basketball player Jaden DeJesus-Eves. The Lady Falcons defeated Antelope on Friday night at Golden 1 Center to capture the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II title while honoring their fallen classmate.
The Placer boys on their uniforms wore makeshift patches with DeJesus-Eves’ jersey No. 11, something the players suggested. DeJesus-Eves played well in a semifinal loss at Placer on Tuesday before dying in his sleep that night.
Placer boys take first title since 1988
In halting Beyer’s 18-game winning streak, Placer was led by guards Emmett Rose (16 points), Joe Manley (15), Max Manley (11) and Kannon Rector (9 points, 12 rebounds). The Manley brothers joined sister Lucy for blue-banner honors as the family theme carried the day.
Placer shot out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter against Beyer. Joe Manley had 5 points while Rector added 4 to pace the Hillmen in the first. Beyer made a second-quarter charge to cut Placer’s lead to just 2 by halftime as James McGee had 11 first-half points to lead the Patriots.
Placer assumed a comfortable lead early in the fourth quarter as Rector flirted with a triple-double, including nine assists.
Swesey expressed pride to be the next coach in line of such a storied program. He played for Witt and then for Mark Lee, who headed the program for more than 20 years. Swesey took over the program three years ago from Lee and has guided the Hillmen boys to an 80-12 record since the 2023-24 season.
“So many people are part of this victory,” Swesey said. “My sister had done the scorebook for us for 25 years. Auburn’s such a great community. My dad (Cliff) was one who always coached me when I was young. I know my dad (who died three years ago) would be very proud watching right now. I put a picture of him in my pocket today, so I know he’s with me and helped us out there.”
Together, the Placer teams have combined for the most wins by any boys-girls basketball duo in California this season. At 30-2, the Hillgals will take 18 straight wins into the upcoming CIF NorCal regional bracket. The 29-3 Hillmen boys have won 13 of their last 14 entering regional play.
As grand as the experience was to play at Golden 1 Center, the Placer teams are eager to return to their home digs.
“We’re hoping to play some games at Earl Crabbe Gym,” Swesey said. “We love playing there. A double-header with the girls would be fantastic.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 7:44 PM.