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Central, San Joaquin Memorial take home state basketball titles

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San Joaquin Memorial senior Armari Carraway

By Gabe Camarillo

The adrenaline of an overtime thriller had not even left Brad Roznovsky’s body before he received a text from one of his most famous former pupils.

It was Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, a former player of Roznovsky’s for three years, who sent the text shortly after San Joaquin Memorial outlasted Vanden Tuesday, 67-61, to play in its first state boys’ basketball championship game in school history.

The text read, “State! I can’t believe it. Congrats.”

The Panthers did not win a state championship with the five-star talent Green, or three NBA-bound players in Quincy Pondexter and the Lopez twins. Not even with Quincy’s dad Roscoe, who ended his Memorial career as the all-time leading scorer in California high school hoops history.

Instead, the first-ever state championship in San Joaquin Memorial’s storied history was captured Saturday, with a group that prided themselves on defense, gritted through a rough midseason stretch, and emerged on the other side as an unstoppable force charting on course for Sacramento.

Central senior Talia Maxwell

Speaking of unstoppable forces, just hours before San Joaquin Memorial solidified its destiny with a 58-47 D-II state title win over Pacifica Christian, Talia Maxwell capped her high school basketball career in dominant fashion.

The Central High senior shattered the state record book, pulling down 24 rebounds – a record for the D-II state championship and one shy of the all-time state single game record – to go with 24 points and six blocks.

The only numbers that mattered to her and the Grizzlies flashed on the scoreboard after 32 minutes of hard-fought, intense action. Central defeated Bonita Vista for its first state basketball championship in the D-II girls’ final, 52-41.

Yes, you read that right. Two high school basketball teams from the Central Valley became state champions Saturday. How did they do it?

Central girls’ defense shines 

It didn’t take long for Bonita Vista to realize it couldn’t stop Maxwell.

Early in the game, with both teams still feeling each other out, Maxwell vacuumed the basketball off the glass, glided down the court, and effortlessly scored through contact.

It was a formula that worked again, and again, and again.

By the end of one quarter, she was well on her way to a historic performance with nine points and seven rebounds.

Fending off a persistent Bonita Vista full-court press, once the Grizzlies crossed mid-court, their athletic ability to slash toward the rim shined.

Even when it didn’t result in a bucket, Central’s aggressiveness granted them plenty of free throw opportunities, which they converted (10/15 in 1st half, 67%).

Coming into Saturday, Bonita Vista displayed firepower that could combat Central’s size and athleticism. The Barons averaged 76.5 points per game in their four state playoff wins.

Yet Central’s tenacious defense stifled them, holding them to 15.8% shooting from the field and 2-for-16 from three-point range before halftime.

Holding onto a 29-18 halftime lead, Central dialed up the defense some more.

The Barons’ offensive woes went from bad to worse as they missed their first 16 shots of the second half. Central extended their lead just by two though, 36-23, after three quarters.

Bonita Vista cut its deficit to single digits, 47-41. From there, the Grizzlies did not give up any more ground as they dribbled safely away from swinging arms and took care of the ball, thereby taking care of business and wrapping up their Cinderella run.

Illicia Ross scored in double figures with 10 points. Bonita Vista ended the game by going 2-for-27 from three-point range.

Memorial shakes off slow start

Roznovsky is not one to mince words, so his assessment of the Panthers’ first-half play was both humorous and honest.

“I think we took the game of basketball back about 50 years in that first half,” he joked.

A low-scoring first quarter gave way to a frustrating second quarter for Memorial, which earned several trips to the free throw line in a physical game. The Panthers just didn’t convert on enough of them (11-of-18) as they walked into halftime behind, 25-23.

Pacifica Christian, led by Northwestern-bound guard Parker Strauss, still led 30-27 early in the third quarter.

That’s when San Joaquin Memorial returned to what’s worked down the stretch this season: teamwork and confident shot-making.

Senior point guard Armari Carraway oozed confidence as he drained a three-pointer to tie it up. Then, he fed Dre Davis inside, who in turn, assisted a Mike Davis Jr. layup. To cap the 7-0 run, Carraway jump-stopped and floated in the air long enough to hoist a jumper over 6-foot-5 Triton Logan Stewart.

That gave San Joaquin Memorial a 34-30 lead, which they would never relinquish. Mixing man-to-man and zone defense helped the Panthers hold off a Triton comeback.

Roznovsky has praised his defense as a major part of Memorial’s 18-2 finish to the season, and in the end, it won a state championship.

“I think the Central Section is really on the map now,” Roznovsky said. “You have to be ready for us, on the boys’ and girls’ side.”

Davis Jr. finished with a double-double, 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Carraway chipped in 13 points and three assists.

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