Back-to-back: Stagg girls basketball top McNair to win back-to-back SJAA championship

Stagg girls basketball rushed to the center of McNair High School’s gym hoisting up the 2023-24 San Joaquin Athletic Association championship trophy.

The Delta Queens wouldn’t let being on the road stop them from celebrating their 59-51 victory over McNair to secure back-to-back league titles. Head coach Finis Jones came prepared for the occasion with hats, T-shirts and medallions, all in honor of their league title.

“We knew it was gonna happen, it wasn’t even a thought, so we already had this stuff made,” Jones said. “It feels great. We took our time in this game but we played like champions. Even though we got down we still had a heart of champions.”

Here are the key takeaways from Stagg’s historic win over the Eagles to mark the first time in program history to go back-to-back as SJAA champions.

Rebounding wins games

With tension at an all-time high, both teams had to drown out the noise coming from the home and visitor sections of the gym. Despite the chants, Stagg took the first punch of the game holding as much as a 12-point lead over McNair in the first quarter. Senior Jameelah Pharms led the charge scoring 11 points in the first quarter alone.

The Eagles made the next quarter theirs, shifting the momentum to the home crowd who was itching for an upset win over their rivals. By halftime, they led 27-25 but rebounding wise Stagg maintained the upperhand.

“We got a size advantage down there and so we really wanted to dominate the board,” Jones said. “McNair has got great guards and great guard play but we didn't think they had people that could match up with our bigs.”

Stagg’s senior center Kayla Ogle was like a rebound magnet. She snagged a game-high 24 boards, most of them offensive rebounds. Overall, the Delta Queens outrebounded McNair 77-30 simply outhustling the Eagles for every 50/50 ball.

Along with Ogle, juniors Destiny Martinez and Janae Moreno were key contributors on the boards with Martinez grabbing 11 and Moreno nabbing six. With the rebounding advantage on its side, Stagg was able to take over the second half.

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The Destiny Martinez show

McNair knew getting the ball out of Pharms’ hands was a must after she dropped 41 points in the last time it played Stagg.

“Stopping her is a task I don’t really think is probable, but containing her is a better word,” said Keith Collins ahead of the game, McNair girls' basketball head coach. “She's the engine that makes them go so if we can contain her and make her supporting cast have to actually support then I like where we stand.”

Pharms would go on to contain herself picking up three fouls before halftime. The Eagles held the Delta Queen’s star to 20 points but they didn’t account for the true star of tonight’s game — Martinez.

“I just tried to block out everything, the chants, the noise all that, and just played my game,” Martinez said. “ I feel like I've grown tremendously over this time of playing basketball and I put the work in that I needed to so I feel I did really good tonight.”

The junior forward scored a career-high 26 points, including the only made three pointer of the night for Stagg. When Eagle defenders surrounded Pharms she would slingshot the ball to Martinez on the block for a layup.

Her scoring frenzy helped solidify her team's lead and dash away McNair’s hopes of tying for first place in league. Stagg moves to a perfect 11-0 in SJAA play with just two more games left in the season.

“I never thought we’d be here honestly,” Martinez said. “It took a lot of hard work and team support to do this. Next up we have Linden and then Chavez so we just got to lock in like we did tonight and finish off strong.”

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Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stagg girls basketball top McNair to go back-to-back SJAA champions