SJS basketball Finals: St. Mary's brings home a blue banner, Lincoln, Manteca fall short
Three San Joaquin County high school basketball teams traveled to the Golden 1 Center to play in the biggest game of their high school career — the Sac-Joaquin Section Finals.
Manteca girls’, St. Mary’s girls’, and Lincoln boys’ basketball teams got to represent the 209 competing for the Division 3 and 1 blue banners.
Here are the key takeaways from the three championship matchups that resulted in a Division 1 SJS girls basketball blue banner coming back to St. Mary’s and heartbreak for the Buffaloes and Trojans.
‘Guts and heart over fear’
St. Mary’s found itself in a familiar spot as last season up against Folsom who beat the Rams last year for the SJS title. This go-round, head coach Alle Moreno preached one message before the game which set the tone for the night.
“I wrote in really big letters on the board, ‘Guts and heart over fear today,’ and I thought these ladies behind me just did that for 32 minutes,” Moreno said. “It was not an offensive frenzy today it was a defensive frenzy and these girls showed up.”
With senior-freshman duo Jordan Lee and Kori Rogers leading the charge, St. Mary’s got its lick back beating the Bulldogs 57-51.
Rogers led the Rams with 21 points and six rebounds showing no fear in her first-ever SJS championship game. Lee ended the game with 20 points, seven rebounds, and a team-high three blocks.
No matter what the Bulldogs threw at them, the Rams were relentless on both sides of the ball. With this victory, Moreno earns her first section championship as a head coach, bringing back the winning ways she knew as a former SJS champion herself during her time as a Ram.
“We had 20 section titles straight and we were the team to lose that,” Lee said. “So it was emphasis coming in this season and we had to play with a chip on our shoulder. It’s an amazing feeling to bring this one back home.”
Lincoln’s playoff magic wears off
No one expected No. 7 seed Lincoln to be battling No. 1 seed Modesto Christian for the SJS Division 1 title.
The Trojans made the whole section believe as it upset team after team; however, that playoff magic slowly began to fade against the Crusaders.
They would go on to lose to their familiar foe in a heartbreaking 68-63 loss.
“I feel like we’ve been on a good run and I don't know if we matched the energy today that we've shown in the last two games,” said Anthony Matthews, Lincoln boys basketball head coach. “Hats off to them [Modesto Christian], they’re the number one seed for a reason. I don’t think we have given them our best game.”
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The Trojans were neck and neck with the Crusaders but the game started to slip out of their grasp by the third quarter. All the 50/50 balls were going to Modesto Christian’s forwards and defensively Lincoln couldn’t stop senior Marcus Washington. He ended the night leading all scorers with 21 points.
For Lincoln, junior Donez Lindsey was the constant spark. The guard finished the game with a team-high 18 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Lindsey and Trojans kept battling until the final seconds closing the gap to as low as three points but the Crusaders kept them at bay.
Lincoln may not bring home a blue banner but this year's squad has made it further than any past team in the SJS playoffs since 1980.
“We hadn't been here in 44 years so we're definitely proud of the kids,” Matthews said. “We’ve been on the road for every game except for the first one and I’m actually real proud of the Lincoln faithful because the last three games they came out and and represented the boys and the Lincoln community.”
Lights too bright for Manteca
Manteca girls' basketball opened up the SJS Finals as the first game of the day taking on the No. 1 seed Vista del Lago for the Division 3 blue banner.
The Buffaloes hung with the No. 1 seed for a while but you could tell the Eagles were more comfortable on the Golden 1 Center floor as they would win the game 68-49.
“The nerves really hit the girls you know the big stage is not for everybody and it's not easy to play at a high level there,” said Oscar Calix, Manteca girls' basketball. “I thought we were going to be able to shake things up and get out of that nervousness, but we just never really got out of it.”
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By halftime, Vista del Lago was up by 10; by the fourth quarter, its lead was up to 20 points. Crashing the glass and a star junior guard was the key to the Eagles' second-half takeover. Ella Skrzyniarz led all scorers with 24 points simply having her way against Manteca’s defense.
Despite trailing by as many as 20 points, Manteca seniors Brea Vieira, Izabella Sanchez and Jada Ikharo never stopped battling.
Vieria breathed life into the Buffaloes’ bench every trey she shot up knocking down four of them throughout the game.
Ikharo and Sanchez made their mark in the paint. Ikharo led her team in rebounding with six and scored 12 points while Sanchez finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
“We didn't expect to be there at all, nobody really expected us to be there coming into the season,” Calix said. “With them, taking some tough losses throughout the preseason throughout league, every one of those we just learned from it. We battled back and I think that's what we're gonna do with this one.”
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: St. Mary's, Lincoln, Manteca competed for SJS Basketball Championships
