SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Power Balance Pavilion can devour and derail teams, the spacious confines rattling shooting percentages and title hopes of prep teams for years.
Upstart No. 4-seeded
Kennedy (Sacramento) beat No. 6
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 62-58 in double overtime to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship in an exhaustive and wildly entertaining game of skill, tradition and sheer will on Saturday night.
Lynette Johnson, Kennedy's smiling, humble star, had 24 points and nine rebounds and a remarkable across-the-floor shot block late in the first overtime. She is the star power of a team otherwise full of steady, reliable and resilient role players. Point guard Lori Wong had 11 points and unsung shooter Katie Lee nine, including two three-pointers during a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
Jenn Hoffman had 24 for Oak Ridge, including six three-pointers.
Kennedy tied for second in the Metro Conference behind D-III section repeat winner Sacramento. Both teams advance to the NorCal D-I regionals that will be heavy on top with Berkeley.
DIVISION IISt. Mary's (Stockton) has so completely devoured Sac-Joaquin Section playoff competition that it desperately craves the NorCal and State title stage - to be challenged and pushed.
The Rams steamed
McNair (Stockton) 67-42 to win the section Division II championship at Power Balance Pavilion for the program's 13th title and 12th since 1999. For coach Tom Gonsalves, it's his 10th title with the national power program as he moved his section playoff record to 53-2.
St. Mary's had three impact transfers arrive this season and they collectively outscored McNair in the title game with Courtney Range scoring 25, Charise Holloway scoring 11 and Unique Coleman nine. McNair led 6-1 early then buckled under the Rams press and hot shooting.
McNair shot a remarkable 56 percent - that never happens against St. Mary's - but it came on only 26 shots. McNair was undone by 47 turnovers. Jasmine Sales led McNair with 13 points. St. Mary's (30-3) has won 25 consecutive games, losing only to out-of-area powers.
St. Mary's expects to earn the top seed for the upcoming NorCal D-II playoffs, a field that will included Carondelet-Concord, Mitty-San Jose and St. Ignatius-San Francisco.
DIVISION IIIThe top-seeded
Sacramento Dragons repeated as section champions in their ninth consecutive trip to the title game, blasting No. 2
Modesto Christian (Modesto) 73-36 in a showdown expected to be much closer.
Sacramento beat Modesto Christian by four earlier. This time, it wasn't close as the Dragons were the aggressors and were quicker, more explosive and more determined.
UC Santa Baraba-bound guard Jasmine Ware had 19 points and 12 rebounds and UNLV-bound point guard Jehiah Cook had 18 points as the Dragons won their 22nd consecutive game.
The Dragons now target a return trip to Power Balance - twice - with the NorCal and State finals being held at the NBA arena.
Sacramento expects at least a No. 2 NorCal seed and targets a date with Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland, which beat the Dragons in last year's title game. Miramonte-Orinda is also a program to consider in the NorCal chase.
"We can be really good, and we play unbelievable defense," Sacramento coach Michele Massari said.
DIVISION IVCalaveras (San Andreas) won its first Sac-Joaquin Section championship in girls basketball in 1975, right about the time the ink was drying on Title IX to mandate gender equity across the country.
On Saturday at Power Balance Pavilion, the Redskins won their second section banner, holding of
West Campus (Sacramento) 56-45 in the D-IV game at Power Balance Pavilion.
Savannah Duncan had 19 points and eight rebounds and Madison Cox 11 and 15 for Calaveras, which will host its first NorCal playoff game as a virtual unknown in a field that includes Salesian-Richmond and St. Mary's-Berkeley.
West, meanwhile, played in its first section title game under coach John Langston, who in 2007 coached Vicki Baugh to Sacramento High's first girls title. Baugh is now at Tennessee. West has no senior starters and expects to make another title run next season behind junior forward ace Haley Shaner, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
DIVISION VTop-seeded
Brookside Christian (Stockton) won the school's first Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship, downing No. 2
Turlock Christian 63-51 - a year after heartbreak overwhelmed the team in the D-V finals loss to Bradshaw Christian-Elk Grove.
Sophomore scoring ace Tiara Tucker scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half. She had eight rebounds and four steals for Brookside (25-4) and Rauline Martinez had 20 points. She has the reputation as the team's most steady player this winter, Brookside coach Que Ngo said. Halie Bergman led Turlock with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Brookside will be a factor in the D-V NorCal playoffs, as will longtime pwer such as Pinewood-Los Altos Hills, St. Joseph-Alameda and Hamilton-Hamilton City, which is unbeaten.
Joe Davidson has covered preps for The Sacramento Bee since 1988. Follow him on Twitter: @sb_joedavidson
