Video: Ziaire Williams for the win
Watch 5-star guard makes dramatic shot under heavy pressure.
They'll be talking about this one for a long time in Southern California.
Sierra Canyon, the nation's No. 15 team and two-time defending state Open Division champion, scored the final 13 points to pull out an improbable 63-61 Southern California Open Division title win over Etiwanda Tuesday at Cal State Northridge.
Senior 5-star recruit
Ziaire Williams capped the victory by taking the ball in the backcourt with 15 seconds to play and eventually drilling a fadaway 17-footer at the buzzer to give the top-seeded Trailblazers (30-4) the win. The 6-foot-8 forward finished with 19 points.
Sierra Canyon, which will now play the Northern California winner between Sheldon and Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland, in Saturday's 8 p.m. state championship game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, trailed 61-50 with less than three minutes to play before going on its run.
Kentucky-bound senior
Brandon Boston Jr.
also came up huge down the stretch. In addition to
a game high 26 points, he scored seven in a row during the team's late
run – including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 61.
Sheldon, just reinstated into the tournament hours before the game after a
coronavirus scare, pulled out a 59-58 win over Dublin behind 27 points from
Marcus Bagley.
Defending state Division 2 champion Campolindo got 18 points from Emmanuel Callas to win 54-49 in the D1 Northern California championship at De La Salle (Concord), breaking the Spartans' 23-game home win streak. Campolindo will play Ribet Academy, a 45-31 winner over Renaissance Academy in the Southern California championship.
The finals will be held March 13-14 with the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento serving as the host site for the state title contests in the Open Division and in Divisions 1-5. Finalists in the NorCal Division VI bracket will compete for state championship hardware Tuesday with a host site to be determined at a later date.
Defending champions include Sierra Canyon in the Open Division, Chino Hills (Division I), Campolindo (Division II), La Jolla Country Day (Division III), Ribet Academy (Division IV), Foothill (Division V) and Cornerstone Christian (NorCal Division VI).
