SACRAMENTO — For the first time in school history
International (San Francisco) has won the California Division V championship with a 71-52 win over
Diamond Ranch (Pomona) on Friday at the Golden 1 Center.
The Jaguars tailed by double-digits before going on a 22-1 run that started in the second quarter. By the time the fun was over, International led 42-31 with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
"Basketball is a game of runs and they swung and hit us in the mouth hard," said Diamond Ranch head coach Kevin Ryan.
International seniors
Conor Maguire and
Will Savill-Welch were key cogs in the run that led to the crown.
Maguire played every minute of the game and finished with 32 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“We were talking at halftime that the 3-point shots weren’t falling and we’ve got to get to the rim," Maguire said. "It all just started falling from there."
Savill-Welch was dominant in the post during the run with several key rebounds and blocks that put his final stats tally at 12 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks.
"Will is the ultimate glue guy, but I don't even want to say glue guy because he's so much more than that," Maguire said."He does everything that nobody wants to do. He got nine blocks two games in a row and then tonight seven. He's the ultimate big man."
Savill-Welch said this was his first year playing center after previously playing power forward.
International won its first state championship in school history 71-52 over Diamond Ranch on Friday at Golden 1 Center. Conor Maguire scored 32 points and Will Savill-Welch pulled down 18 rebounds while blocking seven shots. (Photo: David Steutel)
"This entire season I've been moving into the role of playing center," Savill-Welch said. "This year I really tried to mold my game into a defensive center. If we can cover the interior we are going to become an excellent team defensively."
After starting the season 6-10, the Jaguars caught fire to end the season and won 18 of their last 19 games.
Diamond Ranch started the game strong with a 30-20 lead, led by senior
Michael Salazar and junior
Devin Turner.
Salazar finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Turner chipped in 16.
Once down 42-31, Diamond Ranch didn't go away and got the lead down to two points.
"We really just preach defense," Ryan said. "In order to stop a run you got to get a stop. We were throwing everything at them."
International junior
Jason Meisel helped put the game away for the Jaguars and finished with eight points.
“I was seeing that they were face-guarding Conor and I saw big gaps in the defense," Meisel said. "I know my skills and that I can attack that.”
