Game day
Gordon leaves the team bus after arriving at Sleep Train Arena about two hours before the state championship game on March 23.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Like the previous two years, the Monarchs boarded the team bus just after noon for an 8 p.m. game.
Sacramento is a 120-mile, two-hour ride, but the team always stopped near its destination for a shoot-around at a local high school arena.
This time the Monarchs stopped at
Monterey Trail (Elk Grove, Calif.) for a 90-minute workout and pow wow. The ride to Elk Grove was quiet. Players mostly slept or listened to music, while coaches sat in the front and discussed strategy. Much of the discussion was about how to slow down Mater Dei, particularly the team's best all-around player
Stanley Johnson, a 6-7 shooting guard and tenacious rebounder, rated the eighth-best junior in the country.
Johnson and Gordon played together on the Oakland Soldiers AAU team over the summer and have met up numerous times at USA basketball camps and competition.
Gordon waits patiently on the bench to be introduced
before the start of the Open Division state title game.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
"He's really good in all aspects," Gordon said. "He's such a big guard and has a really good jumper. He's a great rebounder. He's a big challenge."
Said Kennedy: "(Johnson) has a motor like Aaron. He can shoot the 3 and he's an animal on the boards. He's a tough matchup."
Johnson and McKnight were equally impressed with Gordon.
"He's as talented a player I've seen at this level," McKnight said. "He'll be in the NBA in a few years. He's that good."
Said Johnson: "Great player, great athlete. He loves to compete and loves to win state title games."
According to Kennedy, Gordon was very focused at the shoot-around and asked to take extra repetitions on a few of Mater Dei's plays even after they had gone through them. Following a meal, the team got back on the bus and one could slice the energy with a knife. The players arrived at Sleep Train Arena like the previous two seasons and one by one, left the bus. Curiously missing was Gordon.
"You guys missing anyone?" a reporter asked Kennedy.
Gordon was the last to leave the bus, and Kennedy heaved a giant sigh of relief. He was kidding.
When the Monarchs entered the arena and sat in the stands to watch half of the Open Division girls championship, Gordon was swarmed by picture-takers and autograph seekers.
A Mitty fan showed off a 4-foot poster of Gordon dunking with the lettering: "Here comes da Boom!" The same poster was shrunk and handed out throughout the large and loud Mitty cheering section.
A Mitty fan holds up a poster of Gordon dunking as the crowd in the student section cheers loudly before tip-off at the Open Division state title game.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
