BELLFLOWER – If the St. John Bosco High basketball team seemed reasonably comfortable in the most stressful of moments in its State Regional D-I semifinal with visiting Mater Dei Tuesday night, that’s with good reason:
Coach Matt Dunn’s Braves had grown used to playing – and winning – in that physical and emotional environment.
The hosts needed a four-minute overtime – and some significant defensive stands – to hold off their Trinity League rivals, 71-68, in front of an elbow-to-elbow crowd to earn a spot in Friday night’s State championship game in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center.
The Braves (27-7), in their first state title game in Dunn’s nine seasons as the program’s head coach, will take on NorCal D-I winner San Ramon Valley (29-7) at 8 o’clock Friday night in the Golden 1 Center.
Mater Dei Monarchs (29-6) had beaten the Braves in their first two meetings to win the Trinity League and were stopped a win short of an opportunity to win a state title for the 12th time in Gary McKnight’s stunning 42-year run as the program’s head coach.
They lost their three CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play games, during which the Braves were 1-2. Both were “dropped” into the D-I bracket for the regional.
The Braves drew a first-round “bye” in the regional bracket and needed late-game offensive execution – and critical defensive stops – to eke out decisions against Windward (65-63) Thursday and Damien (63-59) Saturday.
Their Sacramento trip-clinching victory followed the same script Tuesday night.
They fell behind by as many as eight points (31-23) but were just down, 33-30, at intermission largely because of the five 3s – from four players – they knocked in and despite Brandon McCoy Jr. and Elzie Harrington missing a combined five of six free throws.
And it was pretty much a back-and-forth affair the rest of the way, with no team leading by more than three points.
The lead changed hands four times in the final four minutes of regulation, the last of those when junior forward Brandon Benjamin (who finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists) hit two free throws to put the Monarchs up, 60-58, with :34.9 to go.
Six-foot-six junior Elzie Harrington (a game-high 24 points, 19 coming after intermission), tied the score with :18.2 to go, driving the right baseline and finishing with his left (off) hand.
After a SJB timeout immediately following Harrington’s bucket, senior point guard Brady Karich (16 points) got into the lane for a potential go-ahead layup but couldn’t convert as couldn’t Benjamin on a follow with McCoy snagging the rebound just before the buzzer.
After controlling the tip to start the four-minute OT, McCoy found junior Chris Komin in the right corner and knocked in a 3 while being fouled.
His missed the free throw – and the lead was still going to swap hands six more times!
The fifth of those, by way of two Scotty Belnap (a team-high 17 points) put Mater Dei up, 68-67, with 2:07 remaining.
The final lead switch came 11 seconds later, when Harrington was fouled by Benjamin and swished both free throws.
Karich had a chance to put Mater Dei back up but missed two free throws 12 seconds later.
At the other end, McCoy went on blast for a big dunk attempt and Benjamin appeared to get all leather on his block but was whistled for the foul.
McCoy – who missed a mind-boggling 11 of his 18 attempts from the line – knocked in both attempts for what proved to be the final points of the night, at 71-68, with 1:12 to play.
Mater Dei turned the ball over (Karich was called for an illegal screen) but, after a Braves’ timeout with 38 seconds to go, SJB couldn’t extend its lead when McCoy couldn’t convert Harrington’s pass for a potential dunk.
The Monarchs called a timeout with :19.5 to go and, when play resumed, Benjamin dribbled into the lane but couldn’t convert in traffic and Belnap missed on a big follow try before McCoy went way up to pull down the rebound and was fouled with :9.1 remaining.
McCoy could have given his team some “breathing room” when none existed all not but missed both free throws.
After the Monarchs cleared the rebound, sophomore Luke Barnett – as good a deep jump shooter as exists in Southern California – took a pass and pump faked Komin (who had blocked a couple of his attempt) out of the play but missed a clean look at a potential tying 3.
Benjamin grabbed the rebound, but the buzzer sounded before he could find a teammate to pass to for another 3 attempt.
“That was a heck of a high school game,” Dunn said afterward, appearing as fatigued as his players were after 36 minutes of grind-it-out, gut-twisting hoops.
Dunn’s 2021 team won the D-I regional but couldn’t play for a state title since the state championships weren’t held in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His last Damien team won the 2015 State D-III title by knocking off Campolindo, 70-57.
The 6-5 McCoy – as athletically “gifted” a high school player as there is anywhere in California – was probably as baffled as anyone in the gym about his performance at the free-throw line.
“But you’ve got to keep making plays,” said McCoy, who scored 14 points to go with 10 rebounds, “and that’s what I tried to do.”
McCoy had more impact than anyone else on the defensive side of the court Tuesday night, blocking four shots and picking up four steals while helping challenge Mater Dei’s cadre of 3-point shooting threats that had combined for 13 3s in the semifinal win over Notre Dame Saturday night.
So, the Braves are just one of 12 high school boys teams – competing in six title games in Sacramento Friday and Saturday – whose seasons have been extended by three or four days.
And that’s fine by them.
“This (playing for a state championship) has been a goal since I’ve been here,” Harrington (pictured) said 20 minutes after the final buzzer.
“We weren’t making shots in the first half, but we were only down three points. We played defense and stayed together throughout.
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