Memorial and Sierra boys, Central girls headed to state basketball championship games

One more game to go for three Fresno-area high school basketball teams after winning CIF Northern California regional finals on th road Tuesday night.

The San Joaquin Memorial and Sierra boys teams and the Central girls will play for state championships this weekend at the Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

The Caruthers girls, who won a state championship in 2019, came oh-so-close to a return to Golden 1 in another NorCal final.

Memorial pulls away

Memorial finished on an 8-0 run to grab a 67-61 victory in overtime over Vanden-Fairfield in Division II.

“I’m just so proud of them,” Memorial coach Brad Roznovsky said. “We lost some games earlier in the season we shouldn’t have lost. As a staff, we kind of figured some stuff out, just made some adjustments. Everyone kind of bought in and jelled, and we just feel like we were playing good basketball since January.”

The Panthers had a three-point lead with less than a minute to go in regulation before Vanden made a 3-pointer.

Memorial retook the lead at 59-57, but Vanden made two free throws to send the game to overtime.

Mike Davis Jr., a 6-foot-7 senior, led the Panthers with 25 points, while 6-5 sophomore Julius Olanrewaju chipped in with 20 points and senior guard Armari Carraway added 11 points.

Memorial (25-9) will face Pacifica Christian/Orange County-Newport Beach (27-9) at 4 p.m. Saturday. It’s a rematch of a Christmas tournament meeting won by SJM 68-58.

The Panthers have won nine of their last 10, the loss 65-63 at St. Joseph in the Central Section D-I quarterfinals. St. Joseph went on to win the section championship and advance to the state Open Division final after beating Modesto Christian 72-58 for the NorCal title.

Sierra wins low-scoring game

Sierra (31-5) is headed to its first state championship game after snapping Ripon Christian’s 18-game winning streak in a 47-41 victory in Division V.

Ripon Christian, playing in its third NorCal final in five years, lost at home for the first time this season.

Three-pointers were key for Sierra in the first half, especially toward the break to take a 24-20 lead.

The Chieftains took a 31-29 lead into the fourth quarter before extending the lead to 37-30 with 5:47 remaining.

The lead held up for Sierra.

The Chieftains will next face Lynwood at noon Friday.

Central goes on a big run

The Grizzlies went on an 11-0 run in the second half to pull away for a 62-51 victory over Pleasant Valley-Chico in Division II.

The game was tied at 38 before Central went on a run. Central (22-12) will play Bonita Vista for the state title at 2 p.m. Saturday in Sacramento.

“They played with a lot of pride and made it tough,” Central coach Paul Kariuki said. “Their gym was crazy, but our girls kept fighting and we were able to pull away from them.”

When the buzzer signaled the end of the game, the Grizzlies understood what’s at stake.

“More work to do,” Kariuki said. “I keep telling them that. I’ve been saying it’s not our last game, it’s our next game. The thing is, we made it to the last game. They’re pumped for it and that’s where their mindset has been and we’re ecstatic to be there.”

Caruthers girls falls short

The Blue Raiders’ season came to an end after a 53-52 loss to Colfax in Division III.

Caruthers had a 44-40 lead with 6:55 remaining, but Colfax rallied and took a 47-44 lead on a 3-pointer.

The Blue Raiders charged back on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 47, but Colfax made two free throws to take the lead for good.

Morgan Triguiero’s four 3-pointers and 24 points led Caruthers (27-8). Triguiero finished her career as the school’s all-time scoring leader.