SACRAMENTO, Calif. – If one word could sum up Scripps Ranch in Saturday’s State Championship bout with Justin-Siena, it might be “efficient.” Despite being outrebounded 42-25 and having 20 less field goal attempts, it was the Falcons who emerged as the champion. Lamont Wilkerson scored 19 points, Jax Leatherwood had seven points, eight blocks, and six rebounds, and Scripps Ranch limited Justin-Siena to just four in the third quarter in a 46-37 win at Golden One Center to capture the CIF State Division IV Championship.
“Before the game we talked about three things,” Scripps Ranch coach Brock Flint said. “It was grit, determination, and love. We don’t think much about losing, we just kind of come out and play and we believe.”
While the first half saw seven lead changes and five ties, with the Falcons clinging to a 22-21 lead, the second half was another story.
Scripps Ranch (26-11) opened the third on a 7-2 run, and then in the last three minutes of the quarter shut out the NorCal champs 5-0 to lead 34-25 at the start of the fourth. Nearly halfway through final period, Caden Flint found Leatherwood cutting in the lane. He kissed it off the glass to give the Falcons a 40-26 advantage. Back-to-back three pointers by the Braves sparked a quarter-ending 12-6 push that simply did not leave enough time on the clock to keep shrinking the gap.
“On the defensive side, we were good, but when we got to the offensive side we couldn’t get a bucket, and that slows us down,” Ma’el Blunt said about the third quarter. “We just weren’t hitting shots, and normally we would.”
“I think underneath, Leatherwood presented some problems for us,” Justin-Siena coach Nick Guillory said. “Also, Flint did a good job protecting the rim. We like to win the paint battle, that’s one of our mottos, and they blocked some shots and we missed some.”
Travis Hightower led Justin-Siena (21-12) with 10 points, though he struggled from the field, and nine rebounds. Vince Jackson added eight points and 13 boards for the Braves, who had just three points from the bench and saw Scripps Ranch get 18 points from turnovers compared to six for them.
Both teams competed for a State Championship for the first time. Justin-Siena, guided by Guillory in his first season, actually placed 5th in the Vine Valley League, going 5-7, but had its first overall winning season since 2012-13. The Braves were the No. 4 seed in this year’s state tournament after making it to the North Coast Section Division IV semifinals, while their opponents were the second seed in the Southern Region and lost in the San Diego Section final.
“Actually playing in this arena is a whole different level, it’s amazing,” Jackson remarked. “I’m so grateful that we were able to play here.”
“I just wanted to say what a great group of kids this was, win or lose,” Guillory stated.
For some of the Scripps Ranch players, it was their second State Championship title this academic year: in December, the varsity football team conquered the 2-A Division. Wilkerson, Leatherwood, and Dean Paley are all part of that squad as well. It was only the fourth time a school has won both a football and a basketball championship in the same school year.
“For Scripps Ranch to have never won a CIF Championship in either sport before, that’s a pretty big deal,” Schube remarked. “The fact that we were able to win both of them with the same group of guys, it’s really special.”
“We believe in a lot of the same things, we believe in discipline, we believe in hard work, we believe in brotherhood,” Flint said of the football coach Marlon Gardinera. “And when you have that...it doesn’t matter which locker room they step in, we’re family.”
Scripps Ranch now has a 253-245 record. Flint took over as coach in last year’s pandemic-shortened season, in which the Falcons went 4-16.
“The fact that we really made it here, we did all this, we’re sitting in a friggin’ press room taking questions from MaxPreps guys, this is awesome,” Schube concluded.
For Flint, it had an extra special angle as he went through the journey with his son, Caden, who finished the game with five points, six rebounds, and three blocks.
“I’ve coached him almost every year of his life,” the elder Flint said. “We’re used to it. But it’s the moments along the way...the emotion that he had, it was special. Not many people probably on the planet have had the opportunity to to come this far with their son.”
“Even though there bumps in the road, some silent cars afterwards, there’s no one I’d rather be here with,” Caden added.
