By the time the nightcap arrived the 4,500 seats were pretty packed so it was only fitting the most exciting of the four games on Saturday at Leavey Center on the campus of the University of Santa Clara was the CIF Northern Regional Open Division boys final between CIF Sac-Joaquin Section rivals Woodcreek-Roseville and Sheldon-Sacramento.
When the final buzzer sounded it was top-seeded and Cal-Hi Sports state No. 5 and Maxpreps No. 7 Woodcreek (32-2) overcoming a 13-point late third quarter deficit to prevail in a 66-59 victory over second seed and Cal-Hi Sports No. 7 and Maxpreps No. 9 Sheldon.
Just like he’s done all season it was Jordan Brown that carried the team on his shoulders in the final moments.
The 6-11 junior, that has several Pac-12 offers and even has some interest on the East Coast, and is considered by almost every scouting service as one of the top big men in the country from the class of 2018, had another monster double-double after finishing with 31 points and 17 rebounds with five blocked shots.
With Woodcreek trailing 46-33 Brown led a 16-3 run that knotted things at 49-49 with 4:36 left. His tip-in with 2:44 remaining made it 52-51 and gave the Timberwolves their first lead since 15-13 in the early second quarter.
After Sheldon re-took the lead Tyrell Roberts (17 points, 10-for-10 on free-throws) hit an NBA-range three-pointer and Woodcreek had a 55-53 lead it would never relinquish.
Twice in the final two minutes Brown came up with blocks that he smothered for rebounds as well and both led to baskets on the other end. His rebound and putback with 51.9 seconds left made it 60-56 and his 17th rebound and 31st points with 31 seconds to go gave the Timberwolves a 62-56 lead and sealed the deal.
“We were down 10 late to Sheldon in the Sac-Joaquin title game,” said Woodcreek head coach Paul Hayes in reference to the Timberwolves 69-68 victory over the Huskies in the CIFSJS D1 championship. “This is a very resilient group that won’t be denied. They just dug down deep.”
Still, the difference was Brown.
“You can only pound on Jordan so much inside before he takes over,” Hayes remarked.
Naturally Brown agreed with his coach.
“That’s exactly how I feel. I feel like I’m going to outlast them every time – and the team too,” Brown said. “We’ve had other games where we’ve been down but we just kept on fighting.”
Sheldon (30-4) got 31 points from Isaiah Duplechan, but while 15 came in the third quarter he only had two points and committed three of his eight turnovers in the final period. L.J. Williams added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds for a Huskies team that was outrebounded 33-26. They now fall to 1-3 in NorCal title games
Woodcreek goes to 2-3 in the NorCals and now goes to a state title game for a second chance at a crown after losing 70-49 to Mater Dei (Santa Ana) in the 2003 CIF Division II state championship.
Their opponent will be a Bishop Montgomery-Torrance team that is No. 1 in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings and although the computer is a little screwy the Maxpreps Xcellent 25 has them where they should be at No. 4 in the nation.
Bishop Montgomery has only lost twice and one of those losses was to open the season to Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland at the NorCal Tip-Off Classic and the other was to nationally-ranked Florida Montverde Academy at the Hoophall Classic. They are coming off a semifinal win over Chino Hills and the Ball brothers and a second win, 60-53, over Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the Southern Regional Open title game after beating them 70-55 in the CIFSS Open title game.
Both of Woodcreek’s losses are to SoCal teams including a wild 108-93 defeat at the hands of the Ball brothers and Chino Hills at the Rancho Mirage Holiday Classic where they also lost to Harvard-Westlake-North Hollywood. Since then they’ve won 19-straight games and will run into a 14-game winning streak for Bishop Montgomery.
“This team’s goal from day one was to play at Golden 1,” Hayes said.
Brown and his Timberwolves teammates will get their chance at 8 p.m. on Saturday only this time the place will be packed with their fans from 20 miles east on Highway 50 and not in Southern California.
The bottom line is if Bishop O’Dowd was able to beat Bishop Montgomery with their fans packing the Newark Memorial gym Woodcreek might be an underdog but should have a good chance to win its first ever state title.
