SACRAMENTO, CA – The axiom “do you believe in miracles” was originally coined by famous television sports broadcaster Al Michaels when he was referring to the feats of the 1980 USA Olympic Gold Medal winning hockey team, but for the Mission Bears and San Francisco public high school sports it happened on the Golden 1 Center court on Friday night in the state’s capitol.
Prior to CIF San Francisco Section champion Mission taking the court no Academic Athletic Association (aka CIFSF Section) team had ever won a CIF state boys basketball title, nor had any San Francisco public school even played for one since 1982, however all that changed when Mission made history with a thrilling 82-75 overtime victory over Villa Park to claim the CIF Division III state championship.
The one and only time the SF City Section/AAA was in a title game was 35-years ago when the Washington Eagles lost at the buzzer, 54-53 to Los Angeles Carson in the Division I title game.
This time at the buzzer the Mission players went wild, and the fans had to be held back from storming the court, but who could blame them, because in actuality this was the greatest moment in the history of San Francisco prep sports.
Not only did Mission (35-1) win the first boys basketball state championship but the Bears won the first-ever state championship of any kind in any sport for a boys or girls San Francisco public school team in the history of California high school sports.
“I’m speechless,” were the first words out of the mouth of Mission Coach Arnold Zelaya, whose Bears finished the season on a 24-game winning streak after their lone loss to Monte Vista-Danville at the Leo LaRocca Sand Dunes Classic at St. Ignatius-San Francisco in late December. “These guys have fought long and hard all year to get respect for a public school.”
There have been some great names in San Francisco public high school sports but when all is said and done 6-2 Mission star Niamey Harris may very well be at the pinnacle of all the annals after what he’s accomplished in four years at Mission.
The Mission dual-threat quarterback was injured early in the game last November and wasn’t able to lead the Bears to a third-straight AAA Turkey Day title game victory on the gridiron, but he more than made up for it on the hardwood after leading Mission to a fourth-straight CIFSF Section basketball title en route to the historic state championship.
In the win over Villa Park it wasn’t all Harris but he sure did fill the stat sheet after finishing with a game-high 31 points with seven rebounds, six steals, four assists and four blocked shots.
“It was only today that I realized it could happen,” said Harris in answering when he felt Mission could actually win a state championship. “We had a height and size advantage and I knew we would be underestimated, but we prayed and everyone was listening to the coaches – and we had our game faces on.”
Mission certainly needed those game faces after leading 65-58 with 1:56 left in regulation, and then failing to convert on the foul line after going 4-for-8 after that in what was an overall poor 17-of-31 free-throw performance for the game. When Villa Park closed the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to make it 67-67 after four quarters, it necessitated an extra period.
“We’ve struggled from the free-throw line all season and tonight was no different. These guys like to torture me,” said a smiling Zelaya.
It would have been easy to fold but the Bears responded to Zelaya and Harris during the rest between regulation and overtime.
“I told them to just keep playing and Niamey told the boys to ‘keep your heads up. They have to play us for another four minutes,” Zelaya remarked.
The extra period started fast for Mission and when senior Jayden Fosten (21 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists) hit a three-pointer it gave the Bears a 70-67 they never relinquished and was the first of seven points in overtime for Fosten. Harris basically sealed the deal with a floater off the glass with 1:15 remaining that gave Mission a 74-68 lead that went to 80-72 before Caleb Banuelos hit a meaningless three-pointer for Villa Park in the final 10 seconds.
“I can’t believe it right now,” said Harris, who also won the CIF Pursuing Victory With Honor Sportsmanship Award. “It’s not just about me being a leader. I may talk the most but we did this together, everyone.”
Sophomore 6-4 guard Myles Franklin had a solid outing and led Villa Park (27-7) with 28 points. He was 13-of-14 from the free-throw line for a Spartans team that was 21-of-23 from the charity stripe. Banuelos had 17 points, Jason reed added 12 points and Matthew Lanzone only had eight points but he had 15 rebounds for a Villa Park team that had a 38-32 rebounding advantage.
“Mission showed why they only lost one game this year. They are deserving of being a state champion,” said Villa Park Coach Kevin Reynolds.
For the boys from Orange County it was still a great season after a Southern Regional Division III title followed an early exit from the playoffs last season.
“To go from losing in the first round of the playoffs to getting to a state championship is quite a turnaround. I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” Reynolds remarked.
“This is huge for San Francisco and for the Mission District,” Zelaya said. “The outpouring from the city and other coaches from all parts the city, and all the support has been fantastic.”
There will be 12 state champions crowned between Friday and Saturday in Sacramento but the 2017 CIF state championships will long be remembered as the one in which the San Francisco public schools got to dance at the big dance.
