SACRAMENTO, CA – Pretty much every media member on press row that had seen most of the previous 36 state championships could not remember anything like it ever happening before.
In an almost unbelievable and truly amazing comeback Vanden (31-5) overcame a 58-41 early fourth quarter deficit to win its first state championship after posting a 64-61 victory over Mater Dei-Santa Ana in the CIF Division II state title game on Saturday afternoon at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“A comeback like this can only happen when the girls all take a deep breath and when Julia takes over,” Vanden Coach Allison Johnson remarked.
Julia would be Julia Blackshell-Fair. The 5-10 University of Houston-bound senior certainly did take over and finished with a double-double 20 points and 21 rebounds with eight assists and five steals. Blackshell-Fair had 12 points and seven rebounds during a 23-3 run to close out the game and in fourth quarter that saw Vanden outscore Mater Dei 26-6.
Blackshell-Fair carried the team down the stretch and most of the load throughout the game but she was not alone. Juniors Deidre Huff and Myli Martinez chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively, and senior Aryel Moreland played most of the second half with four fouls but did not foul out, was still a presence down low, and finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
“Julia’s back should be sore because we’ve been on it a lot,” Johnson said jokingly.
With Vanden trailing 61-60 Blackshell-Fair got a rebound and drove the entire length of the floor and appeared to be tripped, but no call was made and she lost the ball out of bounds with 30.9 seconds left.
After Mater Dei inbounded the ball and tried playing keep away, Blackshell-Fair picked off an errant pass and drove the lane, and this time when she drew contact as she flipped the ball up and in off the glass, the whistle blew sending her to the line to complete the 3-point play that gave Vanden a 63-61 lead with 11.2 seconds remaining. She then proceeded to steal the ball off the inbounds, was fouled, and made one of two free-throws to provide the Vikings final margin of victory.
“I was actually scared on that last play when I went up since I knew I landed on the girls back,” Blackshell-Fair said. “I heard the whistle and I heard the cheers but I didn’t want to look up because I knew I either made it and got fouled or I was called for the foul. When I saw the call I couldn’t believe it.”
The first quarter and a half the teams traded runs but it was a 24-3 run by Mater Dei that wiped out a 29-21 Vanden lead, and after a subsequent 10-2 run the Monarchs had a 55-38 at the end of three quarters.
It’s at that point that it became Blackshell-Fair time.
“I wasn’t running out of hope when we got down big but I was paying more attention to the scoreboard than I usually do,” Blackshell-Fair remarked.
While nothing seemed to go right for Vanden during the Mater Dei time Mater Dei built its lead, it was a complete reverse when it counted most.
Mater Dei had so much difficulty scoring that their points in the fourth quarter consisted of a three-pointer by senior Jayda Adams that gave the Monarchs their second 17-pont lead, but after that it was a lone free-throw by senior Cyndi Lewis and a Hail Mary by junior Sarah Rahon she banked in off the glass with no time remaining on the shot clock that gave the Orange County girls a 61-53 lead.
Unfortunately for the Monarchs faithful but to the glee of the large throng of Vikings fans that made the 35-mile trip to Sacramento from Fairfield, their girls blanked Mater Dei the rest of the way while scoring the game’s final 11 points.
“I kept reminding them to stay in the moment and take it one possession at a time, and that there was just enough game left for us to do what we needed to do,” Johnson said.
“These girls are resilient,” continued Johnson. “Plus, when you have a top 100 player like Julia Blackshell-Fair you’re never out of a game.”
For Mater Dei Coach Kevin Kiernan it was a tough pill to swallow. It was just another variation on a bizarre season that saw them lose at the buzzer in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Open Division at Harvard-Westlake-North Hollywood, then they lost to Windward after a half court shot forced overtime.
Based on the CIFSS criteria for sending teams on to the state playoffs the loss to Windward sent that team to Division I for the CIF playoffs where they won the state title, and knocked Mater Dei to Division II where they won the Southern Regional title and qualified to play for the D2 state title despite not winning a CIFSS playoff game since 2015.
“Sometimes when you get a lead you play not to lose instead of to win,” said Kiernan, who was looking for a seventh state championship that would have tied him with Tom Gonsalves of St. Mary’s for the most ever. Kiernan, who is No. 2 on the Cal-Hi Sports Record list for career coaching wins with 723, previously won three state titles at Troy-Fullerton and three at Mater Dei.
Senior 6-1 Cyndi Lewis led Mater Dei (24-9) with a double-double 23 points and 12 rebounds, and early on she had her way inside until Johnson, in an almost desperation move, put Blackshell-Fair on her. From there Lewis drew a foul on Blackshell-Fair but was basically neutralized.
“I had to put Julia on Lewis because no one else could handle her,” Johnson said.
The bottom line is this game belonged to Blackshell-Fair.
“We just couldn’t contain Blackshell-Fair,” Kiernan lamented. “Not only was she creating her own stuff but for everyone else.”
For Vanden and Johnson, and her coaching staff that includes her husband Jake Johnson, this was a reward for a long journey.
Last year as the top seed they lost a close one to eventual state runner-up Elk Grove in the NorCal D2 semis. Two years ago as the top seed in Division III they lost the NorCal title game to eventual state champion Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland. Three years ago they lost in the D3 NorCal semis to eventual state champion Modesto Christian. This year as the NorCal D2 top seed the Vikings were not to be denied.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Johnson, who along with her husband have been at the helm of the Vanden varsity for 13 years.
For Blackshell-Fair it was an opportunity to shine on the biggest stage, but even as one of the few girls to ever register a 20/20 in a state championship title game she was humble when told Southern California media were wanting to know who she was and where she was going.
“I don’t care too much if people know me or not. I just go out there and do what I do,” said Blackshell-Fair, whose 21 rebounds tied Ami Forney (Newark Memorial-Newark in 1997) for the most ever in a CIF Division II title game.
What Blackshell-Fair did was lead Vanden to the CIF Division II state championship in the greatest season in school history.
