2006 CIF State Basketball
Championship Results

March 17-18, ARCO Arena, Sacramento

Three girls' teams entered the 2006 state championships looking to defend their titles, and all three were sucessful: Troy (Div. II), Bishop Amat (Div. III) and Pinewood (Div. V) each repeated as state champion.

Afte this year's 5-5 split, the South has won 78 of the 120 games (65 percent) sine the state championships were revived in 1981.

Following is a closer look at each state championship final game:

Division IV Boys:

Steve Winnick had 18 points -- including five three-pointers -- to lead Horizon of San Diego past Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco, 60-52, to win the boys Division IV state title.
Marquise Carter was 12-of-12 from the free-throw line for the Panthers (26-3) and finished with 14 points to go along with five assists. Horizon was 24 of 28 from the line for the game; Sacred Heart Cathedral (23-9) was just two of five.
Jerelle Wilson, the only senior starter for the Irish, had 18 points and seven rebounds, and freshman Jeremy Brown scored 12.
Horizon, which won back-to-back D4 championships in 2002 and 2003, and lost in the D5 championship game in 1997, took the lead for good with 4:24 left in the first half, and led by 10 three minutes later. But Sacred Heart Cathedral cut the margin to six at the break, and stayed within seven until the final minutes.
Horizon's victory was the 14th for the Southern California D-IV champs, against only five for the Northern California representatives.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Jerelle Wilson, Sacred Heart Cathedral; Steve Winnick, Horizon

Division IV Girls:

Sophomore Jasmine Jackson scored six of her 12 points in overtime as Sacred Heart Cathedral defeated Windward, 66-56 in OT, to win the girls' Division IV state title.
Freshman Tierra Rogers led the Irish (32-2) with 13 points, Ki-Shawna Moore had 12 and Fahiza Hill added 11 -- but they won the game with their tenacious defense, forcing Windward into 33 turnovers. The Wildcats (29-4) got 24 points from Hailey Dunham, and 11 from Monica De Angelis, but were outshot 65-44 from the field and 39-18 from the free-throw line.
It had looked as if Sacred Heart Cathedral would run away with the game in the third quarter, as the Irish forced turnovers on six straight possessions and took a 35-27 lead. On the next Wildcat possession, another turnover seemed imminent as the shot clock ran down with De Angelis 33 feet from the basket. But De Angelis' desperation three was good and sparked a 16-1 Windward run, during which Dunham scored 11 straight points, including three straight old-school three-point plays.
The Warriors extended the lead to eight, 47-39, with 4:17 remaining, but the Irish defense kept creating turnovers and Rogers converted a steal into a basket that tied the game at 50 with 1:25 left. Regulation ended with the score 52-52, and Moore's slightly rushed layup at the buzzer could have won it -- but it was too hard off the glass, and the game went to overtime.
But Dunham had fouled out with 1:44 left in regulation, and when Erica Latimer followed her to the bench with 3:23 left in overtime, Windward simply couldn't generate enough offense to keep up with the Irish. Though Sacred Heart made just one basket in the extra period, the Irish were 12 of 15 from the free-throw line.
The state title was the second for the Irish, who won a Division III championship in 1998, and were runners-up in 2001 and 2003. The win gave Northern California a 14-5 edge in Division IV title games.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Fahiza Hill, Sacred Heart Cathedral; Kenisha Smith, Windward

Division II Girls:

Twins Rhaya and Rheya Neabors each scored 14 points as Troy won its third girls' Division II state title in the past four years by downing Carondelet, 51-46.
The Warriors (33-1), ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today, won their second straight championship and have lost only two games in the past two seasons, both to defending national champion Christ the King of New York in the Nike TOC in Phoenix.
Jayne Appel led Carondelet (29-4) with 24 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Mary Canders added 10 for the Cougars, who led 18-9 with 5:10 remaining in the first half before a 21-4 Troy run spanning the second and third quarters put the Warriors up by eight.
Appel led a comeback that tied the game at 36, but the constant pressure wore down Carondelet in the fourth quarter. The Neabors sisters, had 11 of the Warriors' 13 points in the final period.
Troy's victory avenged a defeat to Carondelet in the 2004 state championship game, which the Cougars won 48-41. The win also gives Southern California a 13-12 edge in the D-II title series.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Mary Canders, Carondelet; Sara Yee, Troy

Division II Boys:

Jeremy Lin scored 17 points as underdog Palo Alto shocked nationally ranked Mater Dei, 51-47, to win the boys' Division II state championship.
The Vikings (32-1) won their second state title while handing the Monarchs (33-3), ranked 19th by Studentsports.com, their second straight upset defeat in the state title game. Last year, unheralded Oak Ridge knocked off heavily favored Mater Dei 60-44.
The Monarchs got 23 points from 6-7 Travis King, but didn't use the height of 7-1 Alex Jacobson or 6-7 Steve Tarin to their best advantage, settling for 22 three-point attempts out of their 58 shots. Kamyron Brown was the only other Mater Dei player in double figures, with 10.
Kheaton Scott scored 11 points for Palo Alto, including the late first-quarter basket that put the Vikings ahead for good, and Brad Lehman added 10.
It looked as if Mater Dei would dominate when King threw down an impressive dunk just 2:22 into the game to put the Monarchs up 4-0, but after that, the game belonged to Palo Alto. The Vikings tied the score at six and eventually built a seven-point lead, 15-8, but Mater Dei cut the margin to four, 24-20, at the end of the second period. The lead extended to nine with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter, but the Monarchs battled back to cut it to one, 36-35 with 7:01 left in the game. Palo Alto pushed the margin out to five twice more, but Mater Dei kept the pressure on.
Down two with slightly more than two minutes remaining, the Monarchs harassed the Vikings into a near shot-clock violation, but Lin banked in a 27-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to put Palo Alto up by five again -- and the Monarchs could never get closer than two down the stretch.
Southern Cal has dominated the Division II boys' competition, winning 18 of the 25 title games.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Kheaton Scott, Palo Alto; Kamyron Brown, Mater Dei

Division V Girls:

Hannah Lippe and Sami Field-Polisso each scored 14 points to lead Pinewood past Pacific Hills, 58-52, as the Panthers won their second consecutive Division V girls' state championship.
Aly Geppert had 11 points and 18 rebounds for the Panthers.
Ashleyrose Lewis had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Bruins and Tiffanie Puente added 11 points. Pacific Hills led only once, 1-0, and Pinewood controlled the game the rest of the way -- but the Panthers never could relax.
Though the lead reached 15 in the final quarter, the Bruins cut the margin to six in the final seconds.
Pinewood (24-9) had defeated Pacific Hills (30-3) in last year's title game, and won its third championship overall.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Liz Altmaire, Pinewood; Melodie Puente, Pacific Hills

Division V Boys:

Andy Brewster scored 11 points as Branson won the lowest scoring game in state championship history, defeating Santa Fe Christian, 37-29, to take the boys' Division V state title.
Marcus Sun led the Eagles (24-9) with 12 points, while Brian Kolb added 11, but Santa Fe Christian shot just 16 percent as a team, and didn't make a basket in the second quarter. On the other hand, Santa Fe Christian was 19 of 21 from the free-throw line, and the Eagles did manage to get within six in the final minute.
Santa Fe Christian's 29 points set a state championship record for offensive futility with its 29 points, -- the fewest since the modern era of state championships began in 1981. The previous boys' low was 35, by De La Salle in 2004, while the girls' mark was set by Los Gatos, with 30, in 1984.
The game also marked the lowest total score for two teams, 66 points. The previous mark on the boys' side was 86, in 2004, and 67 for the girls, in 1984 and 2000.
Branson not only played excellent defense, but the Bulls also controlled the boards, outrebounding the Eagles 32-21.
Branson won its first state championship in its second straigt appearance, and Northern California teams now have a 10-9 edge over the south in boys Division V title games.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Ronnie Salter, Branson; Steven Alexander, Santa Fe Christian

Division III Girls:

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Kristin McClain, Sacramento; Juanise Cornell, Bishop Amat

Division III Boys:

James Harden scored 21 points as Artesia rolled over St. Mary's of Stockton, 60-41, to win the Division III boys state championship.
Malik Story added 12 and Derek Glasser 11 for the Pioneers (33-1), who lost only to Hughes Center of Ohio this year -- and that was by just one point.
Joe Harden led the Rams (31-4) with 17 points, but St. Mary's was hurt by the loss of 6-6 starting center Mark Payne, who injured his ankle in practice and was unable to play.
The Pioneers, ranked sixth in the nation by Studentsports.com, jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and were never seriously tested the rest of the way. They controlled the boards, outrebounding the Rams, 40-32, forced 19 turnovers and held St. Mary's to just 31 percent shooting.
It was the fourth state title for Artesia, but the first since 1993, when the Pioneers were a Division II school. The Pioneers were runners-up in Division III in 1995. The win evened the North-South matchup in Division III boys at 12-12.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Pat Jemerigbe, St. Mary's Stockton; Greg Howell, Artesia

Division I Girls:

Sophomore Jasmine Dixon had 18 points and 16 rebounds as Long Beach Poly won its first-ever girls Division I state championship by defeating Berkeley, 54-34.
Nine other players scored for the deep Jackrabbits (11-25), who outrebounded the Yellowjackets (21-12) 43-34, and forced 21 turnovers.
Alexandria Mitchell's eight points topped Berkeley, which was held to its lowest point total of the season.
Berkeley led the game twice, 2-0 and 5-4, but the margin steadily widened throughout the course of the game. Poly's press wasn't as deadly as it can be, but the Jackrabbit half court defense forced Berkeley into just 33 percent shooting and held the Yellowjackets scoreless for the first 4:57 of the third quarter. During that span, Poly extended a 24-18 halftime lead to what turned out to be an insurmountable 34-18 advantage.
Berkeley also had its problems this season, as the Jackets were 4-7 at one point. They came back, however, to win two games on the road during NorCals and set a record for margin of victory with a 66-28 win over Napa in the NorCal championship game.
This marked Berkeley's sixth trip to the state finals. The Yellowjackets won the championship in 1991 and 1997 and were runners-up in 1998, 2000, 2001 and now 2006.
The Jackrabbits' win gives Southern California schools a 17-8 edge in Division I girls' title games.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Jennifer Gross, Berkeley; Brittany Brumfield, Poly (Long Beach)

Division I Boys:

Lincoln Gunn scored 16 points as De La Salle outlasted Clovis West, 43-40, to win the boys Division I state championship at.
Paul Roemer added 11 first-half points for the Spartans (32-1), who won their second state title and were ranked 18th in the nation by Studentsports.com. Though De La Salle struggled at the line, going just five of 11, the Spartans shot 47 percent from the field, including four of six in the fourth quarter, to eke out the win.
De'Jon Jackson led Clovis West (30-3) with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Tim Shelton went for 15 and eight. The Golden Eagles, ranked 16th in the nation coming into the game, only got seven points from the rest of the team.
After Gunn scored 15 seconds into the second half, Clovis West ran off six in a row to take a 25-21 lead. De La Salle then countered with a 6-0 run of its own, and took the lead for good with 3:55 remaining on a Marcus Schroeder drive. That didn't mean the rest of the game was without drama, though. The Spartans managed to get up six, 39-33, with 4:15 left, but the Golden Eagles cut it to two, 39-37, on a Shelton inside shot. Ethan Niedermeyer responded, though, with a 12-footer to push the lead back to four with 1:36 remaining. Clovis West got it back to within three, but missed three chances to tie it with three-pointers and Justin Joyner finally put the game away with two free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining.
The two teams met for the championship in 2000, with De La Salle winning 48-47 on two last-second free throws, but Clovis West was later disqualified for using an ineligible player, so the game was expunged from the record books. The Spartans lost in in the title game in 1996 and 2004.
Despite De La Salle's win, the South still holds a commanding 20-6 edge in Division I boys competition.

Sportsmanship Award Winners: Lincoln Gunn , De La Salle; Joey Parker, Clovis West

recaps written by Clay Kallam