Sierra Pacific & Memorial Dominate State Champions! Epic Showdown Shines Bright!
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – It was a double-dip of state titles for high school teams from our area on Saturday, as both the Sierra Pacific girls basketball team, and the San Joaquin Memorial boys squad captured Division II state championships, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Ironically enough, both had to get through teams from the Central Section to lift the state hardware, as the Golden Bears beat St.
Joseph from Santa Maria, 56-47, and the Panthers beat Bakersfield Christian, 46-45. In the Sierra Pacific win, the three Ayuen sisters – senior twins Nyang (11 points) and Apajok (15 points), and younger sophomore Ayak (13 points), combined for 39 points and 21 boards. It is the second state title in the history of the Sierra Pacific program, as the Bears also won a Division V state title in 2018.
“They proved me wrong and they showed me that they truly wanted it more,” said Sierra Pacific head coach Victor Chavarin Jr. , whose team saw its 11-point first quarter lead cut to two at halftime. “And it’s one of those things that we work together well on of that.
We’ll call each other out on something, and makes us realize what we’re doing wrong or what we need to do better. And so it was just that moment of waking up and let’s get back to work. ” “Picking up my teammates, just keep going and push to your full extent,” said Sierra Pacific junior guard Kimora Gardner.
“And just have a lot of energy with this game, and we did. That’s why we won. ” San Joaquin Memorial meantime, was down by five points after three quarters, but used a big fourth to also win its second state title in program history.