Sweet Sixteen Slam Dunk: Cherry Blossom's 2-Point Shot Isn't Enough
SACRAMENTO — Bakersfield Christian High boys basketball coach Garrett Brown had already waited a long time to get a second chance at bringing his Eagles team north to California’s capital to play a meaningful game in the Golden 1 Center. When COVID-19 struck in March 2020, BCHS had just won its CIF Southern California regional final, which enabled the team to play for a CIF State championship. But when COVID-19 canceled sports games at all levels, CIF did so to all state basketball title games.
Since that scrapped trip to Sacramento, Brown’s Eagles teams have tried to return. Last year, BCHS lost to Chatsworth in the SoCal Regional final, one step away. It hurt to lose, but players were as motivated as Brown and his staff were for the 2025-26 season.
Although it wasn’t a senior-laden team, Brown planned to get his young, talented team battle-tested with a brutal schedule — against nationally ranked teams, out-of-state teams, schools in other CIF sections, games on Saturdays and Monday holidays. From that, he said, his players’ confidence and ability to play anybody would be a big help. On Saturday night, BCHS’ season-long due diligence and the regional final win over Palisades last Tuesday clinched a trip to Sacramento.
BCHS had another undefeated South Yosemite Valley League title, reached the Central Section Division I semifinals, and then won the regional title to get Fresno’s San Joaquin Memorial in the state Division 2 final. While not exactly the plan, BCHS had already faced SJM twice, one a 67-52 December tournament win and in their first CIF playoff game, a 61-59 victory. Talk of the difficulty of beating a team multiple times in one season was brought up.
Brown answered the question several times, and yes, familiarity can help both sides, but who really knew until it happened. The answer turned out to be a combination of a 19-point game from Panthers center Parker Spees and, in Brown’s estimation, his team’s inability to do more offensively, most notably in the final quarter, in a 46-45 championship victory for SJM (28-7). “It’s a big game and we overstressed that a little more than playing them,” said BCHS junior forward Owen Yurosek, who along with Taiwo Daramola, had 12 points.
Continue to the original source for the full article.