Basketball crowns at stake. Here are the teams that will rock Selland this weekend
Twenty high school basketball teams are vying to become Central Section champions during the finals Friday and Saturday at Selland Arena.
Two schools are sending both boys and girls teams, including Clovis West’s top-seeded squads in the Saturday night Division I games at 6 p.m. (girls vs. No. 2 Clovis North) and 8 p.m. (boys vs. No. 2 Bullard).
San Joaquin Memorial is in the Friday night boys D-II final (led by Jalen Green, who’s projected by many to be an NBA first-round pick in a few years) and the Saturday 10 a.m. girls D-V final.
Among the 20, five teams are looking to repeat including the Clovis West girls who aim for their seventh straight section title (19th overall), according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Remarkably, 17 top-two seeds made it to Selland; the lowest seed still standing are the No. 4 Dinuba boys.
Here are some storylines to follow:
Clovis West, Bullard back in familiar place
The D-I boys final pits two programs that have been around the championship spotlight.
Clovis West is back at Selland Arena for the first time since 2013, when it lost to Bullard 66-53. Clovis West last won a section title in 2006 under coach Tom Orlich.
Now the Golden Eagles are led once again by coach Vance Walberg, whose teams won six section titles (the last in 2002).. Walberg made stops in college and the NBA before finding his way back to Clovis West.
His Golden Eagles rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat Tri-River Athletic Conference rival Clovis North 66-63 in overtime in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Bullard is back at Selland after falling 79-77 last year to Central, which had a three-year run at the top of the section. Bullard was in five straight section finals from 2011-15, winning three in a row from 2011-13.
Bullard reached this year’s championship game with a 60-53 victory over No. 6 Bakersfield in the semifinals.
Clovis West, Clovis North girls competitive
The D-I girls finalists have been each other’s main section competition for two years. They showed it in Tuesday’s semifinals: Clovis West beat No. 5 Central 80-29, and Clovis North beat No. 3 Clovis 62-42.
Saturday night will be the sixth meeting between Clovis West and Clovis North in what is becoming an increasingly competitive series – Clovis North got its first win against the Golden Eagles in the last matchup, winning 40-36 in TRAC play on Feb. 4.
Clovis West won the 2017 state championship. Last year, the Golden Eagles beat Clovis North 63-49 in the section final and reached the Southern California regional final.
History lessons
A breakdown of the other eight matchups, with Barnett’s noted history:
Boys Division II – Top-seed San Joaquin Memorial is looking to repeat after defeating Selma 71-66 last season. Green, just a junior, needs 20 points to break the school record of 2,288 career points set by Roscoe Pondexter from 1968-71. The Panthers have won nine titles. San Luis Obispo is in its first Central Section final.
Boys Division III – Immanuel has been here before. Last season, the Eagles used a furious rally to defeat Sanger 68-57. Immanuel is eying its 16th title, while Dinuba has won three. Immanuel beat Dinuba twice in Central Sequoia League action this year.
Boys Division IV – It’s an all-Bakersfield final. No. 1 Bakersfield Christian will face No. 2 Foothill. The Eagles have won one title; the Trojans are looking for their seventh.
Boys Division V – Top-seeded Liberty-Madera Ranchos and No. 3 Firebaugh are each seeking their first title. Back in December, Firebaugh knocked off the Hawks 61-59 for the championship of Liberty’s own tournament.
Girls Division II – No. 1 Bakersfield has been here before, winning its first section title with a 54-52 victory over Mission Oak last season. No. 2 Yosemite has won five section titles but had been stymied at the section semifinal round five straight years (including 2017 to Bakersfield) before this season’s success.
Girls Division III – No. 1 Selma and No. 2 Fresno are each seeking a first section title.
Girls Division IV – No. 1 San Joaquin Memorial is back in the championship. Last season, the Panthers defeated Sierra Pacific 58-51 for their 11th title. No. 2 McFarland has one title.
Girls Division V – No. 1 Caruthers will be seeking its third title. No. 2 Coalinga beat defending champion Chowchilla 43-39 in the semifianls.
Championship schedule
Friday
Girls Division V: No. 1 Caruthers vs. No. 2 Coalinga, 2 p.m.
Boys Division V: No. 1 Liberty-Madera Ranchos vs. No. 3 Firebaugh, 4 p.m.
Girls Division II: No. 1 Bakersfield, vs. No. 2 Yosemite, 6 p.m.
Boys Division II: No. 1 San Joaquin Memorial vs. No. 2 San Luis Obispo, 8 p.m.
Saturday
Girls Division IV: No. 1 San Joaquin Memorial vs. No. 2 McFarland, 10 a.m.
Boys Division IV: No. 1 Bakersfield Christian vs. No. 3 Foothill, noon
Girls Division III: No. 1 Selma vs. No. 2 Fresno, 2 p.m.
Boys Division III: No. 2 Immanuel vs. No. 4 Dinuba, 4 p.m.
Girls Division I: No. 1 Clovis West vs. No. 2 Clovis North, 6 p.m.
Boys Division I: No. 1 Clovis West vs. No. 2 Bullard, 8 p.m.
This story was originally published February 21, 2019 at 3:54 PM.
