No doubt about this championship: Memorial wins top division without nation’s top player
This time, there’s little questioning of the San Joaquin Memorial High boys basketball championship.
Playing at the highest division in the Central Section, Memorial showed it could succeed in the playoffs against the area’s biggest and best programs.
A week after eliminating No. 2 seed Clovis North, Memorial knocked off No. 1 Clovis West with a 51-49 victory Saturday night at Selland Arena to capture the section’s inaugural Open Division championship.
That makes three straight section titles for the Panthers now with the previous two achieved while competing in Division II.
Another big difference with this Memorial postseason run: Just like this entire season, the Panthers won without the nation’s top-ranked player, Jalen Green.
Over the summer, Green transferred to Prolific Prep in the Napa Valley, a school where the basketball team plays a national schedule.
“There were tons of critics the last couple of years,” Memorial coach Brad Roznovsky said. “You’ve got the No. 1 player in the nation, but you’re playing in Division II. Yeah, we could’ve got in Division I. We stayed in II, won a couple of titles.
“So it’s so gratifying that without Jalen — he’s doing so well and we miss him — to have these guys win. We lost four starters from last year. They (Clovis West) have one of our kids (Preston Kilbert) from last year. So it’s so gratifying for our kids to come out on top.”
Memorial (24-6) has won 14 straight going into the state playoffs.
Saturday’s championship came down to the final seconds.
With the Panthers up three points, Clovis West turned to its top player in Cole Anderson to shoot a potential game-tying 3-pointer.
When Anderson misfired from the left corner on a fadeaway attempt, Kilbert tipped the ball in and reduced Memorial’s lead to one point with 3.8 seconds.
Clovis West asked for a a timeout, but the Golden Eagles didn’t have any left, resulting in a technical foul.
Memorial’s Jaden Geron hit 1 of 2 free throws on the technical foul to put the Panthers up two.
Geron was fouled again on the inbound pass. He missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation.
Kilbert took the rebound and heaved a desperation shot as time expired but it wasn’t close.
“It seemed like two hours,” Roznovsky said of the closing seconds. “I think I lost a couple of years. Got a couple more grays. But that just made it all the more gratifying.”
The 6-foot-7 Geron finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Teammate Joseph Hunter added 14 points and nine rebounds. Jalen Douglas provided nine points, three blocks and three steals.
In all, the Panthers defense held the Eagles to 32.2% shooting from the field, including 26.7% from behind the arc.
“It’s special,” Geron said. “We’ve been working for this all year. It’s really special to get this win.”
Anderson led Clovis West with 16 points but shot just 5 of 14 from the field.
Hunter said winning the title without his former teammate Green made it all the more special.
After all, it was just last week during a 74-70 win at Clovis North that student section chanted at Memorial “You. Need. Jalen.”
“Jalen is a good player,” Hunter said. “But since he left everybody ... there was doubt by people saying you can’t play in the championship. You’re not good enough. You need Jalen. We just used that to motivate us every day.”
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 10:54 PM.
