Six Fresno-area teams win Southern California regional basketball championships
.jpeg "Colby Charles 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Kingsburg a 62-59 victory over Washington Union for the CIF Division 5-A Southern California regional title.")
Six Central Section high school basketball teams in the Fresno/Clovis-area are California Interscholastic Federation Southern California champions.
The area teams played their final game on Saturday and one game came down to the buzzer.
Here is how the teams fared in the regional championship matchups:
Boys: Kingsburg, Fowler win titles
Division 2-A — No. 3 Mater Dei Catholic 67, No. 5 Central 50: Cedric Coward led the Grizzlies with 16 points. Other Central players scoring included Terik Streets (11), Aaron Scruggs (8), LaDanian Streets (6), Henry Madden III (6), Marcus Green (3) and Dylan Swillis (2).
Division 5-AA — No. 2 Sage Creek-Carlsbad 73, No. 1 Roosevelt 54: The Rough Riders trailed by nine points entering the fourth quarter and the Bobcats pulled away. Roosevelt was the Central Section Division II champion. Roosevelt: Damare Watts, Raul Rosales, Qiant Myers, Jaylen Randle, Joel Rocha, Andrew Lopez, Isaiah Gilliam, Mykayle McCoy, Andy Hernandez, Taylor Fuller and Darnell Naeole.
Division 5-A — No. 1 Kingsburg 62, No. 7 Washington Union 59: The Vikings beat the Panthers for the second time in eight days but in dramatically different fashion.
Kingsburg won the Central Section D-IV title June 12 48-30 but needed a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Colby Charles to win the regional championship. Both games were played before standing-room crowds in Kingsburg.
In the regional final, Washington Union fell behind by as many as 13 points but clamped down on defense in the second half and led most of the fourth quarter until Matthew Ruegge’s four-point play put the Vikings ahead 59-57. Lawrence Stell tied it for the Panthers.
Washington Union had advanced with two wins on the road in Southern California including on a last-second shot Thursday.
Washington Union: Ta’vonn Hill, Noah Taylor, Ty Wynn, Calvin Ervin III, Jaymaree Johnson, Jayden Green, Daylen Woods, Chris Long, Lawrence Stell, Johnathan Holland, Jasiah Woods, Tayven Holland, Ulysses Gil, Jesus Maldonado.
Kingsburg: Conner McFall, Colby Charles, Josh Bennett, Nate Towsley, Nathan Garcia, Matthew Ruegge, Jose Martinez, Ganno Cox, Gavin Gonzales, Jimmy Cranford, Jace Peterson, Noah Brown, Joshua Quinonez, Jake Bray, Rickey Duarte.
Division 6-AA — No. 1 Fowler 50, No. 2 Maranatha Christian-San Diego 48: The Redcats outscored the Eagles 13-7 in the fourth quarter to win the regional title. Fowler defeated Sierra 59-55 for the section D-V championship.
Fowler: Alex Aguilar, Kameron Thomas, Amneet Basra, Mitchell Uriarte, Kennedy Lopez, Andrew Caraveo, Lucas Gutierrez, Alfonso Alvarado, Jordan Lopez, Japnaam Kahlon, Garrett Geringer, Mathew Luevanos.
Girls: Buchanan, Roosevelt, Strathmore, Corcoran champions
Division 3-A — No. 5 Buchanan 78, No. 6 Del Norte 62: The Bears led most of the way to earn the SoCal regional title.
Buchanan: Elise LeBeau, Ciena Tumoine, Juliette Colunga, Kalena Tauiliili, Aloni Oliver, Alina Garcia, Ashtyn Arnold, Kenda Dansby, Kylee Barnes, Chloe Yang, Vanna Quintana, Journey Morrison, Raegan Stermer, Olivia Garcia, Angie Varela, Bella Tumoine.
Division 4-AA — No. 2 Roosevelt 48, No. 8 South Pasadena 34: The Rough Riders avenged a section title loss with a SoCal regional title after outscoring the Tigers 14-4 in the first quarter en route to the win.
Roosevelt: Evangelina Rivera, Qierra Murray, Jeniece Harmon, Danyell Booker, Yesenia Pacheco, Kamya Malvoux, Tatiana Ballinger, Leyocha Marigney, Tianna Sutherland, Amaya Snowden, Maliah Nutt
Division 5-AA — No. 2 Strathmore 63, No. 5 Fallbrook 54: First a section title, now a SoCal title for the Spartans. Strathmore outscored the Warriors in every quarter.
Strathmore: Veronica Chapa, Jazmine Soto, Alexis Ibarra, Abi Mejia, Erika Munoz, Marybel Mejia, Yvette Gutierrez, Joseli Gutierrez, Valeree Chapa, Ally Lee, Sherrie Chapa.
Division 6-AA — No. 3 Corcoran 61, No. 1 Valley Christian Academy 57: Mia Hernandez made two free throws late in the fourth quarter to seal the Panthers’ SoCal regional championship.
Corcoran: Mia Hernandez, Jybria Simmons, Cynthia Perez, Gabriella Avila, Cheyenne Muthana, Trinity Ferro, Brianna Villegas, Aaliyah Thompson, Daijah Morris, Emilee Santos.
