‘Special group’ San Joaquin Memorial tops Clovis for Central Section D-I championship
The 3-point shots dropped for San Joaquin Memorial High girls basketball guard Saiya Sidhu in the second quarter.
That meant good news for her Panthers teammates when she made three 3-pointers in the quarter and all that meant was a 40-23 halftime lead.
Sidhu finished with five 3-pointers and the fourth-seeded Panthers cruised to a 66-43 victory over No. 6 Clovis in a Central Section Division I championship game on Friday.
“It’s a championship mentality, I guess,” said Sidhu, who finished with 19 points. “I just knew I had to come in here and get my shots up and do what we have to do to get this win. I came out here and performed, worked all week and I trusted myself. I had confidence in my shots.”
The section title is the Panthers’ 14th in school history, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
San Joaquin Memorial knocked off No. 5 Clovis East 70-24 and top-seed Buchanan 61-48 en route to the title game.
The Panthers saw a coaching change in late December when Jackie White resigned as the head coach. Verenique Warren was named the interim coach.
Since Warren take over, the Panthers went 17-1, including Friday’s title win.
“They never stopped believing,” Warren said. “We faced adversity all year. They just fought and battled. Special group of young ladies and I‘m just happy for them. We did it.”
Meadow Roland finished with 19 points for the Panthers. Devin Miller led Clovis with 10 points.
Division II
No. 3 Porterville won its third section title after holding No. 4 Sierra Pacific to 10 points in the second half en route to a 56-42 victory.
The Panthers won the other titles in 2003 and 2020, Barnett said.
Division III
Top-seed Caruthers won the section title, 58-44, over No. 2 Orcutt Academy.
Anisa Torres and Mo Trigueiro had back-to-back baskets that stretched the Blue Raiders’ lead to 56-42 with 2:07 remaining.
Caruthers also won titles in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020.
Division IV
Top-seed Corcoran rolled to its 12th section title after a 56-26 victory over No. 14 Madera.
It is the Panthers’ first section title since 2010.
Division V
No. 14 Immanuel came up short against top-seed Highland, falling 46-33.
It is the Scots’ first section title.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 9:56 PM.
