Clovis North’s road run comes up just short of state title. But Broncos earned respect
After trekking more than 1,850 miles and over 30 hours of drive time, the clock has finally struck midnight for the Clovis North High boys basketball team.
Despite a stellar run to the CIF State Division I championship game, the Broncos’ Cinderella run as a 13-seed ended Friday with a 65-57 loss to Damien of La Verne at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Clovis North players dubbed themselves the “Road Warriors” during the eight-day stretch leading up to the championship game, which saw the Broncos topple No. 4 Miramonte of Orinda, No. 5 Folsom, No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton and No. 3 St. Ignatius of San Francisco by a combined total of 12 points.
“We were always on the road and always against the other teams’ fans,” sophomore guard Conner Amundsen said after the game. “So, we had to come together and be warriors together.”
Amundsen finished with a game-high 25 points, followed by 10 apiece from teammates Jaylen Bryant and Jordan Espinoza.
“I thought (all the travel) might wear on our guys,” Clovis North coach Tony Amundsen said. “But to their credit, they just kept going on pure adrenaline. The excitement of being in the next game and moving on and confronting the next strong opponent, combating them and beating them and just continuing to move on.”
Turnovers plagued the Broncos in the first half. Damien had nine steals to the tune of a 10-0 cushion off of turnovers alone. Clovis North had four straight stops in the final two minutes of the first half but couldn’t capitalize on the offensive end, heading into the locker room down 33-22.
The Broncos went on a 9-0 run in the third quarter, but Damien quickly responded with a 7-0 run of its own to push the Spartans out by 20 before the end of the third.
Much like other games in their NorCal run, the Broncos made one last surge in the fourth, hoping to pull off the biggest win in program history. Amundsen and Niko Jones showed they can hit from NBA 3-point range. Bryant challenged Damien’s 6-foot-8 frontcourt duo of Kaleb Smith and Jimmy Oladokun defensively while Espinoza challenged them offensively. But the Spartans had too much size and athleticism and wound up with their second state championship since 2015.
“The big talk in each timeout and huddle was cutting our turnovers down because Damien’s very good at taking those and turning them into points,” Tony Amundsen said. “What a journey we went on and how hard they played and how much they give to their teammates is a victory in itself. And I couldn’t be more proud of them for that.”
Of Clovis North’s 12 losses, three came to Clovis West, including a triple-overtime thriller on Dec. 11. Three more came against CIF Open Division competitors – two to St. Joseph of Santa Maria and one to Centennial of Corona, the second-ranked team in the nation, according to MaxPreps, competing for the Open title on Saturday.
Only Mater Dei of Santa Ana’s Gary McKnight has more coaching victories than Damien coach Mike LeDuc’s 1,018. But over more than four decades of coaching, the one thing that had eluded LeDuc was a state championship. He reached the Division III final in 1989 with Glendora at the Oakland Coliseum, the game where UCLA- and NBA-bound Tracy Murray exploded for a state finals record 64 points in the loss.
But even after waiting 42 years to finally cut the nets down on the biggest stage, LeDuc opted against any self praise. His players were happy to brag for him.
“(LeDuc) is one of the best coaches in California in all of high school, as much as he might not want to admit it,” said Damien senior Kaleb Smith, who led the Spartans with 23 points. “It’s a great feeling because it’s special and this is something that everyone will remember for the rest of their lives.”
Spivey Word had 17 points and Colorado-bound RJ Smith had 15 for Damien (32-4). Despite being the top seed, the Spartans knew not to overlook what Clovis North had done to reach the finals.
“We knew how good they were,” LeDuc said of the Broncos. “Their style is different than what we’ve been seeing. They’re pressuring every pass, trying to get deflections every pass. They’re really smart, really well-coached, and so they’re really difficult to be able to execute (against) without turning the ball over.”
He continued, “Tony does a tremendous job. He does deserve a lot of credit. They don’t have the size we have, but they’re really tough to play against.”
Clovis North graduates six seniors this year but returns a wealth of experience next season, including four of its five starters in Amundsen, Bryant, Espinoza and Christian Calvillo.
“Having those (postseason) moments and going through it and having that experience, you can’t replace that,” Tony Amundsen said. “That’s going to be very helpful for next year and the year after and really for our program, the confidence of all the kids in our program going forward, knowing we can compete at the state level.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.