BERKELEY —
Sacramento’s C.K. McClatchy High School is now the home of a historic championship team.
Friday night saw McClatchy’s girls basketball team withstand a tenacious effort and an amazing comeback in an epic 65-61 double overtime win over Serra of Gardena to claim the 2015 CIF State Division I title.
Junior Gigi Garcia scored 19 points for the Lions in a game that looked like a blowout early. Trailing 14-3 in the first quarter, McClatchy rallied, eventually cutting the lead to 25-18 at the half.
Down for most of the night, a back-and-forth second half looked to be turning in McClatchy’s favor late. An 11-0 fourth quarter run left McClatchy with a 46-36 lead.
Serra managed to fight back, earning a rare five-point play to cut into the lead. Down by three with 6.5 seconds left, Serra capitalized on a five-second call on McClatchy by hitting an NBA-range three-pointer to send it into overtime tied at 49-49.
The two overtimes were as close as can be, but McClatchy’s free throw shooting proved to be the difference in the end. As the final buzzer sounded, head coach Jessica Kunisaki and her team stormed the court in celebration.
This marks the first time a Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) school has won a state championship in a girls sport. It’s also the first SCUSD school title since Sacramento High’s track team won the 1972 state title.
Since Sleep Train Arena, the normal state title game host, is being used for Garth Brooks’ world tour, the game was played at UC Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion.
