St. Bernard Squads Advance to State Finals

He may have been in the right place at the right time, but it was no coincidence that Thurman Thomas made the game-winning shot at the buzzer to lift the St. Bernard High boys basketball team to a 61-59 upset over No. 1-seeded Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth on Saturday afternoon at Colony High in Ontario.

Thomas and his teammates work on boxing out every day in practice, so when the situation arises during games they just react on instinct. Such was the case in the final moments of the Southern California Division V regional championship game when Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound, out-jumped two defenders and rattled home a five-foot put back as time expired to propel the Vikings into Friday's state final in Sacramento. They will be joined by the girls squad, which defeated Oxnard Santa Clara on the same court less than two hours earlier.  

"I just crashed the boards so that if the first shot missed I was in position to get the rebound," said Thomas, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds – none more important than the last one. "We've all been working towards this goal since the beginning of October and we've been hungry for the state title ever since we lost in the CIF [Southern Section] playoffs."

Daniel Cordoba also scored 13 points and Brandon Randolph added nine points and seven assists for the Vikings (26-8), who outscored Sierra Canyon 18-11 in the fourth quarter. Emani Grant had nine points and 11 rebounds and Michael Garcia added seven points for St. Bernard, which trailed 36-29 at halftime.

"Defense was the biggest factor," Thomas said. "We've been down before and we have the confidence that we can come back. I just got the rebound and put it in at the end, but this was a team win."

Randolph made a three-pointer to pull St. Bernard even at 57-57 with 2:10 left, then Usoma Mbelu stole the inbounds pass, but the Vikings turned the ball right back over to Sierra Canyon. Senior guard Brandon Morrison took a charge on the Trailblazers' next possession, then Cordoba's twisting scoop shot gave St. Bernard a 59-57 lead. 

Sierra Canyon's Jahmel Taylor answered with a driving layup and was fouled, tying the game with 31.4 seconds left. He missed the free throw and St. Bernard elected to play for the last shot. 

"The plan right there was to at least go to overtime," Vikings first-year coach Reggie Morris said. "Fortunately, the guys had the frame of mind to stay on the glass. They put everything into this game and it's nice to see them rewarded."

Taylor, the Trailblazers' star point guard, came into the contest averaging 21.6 points and 3.4 assists per game, but was held to a meager four points and two assists by the Vikings' ball-hawking defense, which forced 12 turnovers. Michael Cohen's 15 points led Sierra Canyon (27-6).  

St. Bernard's quick turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable. Morris has resurrected a program that finished 4-23 last season and went winless in league under previous coach Mark Fancher.

"This is huge for our students, our program and our school," Morris said. "It tells a lot about the heart of the kids. If somebody had told me back in September that we'd be playing for the state championship I would've thought they were crazy."

Though the girls' win was not nearly as dramatic, it was every bit as impressive. Coach Bo Corona's squad avenged its 52-49 loss to Santa Clara in the Southern Section Division 5AA final with a decisive 60-45 victory in Saturday's early game.

Senior forward Kacy Swain's jumper in the lane with 31.5 seconds remaining was the icing cake for St. Bernard, which took a 29-21 halftime lead when junior Ajai Ford scored a fast-break layup at the buzzer.

All four freshmen on the squad were key contributors in the Lady Vikings' victory. Forward LaJahna Drummer had 14 points and 11 rebounds, guard Chyanne Butler had 11 points, forward Michelle Curry drew an offensive foul with under seven minutes remaining and Demoria White hit a three-pointer from the corner to give the fourth-seeded Vikings (24-14) a commanding 49-35 lead with 5:57 left.

"From the beginning, we didn't play our game last time, we were the favorites and they beat us," Drummer said."This time around I was having fun with it. I was just trying to get my teammates involved."

Corona cited poor shooting and nervousness as the primary reasons the Vikings had lost to Santa Clara the first time and he was sure his team would play better if given a second chance. Sure enough, St. Bernard appeared much more relaxed on Saturday. It also dominated the backboards, out-rebounding the opposition by a whopping 40-19 margin.

"We were 19 of 66 [shooting] in the first game, which is horrible, and yet we only lost by three," Corona said. "I knew if we shot a decent percentage and were more aggressive going to the basket that we would have better results." 

Junior guard Cynthia Hernandez, who had scored 23 points in the previous game, was held to 14 points for the second-seeded Saints (28-7), who trimmed their deficit to six points going into the fourth quarter.

"We wanted this game for our school and for our coach," Butler said. "Now we can stay and cheer on the boys."

Both the boys and girls will play for Division V state titles Friday afternoon at Power Balance Pavilion (formerly known as Arco Arena) in Sacramento. The boys get the doubleheader started at 1:30 p.m. against Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame, followed by the girls' game versus Los Altos Hills Pinewood at 3:30 p.m.