Jesuit Escapes, Section Finals Next

Forgive the Marauders basketball team if they have a feeling of déjà vu.

The Marauders of Carmichael held on to escape with a 64-62 win over Delta River League foe Pleasant Grove on Wednesday in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section semifinal at Power Balance Pavilion. It was the Marauders' third win over the Eagles of Elk Grove in as many games this season.

Perhaps the close score can be explained in part because every high school team that plays in the Kings' arena has to make adjustments. Or because it's just not easy to beat a team three times in one season.

"Things weren't easy; Pleasant Grove made it real hard," Jesuit coach Greg Harcos said. "Some get tired of playing the same teams but you get to know them real well and it comes down to making enough plays to get by."

Marauders senior guard Bryce Pressley, led the way with nearly a triple-double: 22 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks. Fellow JHS senior guard Parker Uu added 18 points and eight rebounds.

"We knew (Pleasant Grove was) going to be aggressive and we had to come out with the same intensity," Pressley said.

The Eagles were led by junior guards Malik Thames with 19 points and Colfax Nordquist with 17 points and eight rebounds.

The Marauders got off to a slow start, "jogging" up and down the court, as Harcos told them, and found themselves down 18-11 after the first quarter. Jesuit picked it up in the second to lead 33-29 at halftime.

Pleasant Grove responded in the third, which ended with Jesuit up 46-43 and the game remained tight until the buzzer sounded.

The Marauders now face DRL powerhouse Sheldon, which defeated Bethel of Vallejo 81-55 Wednesday, in Saturday's Division I section final.

Here we go again.

The Huskies defeated the Marauders in last year's final and have a win streak going against their rivals.

"We want to win (the section title) by going through them," Harcos said. "We need to play with an urgency, not take anything for granted and compete."

To a man, the Jesuit players want badly to beat Sheldon, which seeks a D-I three-peat and the program's fourth banner since 2007. The Marauders are senior-laden while the top players for the Huskies are juniors.

"We need to keep Sheldon out of the key and box out," Pressley said. "We know (Huskies players) D'Erryl (Williams) and Dakarai (Allen) like to drive (to the basket) so we need to put pressure on them."

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BOYS BASKETBALL SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION PLAYOFFS DIVISION I
Wednesday's semifinals at Power Balance Pavilion
JESUIT 64, PLEASANT GROVE 62
Pleasant Grove 18 11 14 19 – 62
Jesuit 11 22 13 18 – 64
PG–Thames 19, Hayes 11, Nordquist 17, Dunn 4, Demps 10, Jackson 1. J–Okugo 7, Lutes 1, Uu 18, Pressley 22, Glodowski 2, Parker 8, Sperbeck 6.
Saturday's championship No. 1 Sheldon vs. No. 2 Jesuit, 8:30 p.m.