Jesuit Tops Franklin in Semifinals

The Franklin Wildcats came into Tuesday's CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I boys basketball semifinal game against the Marauders at the newly-named Power Balance Pavilion (formerly Arco Arena) with the higher seed and the experience of having advanced to the section finals in each of the past two seasons.

Those two factors didn't matter, as the No. 3 Marauders showed teamwork and poise to defeat the No. 2 Wildcats 64-56.

Jesuit junior guard Parker Uu again led all scorers with 20 points, while junior guard Brian Glodowski scored 11.

Three Marauders finished with nine points including junior guard Akachi Okugo. There was another Pressley on the Kings court Tuesday- junior forward Bryce Pressley, son of former King Harold Pressley, who played in Arco's first game in 1988 and watched Tuesday's first PBP basketball game with his family in the stands. Senior guard Alex DiManno, whose play may have reminded some of former Kings guard Jason Williams, got his points on 3 for 5 shooting from behind the three-point arc.

Franklin was led by the Iroegbu brothers- senior forward Chukwuemeka Iroegbu, who scored 17 points, and sophomore guard Ikenna Iroegbu, who finished with 11. Sophomore guard Darin Johnson added 13 points.

Saturday's section final is set with Jesuit (22-8) facing fellow Delta River League-foe Sheldon (22-7) at 8:30 p.m. at Power Balance Pavilion. Franklin, which like the section finalists also advances to next week's NorCal Regional tournament at home sites, now has a record of 24-6.

Jesuit head coach Greg Harcos, a Marauders alum, said his team is playing its best at the biggest moment.

"There are a lot of the guys helping each other, looking for the extra pass," Harcos said. "The team's chemistry is at a good point right now."

On paper, Franklin was the favorite, having made the section finals in 2005, 2009 and 2010. Jesuit hadn't even played in the arena formerly known as Arco in four years. But now the Marauders, who were Division-I section runners-up in 2003 and last won it all in 2000, will now play in their 12th section title game since 1988 and fifth in D-I. Jesuit won back-to-back section titles in Division-II in 2006 and 2007 under Harcos.

But to get to Saturday's final, Jesuit had to shake off the adjustments all high school teams have to make when playing in the NBA arena, including the change in the dimensions compared to high school gyms.

Franklin led 10-8 after the first quarter after shooting 23 percent while Jesuit shot 13 percent. Both teams continued to struggle shooting in the second quarter and Jesuit led 21-18 at the half.

The student sections for both schools had a strong showing. Jesuit's most unique cheer was "God's on our side!", a playful nod to Carmichael's Catholic high school. Franklin students may not be familiar with the Biblical tale of Samson, who lost his strength when he cut his hair, but shouted "haircut!" and "cut your hair!" whenever  Uu, who wears a headband over his long black locks, went to the free-throw line.

Jesuit's biggest lead in the second half was 14 points. Both sides realized the game was out of hand with about a minute to go, allowing role players to get on the Kings court, if only for a few precious seconds.

No doubt that Jesuit's strength lies in its team first mentality.

"The game was exciting for us," Glodowski said. "We had some good looks and we just started clicking."

Franklin head coach Jesse Formaker praised his team's desire and effort.

"We didn't take care of the basketball," Formaker said of the Wildcats' 20 turnovers. "We played a very good Jesuit team, to their credit."

Now Jesuit gets its much anticipated rematch with Sheldon, which beat Jesuit on and Feb. 9 by three points each time. The Huskies are led by senior , the younger brother of former Sheldon hoops star DeMarcus Nelson, who played four years at Duke before stints in the NBA and NBA D-League and is now playing professionally overseas. Darius Nelson has committed to play at Texas-El Paso next season.

"Sheldon may be the best team we've played all year," Harcos said. "We've got to work hard and take advantage of every opportunity."

Before Nelson hit a game-winning shot Tuesday to beat Granite Bay 67-66 in overtime, Uu said that, to a man, his teammates wanted one more shot at Sheldon.

"It'll be our third time playing them this season," he said. "The third time is the charm."