It’s been two decades since Denair won a Sac-Joaquin Section boys basketball title, but loyal fans of the Coyotes sensed early on this season that this year’s team might be capable of something special. The Coyotes are led by four versatile seniors with nearly interchangeable skills who have been playing together since junior high school. Coach R.J. Henderson calls them the “core four.”

One of those players, Mario Plasencia, has started on the varsity since he was a freshman. The others – Cooper Feldman, Jack Henderson and Connor Leonard – have been part of the varsity since they were sophomores.

They were part of a group that has won or shared the past three Southern League titles, reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Tournament twice and even earned a spot in the NorCal Tournament two years ago. Collectively, they have won 64 of the past 73 games.

Now, after Saturday’s convincing 62-45 victory over Bradshaw Christian in Golden One Arena in Sacramento, they can call themselves Section champions.

“It’s a euphoric feeling. I’m really happy for the kids, the other coaches, the community and the school itself,” said Denair coach R.J. Henderson, who credited players who graduated in the past few years for helping to create the foundation for this year’s squad. 

“There’s a lot of kids on previous teams who helped build this,” he said. “It’s all about the kids. We’ve been blessed and fortunate. We’ve got some real basketball players who want to perfect their craft. They’re going 10 months of the year.”

Denair (26-4) now moves on to the NorCal Division V Tournament, where the Coyotes earned a No. 5 seed in the 14-team bracket. They will open Tuesday at home against No. 12 Orland (19-10). Tip-off is at 6 p.m. Orland lost Wednesday to Pierce of Arbuckle in the Northern Section semifinals.

Henderson admitted some mild disappointment that the Coyotes weren’t seeded higher.

“We did what you’re supposed to do to receive a higher seed,” he said. “We won our league and won our Section. I just think that should be rewarded. … We’re 26-4 and played a harder schedule than two years ago.”

Tuesday’s winner will face the winner of the game between No. 4 Priory (16-11) of Portola Valley and No. 12 Mariposa (22-6) on Thursday. Denair and Mariposa tied for the Southern League title this year. The Coyotes have won two of their three games, including a 60-56 victory last week in the Section semifinals.

Looming in the NorCal semifinals – if Denair should win twice — is a potential matchup on Saturday against top-seeded Cloverdale (25-2), which received a first-round bye.

The other bye in the tournament went to No. 2 seed Head-Royce (21-5). Also on that side of the bracket is No. 10 Bradshaw Christian (12-19) and No. 11 Ripon Christian (20-8), teams Denair has defeated a combined three times this season.

Henderson is not worried about later rounds. Not yet, with a tough Orland team coming in.

“Our focus is all on tomorrow,” he said Monday. “It’s too daunting to look ahead.”

Henderson described Orland as a “very physical team,” based on what he’s seen on video.

“They kind of look like football player,” he said. “They look like they hit the weight room a lot. They look like they have a real good full-court and half-court man defense. They like to get out and run.”

For Denair to beat Orland, the Coyotes will have to play as well as they did Saturday against Bradshaw Christian in the Section finals.

After close victories over Aspire and Mariposa in the first two rounds, top-seeded Denair led almost from start to finish against Bradshaw Christian, a team it had beaten by two points back in December.

Denair led 25-16 at halftime and 40-33 after three quarters. Bradshaw never got closer than five points in the fourth quarter.

“To be honest, I thought they might have another run with 3 minutes to go. They just never got on a roll,” Henderson said.

Denair stretched the lead on a basket by Plasencia (20 points, seven rounds) and another basket and free throw by Feldman (16 points, six rebounds). The Coyotes lived at the foul line, shooting 17 free throws in the fourth quarter alone with Bradshaw was forced to foul to stop the clock. For the game, Denair made 20 of its 32 free throw attempts.

Part of Denair’s strategy had to do with the size of Golden One Arena, home to the NBA’s Kings. High school players often have trouble adjusting to the depth perception in a large gym. The Coyotes – who average about 20 three-point shots a game – only attempted 12 against Bradshaw. 

“We were adamant about getting to the basket. We talked about it before game,” Henderson said.

Izaiahs Plasencia added 10 points and six rebounds for Denair.

The Section champion Denair boys soccer team will open the NorCal Division V playoffs at home against Wheatland on Tuesday at 5 p.m. 

Fourth-seeded Denair (16-1-5) tied with Delhi for the Southern League championship before winning three playoff games to earn its first-ever Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI title.

Wheatland (14-3-3) finished second in the Butte View League, then lost 2-0 to Live Oak on Saturday in the Northern Section finals.

Tuesday’s winner will move to face the winner of the match between No. 1 Leadership (17-1-1) of Hayward and No. 8 seed Williams (17-2). That match will be played Thursday at 5 p.m. on the field of the higher seed. The NorCal finals are scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m., also at the home of the higher seed. (The complete NorCal Division V bracket can be found here.)

Denair hasn’t played since shutting out Gustine 3-0 on Feb. 19 in the Section finals. Coach Miguel Hernandez said the Coyotes practiced three times last week while waiting to see who they would play in the NorCal tournament. He said Denair – which hasn’t lost since the first game of the season – will again rely on its stifling defense and an opportunistic offense. 

“We know we’re going to play the same system; we’re not going to change anything up,” Hernandez said. “Everybody is healthy and ready to go.”

Hernandez said he will remind his players before the game that they’ve earned the right to still be playing this late in the season and that they can beat anyone if they continue to outwork the opposition.

He doesn’t know much about Wheatland, other than a few snippets of games he has seen on video.

“They look pretty good, to be honest,” Hernandez said. “They have three or four players who really stood out on offense. At this point, there’s not going to be any easy games, though.”

Despite sharing the league title and winning the Section Division VI banner, Denair finds itself seeded fourth in the eight-team bracket. Delhi (15-1-5) – a team Denair tied twice in league play – was rewarded with the No. 2 seed in the NorCal bracket after capturing the Section Division V title.

“I wasn’t a fan of being seeded fourth, especially with Delhi being two,” Hernandez admitted. “It’s something we’ll live with. I like being an underdog. I can use that to motivate the guys.”

Tuesday’s soccer match will be the first half of an historic day in Denair High sports history. The boys basketball team also will be hosting a NorCal playoff game on the same day. The Coyotes will face Orland at 6 p.m. in the Denair gym, which is only steps away from Jack Lytton Stadium where the soccer match will be contested.

Izaiahs Plasencia – the often-overshadowed fifth starter on the Denair boys basketball team – made his presence felt in a big way Wednesday night. The junior put the Coyotes ahead with a 3-pointer with 45 seconds to play, then blocked a shot on defense to lift Denair to a thrilling 60-56 victory over Southern League rival Mariposa in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V semifinals.

Top-seeded Denair (25-4) moves on to play for its first Section title in 20 years on Saturday. Waiting in the championship game will be No. 11 seed Bradshaw Christian of Sacramento, which edged Ripon Christian 38-37 in the other semifinal.

The title game tips off at noon at Golden One Arena in Sacramento.

Denair and Mariposa know each other well. They have been the two best teams in the Southern League the past four seasons and tied for the league title this year, each handing the other their only SL loss by winning on the other’s home court.

Still, Mariposa unveiled something new Thursday night – a sticky 3-2 zone defense that had Denair on its heels during an uncharacteristically sloppy first half, which saw the Coyotes trailing 31-26 after having made eight turnovers. In their first two meetings, Mariposa played primarily man-to-man defense. 

“Their zone gave us fits,” said Denair coach R.J. Henderson. “It really prevented our guards from penetrating from outside and forced our bigs to make decisions to pass the ball.”

The Coyotes made the appropriate adjustments on offense at halftime. They scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to go up by seven.

“We did a lot better in the second half passing out of the zone,” Henderson said. “We had better looks (at shots) and made better decision. We got their zone to move. And we only had three turnovers, which was huge.”

Still, Mariposa fought back to trail only 42-40 after three quarters. The teams traded the lead four times in the fourth quarter, with the Grizzlies holding a 56-53 advantage with just over 2 minutes left to play.

That’s when Denair’s defense dug in. The Coyotes held Mariposa scoreless the rest of the way, setting the stage for Plasencia’s heroics.

Denair’s other four starters – seniors Mario Plasencia (Izaiahs’ brother), Conner Leonard, Jack Henderson and Cooper Feldman – garner much of the attention because of their gaudy 63-9 record together the past three seasons. Izaiah Plasencia has been what his coach calls “the glue guy,” the player willing to do whatever is required to win a particular game. Sometimes that’s scoring, sometimes that’s making a key defensive play.

Wednesday night, it was both.

Plasencia scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, including the clutch 3-pointer with 45 seconds to play to that gave Denair a 57-56 lead. Then, on Mariposa’s next possession, he blocked Johann Hill-Zeck’s potential go-ahead shot at the rim.

Mario Plasencia grabbed the rebound and eventually was fouled with 17 seconds to play. His two free throws gave Denair a 59-56 lead. Denair’s defense kicked in again, trapping a Mariposa player in the corner and forcing a jump ball. The Coyotes took possession and Jack Henderson (18 points, 10 assists) made a free throw to ice the game.

Izaiahs Plasencia said he sensed before the game it might be his time to shine.

“When we were shooting today, I was feeling it,” he told the Merced Sun-Star. “I took that feeling into the game and I showed them what I can do.”

Next up for Denair is Bradshaw Christian, another team the Coyotes have some history with. Denair beat them in the first round of the Section playoffs three years ago, but lost to Bradshaw in the semifinals in 2020. In December, Denair won on Bradshaw’s court when Izaiahs Plasencia scored on an offensive rebound and putback with 12 seconds to play.

Despite being the 11^th seed, Bradshaw has caught fire at just the right time – knocking off Argonaut, Fortune Early College Prep and then Ripon Christian in the playoffs.

“They’ve had to run the gauntlet so far,” Henderson said. “They’ve beaten the No. 6 seed, the No. 3 seed and the No. 2 seed – all on the road. They’ve woken up.”

Henderson said he intentionally scheduled a non-league game with Bradshaw, anticipating the two schools might meet again in the playoffs.

“We went up there knowing they’d be one of the top five D5 teams in the Section,” he said. “You want to play a tough schedule. That’s how you get to be a No. 1 seed.”

If Denair wins Saturday, it will be the school’s first Section boys basketball title since 2002, when the Coyotes earned a coveted blue banner by defeating Ripon Christian. Win or lose, Denair already is assured of a spot in the NorCal Tournament, which begins Tuesday. The pairings will be announced Sunday and Henderson expects Denair to be at home in the first round.

“Our two goals this season were to win the Southern League and get into the NorCals,” Henderson said. “But we had never really talked about a Section title. When we got the one seed, it was like, ‘Why not us?’ It’s really only been in the last week or so we’ve thought about the blue banner.”

Henderson isn’t worried about his players competing for the first time in the much larger Golden One Arena, home to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

“It’s a 10-foot rim and a little longer court than normal, but it’s still basketball,” he said. “I told our players to enjoy the experience and bring their best effort. Every kid and all the coaches will remember this for a long time.”

Denair Middle School will host multiple sessions for students and their parents on the importance of digital safety on Monday, Feb. 28. 

The student presentations will be at 9 a.m. (sixth-graders), 10:30 p.m. (leadership students) and 1 p.m. (seventh- and eighth-graders).

The parent meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and also will be livestreamed on the DMS Facebook page. Parents of students at any Denair campus – Denair Elementary School, Denair Middle School, Denair High School and Denair Charter Academy – are invited to attend or watch online. There is no cost.

All the meetings will be held at the Coyote Center on the DMS campus.

The presentations will be made by #ICANHELP, a nonprofit that educates on the proper use of social media and empowers students to deal with conflict, negativity, and harassment online. 

“We don’t usually think of it, but just like the way negativity can spread, people can be swayed or encouraged when the majority are doing ‘good’ online,” said #ICANHELP co-founder Kim Karr. “Students just need to be shown how to respond to the negativity. … Through #ICANHELP, students are learning that kindness is saving lives and it doesn’t have to be anything big — a simple smile or a nice Post-It note on a locker might be all it takes.”

For much of Monday night’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoff game, Denair looked less like a No. 1 seed and more like a squad that hadn’t been challenged in nearly two months.

Eighth-seeded Aspire Langston Hughes Academy of Stockton made the Coyotes work harder than they have since early January. Aspire’s stingy zone defense kept Denair’s outside shooters from their preferred spots, frustrating the Coyotes, who surprisingly found themselves trailing by five points late in the third quarter and still tied at 45-45 with 4½ minutes to play.

With the game on the line, Denair’s experience kicked in. Senior Connor Leonard scored six points and the Coyotes were clutch at the free throw line, propelling them to a hard-earned 57-49 victory over the Titans in the second round.

The victory sets up a semifinal rematch at home Wednesday at 7 p.m. with No. 4 Mariposa (22-5), who shared the Southern League title with the Coyotes (24-4) this season. Mariposa edged Bret Harte 50-47 on Monday night.

“I’m absolutely glad it’s over,” Denair coach R.J. Henderson said of Monday’s game. “It was our first close game in six weeks. There were some nerves out there from our guys. It was a combination of that and that they (Aspire) played well. We’re relieved to get through.”

Denair cruised through the Southern League season, losing only 55-52 at home to Mariposa on Jan. 3 and blowing out everyone else. The Coyotes avenged their one loss with a dominant 69-46 victory at Mariposa on Feb. 14, which earned them not only a No. 1 seed but a first-round bye.

Though Denair has won 20 of its last 22 games, Aspire was intimidated. The Titans relied on a ball-hawking 2-3 zone to slow Denair’s typically efficient offense while controlling the pace and keeping the score close throughout.

“We’ve faced zones before, but not many that were that active,” Henderson said. “Their guards at the top did a good job of firing at our shooters and their bigs at the bottom rebounded well.  They were very physical against us.”

Henderson credited senior reserve Joseph Gregg with helping to steady the Coyotes during some key minutes in both halves.

“He had his best game as a varsity player – three or four steals and a couple of points,” Henderson praised. “He’s a quick, disrupting player on defense. This was a perfect matchup for him. He kept our team where we needed to be.”

In the end, it was Denair’s “core four” – seniors Cooper Feldman (15 points), Jack Henderson (14 points), Mario Plasencia (12 points and 10 rebounds despite foul trouble) and Leonard – who came through again. Those four players – who all played as sophomores on Denair’s NorCal playoff team two years ago — raised their record to 61-9 over the past four seasons.

“We finally strung a few stops together on defense and then we made our free throws,” Henderson said.

Next up is a team Denair knows well – Mariposa.

“They kind of mirror us. They have a couple of dynamic players,” Henderson said. “There’s not a weak link on that team. … Both sides respect each, play very hard and like to compete against each other.”

The winner Wednesday night will move on to the Division V championship game Saturday at noon at Golden One Arena in Sacramento.

Wednesday’s other semifinal will be played in Ripon where No. 2 Ripon Christian (20-7) will host No. 11 Bradshaw Christian (11-18) of Sacramento.

Denair has beaten all three of the other semifinalists this season, underscoring why it earned the playoff top seed. Henderson also is proud of the fact that the Southern League – which doesn’t always get a lot of respect at the Section level – has two of the last four teams remaining.

“It’s nice seeing two Southern League teams not just seeded first and fourth, but to know that one of us is going to play in the finals in Sacramento,” he said.

Denair already is assured of a spot in the NorCal Tournament, which starts next week. Two years ago, the Coyotes lost on the road in the first round. With two more victories and a Section title this week, there is a good chance they could host a NorCal game next week.

“We’re confident, but we’ve still got a lot of work ahead to get to Golden One and validate our No. 1 seed,” Henderson said. “We’re looking forward to it.”