Submitted by Denair High School:
ELK GROVE – On this night, Bradshaw
Christian simply was the better team. Led by 6-foot-8 senior center Javion
Cooper, the Pride turned away Denair 60-45 Tuesday night in the semifinals of
the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V basketball playoffs.
Denair (26-3), which rolled to a
Southern League championship behind its bruising front line and overall
balance, found itself in an unfamiliar position as the smaller team against
Bradshaw Christian and Cooper.
“He had seven or eight blocked shots by
himself and they had 12 or 13 as a team,” said Denair Coach R.J. Henderson. “I
think their length was the difference. You can watch it on film, but until you
see it in person or coach against it, it’s just a different feel. I think it
took us until halftime to really adjust.”
By that time, the Coyotes were down
31-21. And though they cut the lead to eight points early in the fourth
quarter, they never could get close enough to really threaten Bradshaw.
“Every time we made a run, they usually
answered it with a run of their own,” Henderson said. “Ten points behind felt
like 25. Credit to them. Where we wanted to catch the ball, they didn’t let us.
“I wasn’t disappointed with our effort.
… I just think sometimes you’re going to run up against a team that’s better.”
Jordan Smith-Siles led Denair with 16
points and 11 rebounds, and Jacob Kuharski had 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard
Connor Leonard came off the bench to add seven points and seven assists.
“Jordan was really our one guy who kept
us in it,” Henderson said. “And I thought Connor played really well.”
Bradshaw’s victory avenged last
season’s overtime loss to Denair in the second round of the playoffs.
Despite losing, Denair will play at
least once more next week in the Northern California tournament. Pairings will
be announced Sunday and the Coyotes certainly can expect a long bus ride to a
higher seeded opponent.
“My guess is we’ll play a Section champ
or runner-up,” Henderson said. “Our seniors aren’t ready for this to end yet.
There were some tears in the locker room after the game. … I don’t have any
idea where they’ll send us. I just know we have another game.”
Meanwhile, Bradshaw Christian moves on
to the Section finals on Friday against Brookside Christian in Sacramento. Both
schools also have already qualified for the NorCal tournament.