James Burns: Sheldon star leads offensive onslaught

SACRAMENTO -- Darius Nelson doesn't pass The Look Test.

He's not the smoothest player. A little chunky on the delivery. A little wide in the lower body. Most of the time, he looks exhausted.

That's part of his allure, I guess.

Sheldon superstar Darius Nelson lulls you into a false sense of confidence, a false sense of hope, because he's neither Muscle Max or Pete the Polished Prospect.

But at the height of the action, when the game matters most, he can cut up your dreams into a million pieces with the cold precision of surgeon.

Like Thursday.

Nelson left Merced's dream season in shambles, reducing the Central California Conference champions into an also-ran with a 92-75 victory in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinal.

For Merced fans, it was a sight like no other this season.

With less than 2 minutes left, with the game long out of Merced's reach, Otis Caery wandered off into the far corner of the court.

Opposite the action.

The happy-go-lucky Merced senior knelt, slapping the hardwood with his palms. He spent the next few seconds choking back the emotions of another loss at Arco Arena.

"It's not over, but it feels like it's over," Merced senior Reggie Nelson said in the tunnel afterwards.

"This is what we wanted. As kids, when we were freshmen, we wanted to be in this spot. At Arco. Playing for a ring. ... The ring is what we wanted. The soccer players got their championship. We see them wearing their rings. That's all we wanted."

With that, his eyes began to leak, forcing him to pause and compose himself.

Merced coach Marcus Knott finished his thought.

"The goal this season was to win section," he said. "When that's no longer an option, when that is no longer available to you, it's going to hurt. That's what we saw. That emotion is what makes this team special."

Merced had come all this way on depth and experience, unselfishness and a blue-collar work ethic, only to have its pursuit of a blue section banner unraveled by the one thing it lacked: a superstar.

Thanks for nothing, Darius.

Thanks for the tears, Sheldon.

Darius Nelson was every bit the player he was billed to be -- a snipe-you-from-3, rebound-and-score killer. And with its star in the zone, Sheldon looked like the Showtime Lakers.

Nelson finished with 34 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal. When he wasn't pouring in buckets (13-of-18 shooting), he was standing at the charity stripe (7 of 9).

He shined on the season's biggest and brightest stage, turning in a princely performance on the Kings' home floor.

You thought purple was the color of royalty?

On Thursday, it was turquoise blue.

Afterwards, Knott spread praise for his opponent democratically, as you would expect a coach to do. He was complimentary of Sheldon's other working parts: Mansel Simmons (eight rebounds), the undersized center; Ramon Eaton (11 points), a 6-foot-, 8-inch junior; D'Erryl Williams, a freshman point guard; and Eric Williams (19 points), the shooter.

"As a group, they were dynamic," Knott said.

This is true.

But for 8 minutes in the first half, Darius Nelson operated on another plane. And it was during these 8 minutes, Sheldon ultimately won the game.

Nelson had 10 points during a 27-10 run in the second quarter, wasting all the hard work Merced logged at the end of the first. Merced had cut Sheldon's lead to 24-20 with a 10-4 run highlighted by 3s from Caery and Jaquari People.

Sheldon responded with a flurry of its own, and by the time Nelson found Eric Williams for a reverse layup with 5 minutes to go in the half, the rout was on.

He punctuated the victory with a left-handed jam in the fourth quarter, knifing through the lane.

"He reminds me of Jarrett Sparks," Reggie Nelson said of his namesake. "We knew he would get to the basket. We knew if he was open, he would shoot the ball. We felt like we had an answer.

"He came out feeling good, fastbreaking and shooting. He got it all tonight."

Worry not, Merced fans.

There will be at least one more game for Merced, which must now turn its eyes toward the NorCal Tournament.

If it can.

You see, the season isn't over.

It just feels like it.

The kid who won't pass The Look Test saw to that.

(Thanks for nothing, Darius.)

James Burns is managing editor/sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.