Mariposa boys win section title with overtime thriller

The blue banner is coming back to Mariposa.

Jacob Baca hit a dramatic 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime and Dalton Rockwood scored 35 points as the Mariposa County High boys basketball team won their first ever section championship with a jaw-dropping 79-75 win over Brookside Christian on Friday night at Sleep Train Arena.

The victory sent the large contingent of Mariposa fans into a frenzy as the players exploded off the bench.

“This was a goal from the beginning,” Mariposa coach Bob Jaekle said. “I’m speechless. It took a big shot from Baca, but these guys stepped up. It was an exciting game.”

The fourth-seeded Grizzlies (24-4) erased a 10-point deficit in the second half to knock off the second-seeded Knights (25-5). Bradley Chambers came up big, scoring 14 of his 19 points in the final two quarters and overtime. Chambers attacked the basket in transition and found creative ways to get his shot up off the glass against the bigger, quicker Brookside Christian players.

The Grizzlies went almost exclusively to a 2-3 zone defense in the second half and outrebounded the Knights 31-18 after getting outrebounded in the first half 23-17.

Mariposa whittled the Brookside Christian lead down to 52-49 by the end of the third quarter as Rockwood broke free for a layup with 8 seconds left.

“I never imagined I’d have a game like this, especially in the section championship,” Rockwood said. “Most of my points came off layups and free throws, so my teammates obviously did a great job of getting me the ball in good spots.”

Chambers gave Mariposa its first lead since the first quarter when he hit one of two free throws to put the Grizzlies ahead 58-57 with 4:31 left.

The Knights surged ahead as Da’Vion Barlow (21 points) and TreVon Simmons (26) combined for all of Brookside Christian’s points during a 10-4 run that gave the Knights a 68-63 lead with 1:09 left.

Chambers drew a foul while attempting a three and knocked down two free throws to cut the lead to 68-65 with 54.8 seconds left.

Mariposa trailed 71-68 after Simmons made two free throws with 6.9 seconds left. The Grizzlies quickly move the ball up the court and the ball found its way into the hands of Baca, who fired off a shot with the 6-foot-4 Phillip Patrick in his face, and banked it in to send the game into overtime.

“I just put it up,” Baca said. “There were like point something seconds left. I was just shocked it banked in. It didn’t feel good off my hand.”

Baca finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds while guarding Patrick full time on the other end.

The Grizzlies showed up with plenty of support as the high school was closed on Friday so people could make the long trip to the game. Five router buses caravaned from the high school to Sacramento.

The Knights (25-5) did their best to quiet the large contingent of Mariposa fans with a 21-8 run midway through the first half to open up a 27-17 lead early in the second quarter.

The Grizzlies struggled against Brookside Christian’s inside-out duo of Patrick and Simmons in the first half.

Simmons hit three 3-pointers and scored 17 in the first half.

Patrick was a beast inside for the Knights on both ends, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.

Rockwood kept the Grizzlies in the game, scoring 19 in the first half on 6 of 9 shooting from the floor at 7 of 9 from the free throw line. The rest of the Grizzlies shot 4 of 22 from the flor in the first half.

Both teams will advance to the NorCal Regional playoffs next week. Mariposa will find out its opponent on Sunday night. The Grizzlies will likely host their next game as a section champion.

“We’re not the biggest team, not the strongest or most athletic, but we playw ith a lot of heart,” Rockwood said. “That’s how we pull off these games.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Mariposa boys win section title with overtime thriller."