x
Breaking News
More () »

Sheldon Huskies state bound after edging Bishop O'Dowd 61-60

SANTA CLARA - After suffering a heartbreaking loss one year ago to Roseville's Woodcreek Timberwolves, the Sheldon Huskies are headed to state after defeating Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd 61-60 in the CIF Open Division NorCal final on Friday night at Santa Clara University.

The Huskies scored six consecutive points punctuated by an ally-oop from Dom Johnson to Ronald Agebsar to put the game out of reach of the Dragons.

Sheldon (29-5), a public school, located in South Sacramento but part of the Elk Grove Unified School District, advances to the CIF Open Division State Championship next Saturday night in their own backyard. They'll face Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth at Golden 1 Center at 8:00 p.m.

"It's just crazy that we came back from always being down (in games) and now (the NorCal championship) is ours," said Johnson, who scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Sheldon. "Now our names are going up (on the walls) at Sheldon High School and (they'll) be there forever.

Senior captain Dale Currie chipped in 13 points for the Huskies, who had to endure losing Justin Nguyen and Johnson for different periods of the game due to injury.

Nguyen fell and smacked his head on the Leavey Center court and would exit the contest to be checked out by medical staff. Johnson would also exit the second half after suffering a right ankle injury. Both players would later return and score big buckets for the Huskies, who never trailed Bishop O'Dowd by more than five points.

It was sweet redemption for the Huskies who were haunted all year by the memory of coming up short on this stage last season against Woodcreek. The Huskies used the sting from that loss as motivation for their success all season.

"I never thought in a million years we'd be right here," Sheldon head coach Joey Rollings told ABC10. "We gutted it out at the end and made the shots we had to, got the stops and won by one, so, great game."

Follow Sean Cunningham on Twitter: @SeanCunningham

Before You Leave, Check This Out