State finals bound: Phillips’ heroics lift Crusaders past Campolindo in NorCal Open Final
When the game is hanging in the balance and a team needs a play, the stars have to step up.
The Modesto Christian boys basketball team found itself in the final quarter of a heavyweight fight with top-seeded Campolindo leading by two.
Enter Jamari Phillips.
The sophomore exploded for eight of his team-high 20 points in the final one minute, 40 seconds to hold off the Cougars (28-2) and win the Northern California Regional Championship, 56-53.
The Crusaders (30-5) won their first Northern California Open Division title and will advance to the CIF Open Division State Championship on Saturday, March 8, at Golden 1 Center at 8 p.m. They will play Southern California champion Corona Centennial.
“This is the biggest win in school history,” Crusaders coach Brice Fantazia said. “That’s saying something, with our history.”
After leading by three points at the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders extended their first-half advantage to as much as 10 points midway through the second quarter, and led by nine at halftime.
Campolindo’s experience showed in the second half. The Cougars, who came into the matchup as winners of 22 straight, slowly chipped away at the Crusaders’ halftime lead until a three-point play by Campolindo’s Aidan Mahaney tied the game at 40 with one minute, 56 seconds left in the third.
The two Northern California powers went back and forth in the final quarter. With Campolindo ahead by one point, freshman Zeke Davis collected an offensive rebound that led to a Bj Davis driving right-handed layup to give the Crusaders a 48-47 lead with 2:12 left.
Coming out of a timeout, Phillips connected on an NBA-range, right-wing three to extend the Modesto Christian lead to four. After Matt Radell split a pair of free throws for Campolindo, Phillips shook off Mahaney for a step back, one-legged three to put the Crusaders ahead 54-48 with 30 seconds left. Phillips would score again after scooping up an offensive rebound to extend the lead to eight with 20 seconds left to play.
“He’s not afraid of the moment,” Fantazia said. “I’ve seen it ever since he stepped foot on campus here. He just hit two of the biggest shots in school history. It was a big-time performance.”
Campolindo’s Mahaney was as advertised. The Saint Mary’s College-bound guard was held scoreless in the first quarter but did all he could to make things interesting for the rest of the game.
“He’s one of the best point guards I’ve seen ever in Northern California,” Fantazia said. “I thought Bj (Davis) did a heck of a job on him, making him work for everything, but he’s gonna be an All-WCC player at Saint Mary’s.”
After a technical foul, Mahaney scored the Cougars’ final five points, knocking down both free throws and a contested left-wing three.
The Diablo Athletic League MVP scored a game-high 27 points and barely missed sending the game to overtime on a half-court shot that hit nearly every part of the rim before falling to the court.
“I think a lot of people felt like next year was our year,” Fantazia said. “Next year was going to be the year when we were going to be kind of, ‘the kings of the north’ or whatever everyone was saying. But, I said all along, why not this year? And we didn’t use our youth as an excuse.”
