Modesto Christian too much for Jesuit, captures 21st section title in dominant showing
The Modesto Christian boys basketball team trailed for less than five minutes in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship Saturday at Golden 1 Center. The rest of the game was a display of pure dominance.
San Diego State commit Bj Davis scored a game-high 27 points and added nine rebounds and five assists. Jalen Brown added 19 points. And Prince Oseya finished with another double double, scoring 17 points and hauling in 13 rebounds as the Crusaders remained unbeaten against Northern California opponents with a 79-53 pummeling of the Jesuit Marauders.
It is Modesto Christian’s second straight blue banner and 21st section title overall — a Sac-Joaquin Section record — across five divisions.
“We know when we’re playing our best basketball, it’s tough to beat us,” Davis said. “I feel like when we’re locked in, there’s no telling us what we can’t do.”
The Crusaders never trailed after the three-minute mark of the first quarter. They ended the period on a 6-0 run and opened a 21-9 lead in the second.
Jeremiah Bernard, an All-District football player, drew the assignment of Jesuit’s leader. As the primary defender, Bernard held McDonald’s All-American and Stanford commit Andrej Stojakovic to six points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half. He finished with a team-high 17 points.
“That’s the best defender in Northern California.” head coach Brice Fantazia said.
Said Bernard: “I just used my physicality. The football background helps a lot. The main thing was just playing hard the whole game.”
The Crusaders held a 14-point halftime lead that ballooned to 21 points with 6:37 left in the game.
Brown averaged 19 points a game as a junior for Everett Alvarez High in Salinas last season but didn’t experience the playoff success he was looking for. He transferred to Modesto Christian for a championship.
Brown led the team with 28 points in a semifinal blowout over Inderkum and broke down Jesuit defenders, getting to the rim at will on Saturday.
“That’s why I came to MC,” he said. “I know they had big goals and big dreams … ever since the first day of practice. It was hard, but we continued to work every day and that’s how we got those W’s.”
Davis and Oseya are back-to-back champions. They anchored the Crusaders defensively, Davis hounding anyone who dared to challenge him with a drive to the rim and Oseya changing shots down low, rebounding missed shots and turning them into quick offense. Modesto Christian out-rebounded Jesuit 47-15.
“I just have the most confidence in myself and my teammates, so I might sound foolish but I kind of envisioned this.” Davis said of the win.
The celebration was minimal. Not because they didn’t appreciate the accomplishment, but they have more to do. They are focused on getting back to the Open Division state championship game in the coming weeks.
“We’re going to enjoy the night, go out to eat as a team, do what a regular team would do. But after tomorrow, we hit the ground running. It’s time.” Davis said.
The Crusaders were surprisingly named a No. 3 seed in the section playoffs despite zero Northern California losses and league wins over two top 10 Sac-Joaquin Section teams.
State seedings are out Sunday and many believe that anything less than a No. 1 seed is unreasonable.
The Crusaders have wins over Campolindo, Clovis West, Inderkum and now Jesuit, which will likely also be in the Open Division.
“I never advocate for seeding, but we should be the one seed in the Open (Division),” Fantazia said. “Nobody in NorCal played a tougher schedule than us and nobody should be ranked ahead of us in NorCal. These boys earned the one seed.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2023 at 10:40 AM.
