‘A legendary win’: Modesto Christian outlasts Franklin in Division I semifinal
The final minutes of Modesto Christian’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinals against four-seed Franklin of Elk Grove on Tuesday evening were the biggest of the Crusaders’ season.
Every shot felt like it needed to go in. And it did.
The Crusaders had to climb back into the game, trailing by nearly double digits in the fourth quarter, with just over five minutes to play. But they weren’t just playing for a win, they were playing for more.
A spot in their fifth straight section title game was on the line, and a win streak that most programs across the country would dream of. The Crusaders had not lost a home playoff game since 1998.
Junior Siincere Hudson scored 14 points in the second half and overtime, classmate Trevor Dickson added 15, and senior Cole Martin scored 13. The Crusaders turned a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 73-68 overtime win.
“Our legacy was on the line,” Dickson said. “They were right there with us. We scored, they scored, we scored, they scored. But our legacy was on the line and we just couldn’t fold.”
The Crusaders will play Sheldon on Saturday at Golden 1 Center at 8 p.m. for the D-I section title. Two of the section’s most storied programs face off in the championship game for the fourth time since 2018. The Crusaders are 2-1 in previous matchups in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
“It’s a legendary win, one that will be talked about for a while,” Dickson said.
A game Teevan says the team needed
The Crusaders had the lead the entire first half before a Franklin surge in the third quarter. The Wildcats turned a 26-22 halftime deficit into a 34-31 lead with three minutes, 51 seconds left in the frame.
Franklin took the game’s momentum and did not look back, led by Aiden Rollins and Kwali Simmons, who each scored six points in the quarter. At the end of the frame, Franklin led 42-39. Just under midway through the fourth quarter, Franklin held a nine-point lead.
But the Crusaders crept back into it. They had been down in a big game before and Teevan reminded them of that when he took his last timeout of regulation with 5:26 to go.
“We were down nine (earlier this season) against Folsom with three (minutes) to go and found a way to win,” Teevan said. “We needed to get stops. The game pressure was getting to us … and that was really just a meditating timeout where we said for everybody to calm down.”
They did just enough to stay in the game. Hudson scored eight points and had a steal in the final five minutes to power the team down the stretch. With 49 seconds left, Somto Patrick corralled an offensive rebound and Cole Martin tied the contest late with a wing three. Hudson drained a pair of free throws seconds later as the Crusaders scored five points in the game’s final 20 seconds as part of a 13-4 run. The two sides finished regulation knotted at 55-55.
Hudson started the extra frame with a pair of driving, contested layups to get the top seed on the board. He did not score in the frame again but had his fingerprints all over the win. A pair of assists to Cole Martin for a three and a midrange jump shot helped continue the scoring. Dickson drained a pull-up three, then Martin connected from deep again. The Crusaders seemingly didn’t have an empty possession in overtime.
But almost every time the Crusaders scored, the Wildcats answered. Rollins had a driving layup, then a three, then another two-point field goal to keep his team in the game. But timely Crusaders stops helped them take a 70-66 lead with under a minute left. Dickson sealed the game with a pair of trips to the free throw line, sending Modesto Christian to Saturday’s Division I section title game at Golden 1 Center.
Once again, multiple Crusaders contributed. Hudson had a team-high 23 points, Martin added 20 and Dickson scored 19.
“We needed that,” Teevan said. “We needed some game pressure. We needed to feel the moment. And our kids are good players, man.”
Back in the section title game
The Crusaders will play for the D-I Sac-Joaquin Section championship yet again, chasing their fourth title in five years.
They hoped to be the first team since Sheldon to four-peat as section champions but had that spoiled by Folsom last season.
Now back in the title game, they hope to get that game back. They take on the No. 2 seed Huskies, who knocked off No. 3 Folsom 62-52 in Tuesday night’s semifinal. Two of the section’s most storied programs have combined for 29 section titles (22 by MC, 7 by Sheldon) and multiple CIF Northern California Regional appearances.
Modesto Christian is 7-2 against the Huskies since 2013 and has won the last two matchups. Sheldon is back in the section title game for the first time since 2022, when it fell to Modesto Christian, 52-42. Two years prior, the Huskies beat the Crusaders for the title, 64-61.
“All four years, I want to get (to the section title game),” said Dickson, who made the game as a freshman and sophomore as well. “We’ve got to win this one. It’s gonna be a fun game and I love the atmosphere.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 11:58 AM.
