History achieved: Oakland High boys win first state basketball championship
SACRAMENTO – The day began with a message from one of Oakland High’s all-time greats, a video clip to tell the players how much he loved them and to remind them what they represent.
“Y’all know where we come from and y’all know what it means for the town,” Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard said.
A few hours later, Lillard’s former school ran through Buena-Ventura with an array of steals, blocks and superior play at Golden 1 Center to capture the program’s first state boys basketball championship, 59-43.
- DAME’S VIDEO: Former Oakland star Damian Lillard sends message to team
The Division III crown was sealed when Oakland, leading by 10 at halftime, blitzed the Southern California regional champion with a huge run to start the third quarter.
Two minutes into the second half, the Wildcats led 33-13.
From there, the only unknown was how decisive the outcome would be as Money Williams, Anthony Lacy and the rest of the Wildcats took complete command.
Oakland never trailed and led for all but the first 69 seconds, when the score was 0-0.
Williams, the Montana-bound star playing in his final high school game, finished with 22 points, four steals, two blocks and two assists. He had 16 points after halftime.
“Man, I am still thinking, ‘Is this reality?’ This is crazy,” said Williams, the championship net draped around his neck. “I still think that I am dreaming. Me and my brothers did this. We really wanted it. People doubted us and we stayed composed, we stayed connected and we got the job done.”
The Wildcats led 23-13 at halftime despite shooting just 32.1% from the field and 0.0% (0 for 9) from 3-point range.
What Oakland did well was defend. The Wildcats had nine steals and three blocks in the first two quarters and did not slow down after the break.
“We definitely knew they were going to be quick,” Buena coach Matthew Colton said. “You could see it on film. We took the wrong day to go cold offensively when we did get shots.”
If there was any hope for Buena at halftime, it quickly evaporated as Oakland forced a turnover and had three steals on the Southern California team’s first four possessions of the second half.
The Wildcats were on their way to becoming the first Oakland Athletic League boys team to win a state title in basketball since McClymonds captured one in 2008.
Oakland reached the state final with an epic victory at Laney College over rival Oakland Tech for the regional championship.
Three days later, appearing in its first state final, Oakland made the ultimate school history.
“For the program, it’s huge because everybody that comes into the program has a goal of winning state,” coach Orlando Watkins said. “There’s been a lot of guys before these guys that had that dream and weren’t able to achieve that one way or the other.
“There’s a lot of alumni in this room now and even more outside. When we beat Tech, they were like, ‘Go win it for us.’ That’s big for the program. For the City of Oakland, it’s huge, to have two Oakland schools playing for the right to represent the region. For us to beat that team and be here … today we had our biggest crowd of the year. We’re proud of our city. We wanted to win it for the City of Oakland and now we got that done.”
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