San Francisco City Struggles, but Outlasts San Diego City

Visalia, Calif. - San Francisco City College, the state's winningest program when it comes to men's state basketball championships, is looking to rinse and repeat at the 3C2A Basketball Championships at College of the Sequoias in Visalia.

The Rams, the defending state champions, have won five state championships under current head coach Justin Labagh and six overall. Last year, Labagh surpassed legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian with his fifth championship.

San Francisco City began its defense of its state title with a 78-67 victory over San Diego City, a program the Rams defeated in 2018 for the state title.

San Diego City (25-6), which upset Ventura in a regional final to advance to the state finals, came into the quarterfinal match up riding a 16-game win streak. The Knights' head coach Mitch Chrlens was making his fifth elite eight appearance, after winning the title in 2017 and then losing the next season to San Francisco City.

San Francisco City (31-1), a perennial power, won its 19th straight game and advances to the semifinals where the Rams will meet the winner of West Valley-Citrus at 7 pm.

After trailing early, San Diego City rallied to take a 23-16 lead at 6:21 in the first half. San Francisco City struggled from the floor — at one point shooting 27 percent from the floor and had more turnovers than baskets after 15 minutes of play.

San Francisco City eventually retook the lead at 26-25 with 3:12 left, but San Diego City wouldn't go away as the Knights retook the lead and built a 29-26 with 2:47 left. San Francisco City and the Knights continued to exchange baskets before the Rams settled for a 36-33 halftime lead.

Neither team shoot the ball well in the first half. San Diego City was 11 of 25 (44 percent) from the floor and 2 of 9 (22 percent) from the three-point line. San Francisco City also struggled, making 12 of 34 shots (35 percent) and just 3 of 17 three pointers (17 percent).

Moments into the second half, San Francisco City's Kenyon DeMuynck, the CCCMBCA's north Player of the Year went down and was helped from the floor by trainers. The 6-foot-9 freshman scored four points with five rebounds and two blocks in the first half.

After DeMuynck left the game, the Rams went on a 11-2 run to open a 47-37 lead. San Diego City, however, fought back, getting within six at 49-43 with 14:54 left as both teams began pushing the ball up and down the floor.

With 13:41 left and San Francisco City holding a 53-45 lead, DeMuynck returned to the court. San Diego City went on a 5-0 run to get within three at 53-50 with 12:49 remaining. The Knights took a hit when Dylan Griffin picked up his fourth foul with 11:43 left and San Diego City trailing 55-50. Griffin was the Knights' leading scorer with 14 in the first half and had 21 points with 6 rebounds when he went to the bench.

San Diego City kept fighting though, pulling within one at 55-54 with 10:03 left.

Griffin returned with 8:15 left after San Francisco City had rebuilt its lead to 61-54. The Rams opened a 10-point lead, its largest lead of the game and further extended it to 69-54 with less than seven minutes remaining. A 5-0 run got the Knights back within 10, but the Rams extended the lead to 76-61 with three minutes left to close out the game.

The game featured the two teams shooting 55 free throws with 43 fouls called. San Francisco City's James Moore came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points in 26 minutes of court time. The Rams' bench actually outscored its starters 40-38. San Diego City was led by Griffin who finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Three others — Junior Camacho (19), Andrew Azebeokhai, Jr. (11) and Micah Bricker (10) — all scored in double figures for the Knights.

"San Diego City is a tough team," Labagh said. "I thought both teams played tight which resulted in a sloppy game. We had been playing well, but tonight the tightness affected everything, even the free throw line.

"Eventually, I thought we dug down and wore them down."

Release by Robert Schmidt, 3C2A Championship SID