SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: Escarcega on Preps: San Gabriel Academy Wins One for the Little Guys.
The Eagles capture a CIF-Southern Section Division 3A title over Oakwood.
San Gabriel Academy team photo after defeating Oakwood 66-64 for a CIF Southern Section Div. 3A title (Escarcega)
MANHATTAN BEACH – For any team that is playing in a CIF Southern Section championship game, it's usually a full day of preparations, that culminates with the game itself.
However, there are days and then there was San Gabriel Academy's emotionally draining day on Saturday.
Before departing their San Gabriel-based campus for Mira Costa High School, the school community came together for a memorial service in the morning to honor the life of 11-year-old David Musaza. The popular fifth grader that was a member of the school middle school team, died unexpectedly several weeks ago.
An autopsy has taken place and the results have not been released yet. However, for a program and school that prides itself in creating a family atmosphere on and off the court, the unexpected death was a reminder to everyone on the team that you never know when death arrives for someone within the family.
"This was his number," San Gabriel Academy starting guard Ethan McCloskey said as he was pointing to the #3 number on his jersey. "When we went to his memorial service, we saw the number three everywhere and I felt that I needed to represent him today."
No one wears their emotion on their sleeve more than Eagles coach Kevin McCloskey. When the game was over and the Eagles (19-14) had defeated Oakwood 66-64 for a CIF Southern Section Division 3 title, McCloskey's first thought went back to the Musaza and the memorial service that took place.
"I'm just glad that we could do this for David and his family," McCloskey said. "I feel for them. It's just a horrific loss but I am so proud of these young men."
As the saying goes, David probably had the best seat in the house up in heaven. If he did, he saw a San Gabriel Academy team that didn't play as sharp as they did last week against Bonita. Shots that were going in against the Bearcats weren't dropping on Saturday night.
"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well and we fought and showed a lot of resolve," McCloskey said.
That was the case in the first half as the Eagles converted only 4 of 14 shots from behind the 3-point arc and trailed 32-29 to an Oakwood team that has an affinity for shooting behind the arc.
However, in a game that featured six lead changes, both teams came out in the second half hell-bent on delivering the knockout punch. In the third quarter, Oakwood was committed to getting to the finish line. It played the role of a horse racing jockey that was riding in the Kentucky Derby that decided to go for the win at the half-mile pole.
They were hot from the field (making 8 of 14 FG) and held the Eagles to a 36% success rate from the field while opening up a 52-46 lead. For those watching, it felt as if the Owls were well on their way to victory.
But the Eagles decided that they were not going to quit without a fight. They scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and took a 54-53 lead. From there on it, it was a fight to the finish. If this was a horse race, all we needed was to see the jockey pushes their mounts hard in an all-out stretch duel.
Marquise Humphreys got the Eagles faithful cheering at the top of their lungs with an offensive rebound and slam dunk that have SGA a 58-54 lead. Mazin Lumori followed Humphrey's lead with a similar offensive rebound and a slam dunk for a 63-59 lead midway through the fourth period.
The history books will say that San Gabriel Academy was only 10 of 27 from behind in the three-point line. However, the Eagles were a perfect 3 for 3 from behind the arc in the fourth period and they needed every bit of those shots.
However, Oakwood was not going to go down easily. Benjamin Eisendrath, who was sensational throughout the night as he made 8 of 14 shots and was the game's leading scorer with 26, made a huge basket that cut the Eagles' lead to 64-61.
However, when the moment arrived for the team's unquestionable leader Jayden Mojica (who scored a team-high 20 points) to make some key free-throws, he delivered by making four in a row that helped SGA inched away with a 66-61 lead, However, Wisendrath followed without a three-point play that trimmed the Eagles lead to 66-64.
Ethan McCloskey picked a bad time to be inefficient at the free-throw line as he missed both attempts and the Owls had one final chance to win the game. However, Peyton Slaughter failed to get his three-point attempt off before the buzzer rang that gave the Eagles their first sectional final win since 2016 and send the faithful jumping up and down while celebrating a moment that many said wouldn't happen.
"We've gone through everything this year as a team," Ethan McCloskey said. "I was injured during the year, and it was tough being on the sideline. It means everything to this group – we're brothers."
Mojica, who looked at the end of the game like someone that has had the burden of carrying a heavy load for the Eagles this year, credited the win to the culture of the program and the school. "We are a small Adventist school. We've always been together since the first day, and we've stuck together as much as possible. (Kevin McCloskey) has much that to us throughout the season. We played some super tough teams, and we took those losses. We took the really long road, and it feels great."
So, in a way, this was a win for the small programs that represent the CIF Southern Section. The long shot got to the finish line first. The team that got a wild card bid into the playoffs, made the most of it. They went to the poker table with a chip and chair and left with everyone's chips in their possession. They played the pick-six at Santa Anita with a $12 ticket and took all the money.
Stories will be told about this championship. They'll talk about the resolve this team showed. Now comes the state tournament, where you get the feeling that this team is playing with the house money. Even if they come up short in the state tournament, McCloskey reminded his team in the locker room that "they can never take this championship away from you. You'll have rings and memories that will last a lifetime."
When McCloskey arrived in the locker room after all the post-game ceremonies and media interviews were down, he was dosed with a water bath (they don't do Gatorade baths in basketball) from every player on the team.
After gathering himself from a heavily soaked windbreaker, McCloskey channeled his inner Jimmy Johnson and yelled at the top of his lungs, "HOW ABOUT THOSE EAGLES?"
I'm sure that David Musaza was smiling in heaven. After all, this day was all about him and the Eagles. And it will go down as one of the greatest days in the history of a basketball program that experienced all that life could throw at them for a day – and came away with all the candy.