The Saint Mary's Rams girls basketball team in Stockton is making history after winning the CIF Sac-Joaquin section title.
The Rams won the school's 23rd Sac-Joaquin section girls' basketball title against defending champion McClatchy on Saturday at Golden 1 Center. That is the most out of any school in the section, according to Alle Moreno, the team's head coach.
On Monday, it was back to the fundamentals in their gym in Stockton to prepare for their state title run.
"It was amazing," Moreno said. "These girls work really hard every day in practice. They deserved it. They're a self-led team, and so they deserved everything that came to them on Saturday."
Great team wins start in the gym. This team prides itself on defense.
"I think our defense is really the catalyst of our success," Moreno said.
As they say, defense wins championships. They held McClatchy to 47 points and hope to carry this momentum to a state title.
"Our girls play really hard on defense and that's not always the case in programs. So, our offens comes from our defense a lot of the time, and them just selling out to the idea of working hard, playing together, with the mixture of our great leadership from our seniors, it's a good combination."
Senior Evelini Smith, from Sacramento, played her freshman year at Antelope, then chose to attend St. Mary's for its academics and basketball program. She is headed to Oregon State to study pre-med and play basketball.
"My mom, she kind of paved that way for me," Smith said. "She went through medical school. She graduated early, and she's been able to offer me a lot of support and just knowledge in terms of that medical field. So, having someone talk me through it and show me the way and show me that it's possible, really gives me motivation."
Mia Jamias, also a senior, said she was born to play hoops and that her dad gave her a basketball when she was little.. She is from Stockton and grew up watching the Rams and talked about the importance of playing for this city.
"Growing up, watching St. Mary's when I was little, not knowing if I was going to come here or not, but seeing how big and how…the title of St. Mary's is, it feels really good, me being here, me being with this awesome group of girls and team," she said.
Moreno, an alumna of the school, says this was also the first time in history two women head coaches played each other in this D-1 section title. Moreno led St. Mary's against Jessica Kunisaki and McClatchy.
"Jessica does a great job and I think she played at McClatchy, as well," Moreno said. "So, two alumns coaching their high schools, it's special and it was a cool moment for our section and for our state."
Moreno said "it means a lot" and that she's had "a lot of good people to look up to" and great mentors, along with knowing a lot of the coaches in the section like Christian Brothers' girls basketball coach Shandyn Foster, whose team got the D-2 section title win.
Jamias said her coach has high expectations for the team that they try their best every day to meet. Smith said they've found a lot of success through their coaching staff and that assistant coach Alex Cesena has been great, as well.
"Coach Alle's been through it herself," Smith said. "She started here as a high schooler and she got to play at the D-1 level and coach at the D-1 level, so she has a lot to offer, in terms of knowledge. But she sees the game for what it is and her being a female athlete, it just helps us relate more to her."
Next up for the Rams is a week of practice, then a matchup with Clovis West in Fresno on Saturday. After that, it's the regional final and championship game back at Golden 1 Center, and that's the team's ultimate goal.
"This team holds a pretty big standard," Jamias said. "I know everybody in this community will be watching us...it's a big community. So, it feels good having everybody on our back supporting us, giving us the love. Us, as a team, we're going to try to fight back and hopefully bring a state title home."
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