Sutter cuts down the nets

CHICO — They did the requisite embraces, did the usual celebratory move of thrusting the plaque in the air and posed for that familiar group picture to give mom and dad the perfect photo op.

Just another day at the section championships for the Huskies.

Add another one to the already crowded gym rafters, the Sutter High boys basketball team is the back-to-back Northern Section Division IV champions. And after these players tell you how good it felt to down Orland 65-56 on Saturday, they'll concede why their post-game celebration was devoid of grandeur and histrionics.

The Huskies expected this. They knew that come early March, they would get another patch for their letterman jackets.

It's why this team kept confident after losing it's share of head-scratchers. It's why this team adjusted to a new head coach and it's why the No. 2 Huskies calmly walked out of Farmer's Hall with stoicism after downing No. 1 Gridley in the semifinals.

"We knew from the beginning that we would make it one way or another," Huskies forward Leszek Ratajczak said. "But it was a little bumpy along the way."

But the Huskies still reached their planned-out destination, and a solid showing from Ratajczak and the unsurprising dominance of Isaiah Bohmann were some of the major attributing factors on this day inside Chico State's Acker Gym.

Like he has since he put on a varsity jersey as a freshman, Bohmann used his size to control the paint and finished with a game-high 27 points. His seven first quarter points kept Sutter from sinking further after being outplayed by the fourth-seeded Trojans in the opening period. Then after halftime he emerged from the locker room and scored 14 second-half points while playing the final 16 minutes with three fouls.

Ratajczak dropped in 14 but some of his most valuable work came in the fourth, where in lieu of scoring — he had two in the final eight minutes — he took over on the boards to flummox the Trojans' attempts at trying to erase the Huskies' slim lead.

"This is their team; this is their year," Sutter coach Bernie DiDario said of his two standouts. "They must have had every rebound."

The Trojans entered the fourth down 46-43 and worked vehemently to climb ahead of the Huskies. One part of their plan was to continue their constant barrage of drives at Bohmann in an attempt to get those two extra fouls on the 6-foot-7, defensive-lineman sized roadblock in the lane.

It didn't work. Bohmann just stood there with his hands up as players continued to bounce off him.

Then there was the Trojans mini explosion from the 3-point line when Jud Salisbery drained a pair in 30 seconds to cut the lead down to four with 4:15 to play. Standing on the sidelines, DiDario, who isn't afraid to show his emotions, immediately called a timeout.

When play resumed, Sutter showed just how nice it can be to have a dominant player who gets so much defensive attention. Bohmann took the inbound pass and was immediately swarmed by three defenders. That left sophomore Elijah Smith, a midseason call up to varsity, wide open.

He swished the 3, much to the delight of his coach who jumped up and down in the midst of a double-barreled fist-pump.

But the fourth-seeded Trojans weren't done. After all, this team knew it could beat Sutter. They did it 60-48 less than a month ago and nearly erased what was a double-digit Husky lead on the road before losing by two in January.

After Smith's big off-the-bench shot, Orland immediately answered when Jose Huerta drove the lane, made the layup and the ensuing free throw after being fouled. It was a play typical of how Huerta played against the Huskies. From his first basket, one that was right over Bohmann, to that 3-point play with 3:13 left, he used his running back style grit to score a team-high 20 points.

Huerta cut the lead to five. It would never get any closer.

"We kept our composure, we didn't get frantic and it helped us in the end," Bohmann said.

This victory also helped them in the upcoming state playoffs. Walking off the court, as his players were showing their newest piece of hardware to their fellow classmates, DiDario told his assistants one of the perks of winning.

"I don't care who we play," he said with a smile. "We're the home team."

For DiDario, who had the task of replacing a championship winning coach in Bill Degroodt, this title was special. He too had high expectations for this team, but unlike his players, who have been though it all before, this one was his first.

And nothing about the feeling had any inkling of being routine.

"This is amazing," he said. "People always say it, but now I realize what they mean."