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State D-2: St. John Bosco out battles Folsom

St. John Bosco Defeats Folsom 63-54
Division II State Championship:
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St. John Bosco 63, Folsom 54By Gerry Freitas
SACRAMENTO - In a hard-fought battle to the end, the St. John Bosco Braves defeated the Folsom Bulldogs, 63-54, on Saturday afternoon at Sleep Train Arena to win the Division II State championship.
St. John Bosco closes out the season with a 23-11 record in winning its first title game appearance ever. Folsom ends the year at 32-3 and is now 1-1 in state championship games.
This game was a tale of two halves. Folsom was on top most of the first half and lead 28-24 at the break, getting some good looks on the offensive end. But in the second half St. John Bosco got their transition game rolling and moved ahead with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.
They would never trail again.
The two big differences in this game were shooting and rebounding. The Bulldogs shot a sub-par 30% (20-66) from the field while the Braves shot 46% (22-47). And the Braves dominated on the boards with a 49-29 edge.
Folsom coach Mike Wall said simply, "You gotta make them" if you want to have a chance to win. He credited St. John Bosco's defense with causing his troops to shoot so poorly.
St. John Bosco coach Derrick Taylor felt two things were the difference in the game. "We settled down in the second half offensively," said Taylor. "And we found our rhythm with our matchup zone (defense)."
The Braves were led by their well-known "big three." Connecticut-bound Daniel Hamilton topped the Braves with 22 points and also had 13 rebounds. Junior Tyler Dorsey (who has committed to Arizona) had 21 points and 7 rebounds. Promising sophomore Vance Jackson had 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Only one other player scored for St. John Bosco.
Taylor spoke of his teams' approach with his three stars. "We got the big three and we're going to ride them," said the coach. "That's how we roll."
Sophomore star Jordan Ford led Folsom with 20 points (but was just 6 of 21 from the field). Junior Colin Russell had a solid performance with 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Bulldogs while battling foul trouble.
Scoring Totals:
St. John Bosco (63): Tyler Dorsey 21, Daniel Hamilton 22, Vance Jackson 16, Jesus Zesati 4.
Folsom (54): Jordan Ford 20, Josiah Deguara 9, Alec Andrews 2, Lukas Hendricks 2, Colin Russell 11, Gavin Smith 4, Jared Wall 6.
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