State D-3: Chaminade wins easily over Drake

Chaminade Dominates Drake in 71-51 Victory

By Gerry Freitas

SACRAMENTO- The Chaminade Eagles never trailed in rolling to a 71-51 victory over the Drake Pirates in a dominant performance for the Division III State championship at Sleep Train Arena on Friday afternoon.

It was all the more remarkable considering Chaminade played without its best player, Long Beach State-bound Jack Williams who came down with mononucleosis two days before the game.

Chaminade finishes the season with a record of 27-6 in its first finals appearance ever. Drake ends at 26-8 and is now 1-2 in state title games.

Chaminade held Drake to just 24% shooting (12-49) for the game. Drake coach Doug Donnellan said. "We just couldn't get the ball to fall [in the basket]." Boy was he telling the truth on that one.

The Eagles held a staggering 53-33 rebounding advantage, forced 17 Drake turnovers and dictated a faster tempo the whole way. They did not lead by less than 12 points in the second half and the game was never in doubt.

Coach Todd Wolfson (winning a state title at just 28 years old) talked about "winning this for Jack" and how his team rallied together. "These guys brought themselves together," said Wolfson. He also gave credit to playing in the very strong and difficult Mission League as the big difference for his team (being ready to play) in this game.

Leading the way for Chaminade was junior Michael Oguine who had 26 points and an impressive 13 rebounds (for a 6-2 guard). Oguine said, "My coaches told me I was going to have to step up (without Williams playing)." Michael it appears you did as told…

Senior Justin Eisen chipped in with 15 points for the Eagles and sophomore star Trevor Stanback had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots while playing just 18 minutes due to foul trouble. Junior Jesse Hunt topped Drake with 16 points and 13 rebounds and junior Malik Huff had 10 points.

Scoring Totals:

Chaminade (71): Jordan Ogundiran 4, Justin Eisen 15, Michael Oguine 26, Trevor Stanback 12, Jake Porath 6, Daniel Holcomb 3, Max Tinsley 1, Dylan Cuenca 2, Justin Brown 2.

Drake (51): Malik Huff 10, Jasper Verduin 7, Cade Yongue 8, Jesse Hunt 16, Brandon Vergara 7, Campbell Yamane 2, Dane Wells 1.