The stage is set for a special 17th birthday Saturday for Archbishop Mitty star Ben Kone.
“I”m a huge Sacramento Kings fan,” the 6-foot-9 junior said after his team advanced to Saturday”s Northern California Division II final at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, home of the Kings. “I love DeMarcus Cousins. Playing in there on my birthday is great.”
Bringing another NorCal banner back to Mitty won”t be easy, though.
The Monarchs” opponent, Sacramento High, is having a great season. The Dragons have rolled through their first two NorCal games after a three-point loss to Open Division finalist Modesto Christian in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II title game.
In its section semifinal, Sacramento breezed 82-55 over Cosumnes Oaks, the team Mitty defeated 73-64 on Tuesday to reach the regional final.
“Christian Terrell is a great player, so is Solomon Young,” Kone said, referring to Sacramento”s top scorers. “Those are both guys I am very excited to play, very excited to see where my manhood is at because when you”re playing guys like that, it”s going to come down to who plays harder. Skill can only get you so far. Hard work is where it”s going to carry us to the next level.”
Kone had a hard-hat-and-lunch-pail game against Cosumnes Oaks, overpowering the Wolfpack with 30 points and 25 rebounds.
He”s probably going to need another one Saturday for Mitty to play for a state championship.
“I went to a doctor and they said it was something different than we thought and I can actually play soon,” Much said after making his return to the court Tuesday. “So I started trying to get back in shape, and here I am.”
Mitty also recently got Riley Grigsby, a 6-4 freshman who had been in the team”s rotation, back from a knee injury he suffered in early February.
It”s been a long wait, but the Monarchs are finally looking healthy. “Now it”s just kind of getting them all in the flow of it,” coach Tim Kennedy said.
Girls basketball
The bracket says that the Dublin girls are the top seed in Division II. The Gaels are 28-3 and have a win over a Carondelet team that beat Mitty in early February.
But given the way Mitty has elevated its play this month, here are the numbers that should be noted as the Monarchs and Dublin prepare for their Division II regional final Saturday morning in Sacramento: 36, 36 and 44.
Mitty beat Dublin in the NorCal quarterfinals last season by 36 points, and here is why that is noteworthy: Dublin”s top three scorers last season are its top three scorers this season.
Mitty beat Antelope by 36 in its NorCal quarterfinal Saturday and Presentation by 44 in the semifinals Tuesday. Oh yes, Presentation had just beaten the Carondelet team that beat Mitty in February.
“The girls deserve it, they”ve been working hard,” Eastside coach Donovan Blythe said. “These girls are in the gym at 5:30 in the morning, ready to start practice at 6.”
He said his team is going to go with what got it there against Valley Christian.
“We”re not going to implement a lot of new things now,” Blythe said. “Our defense is the foundation for us being successful.”
In its NorCal opener, Eastside held San Domenico to two points in each of the final three quarters of a 38-13 win. The 13 points allowed was not even a season low. Two teams didn”t even manage to score in double figures. “It”s all about getting stops, about having pride in getting stops,” Blythe said. “On offense you”re going to have nights where nothing is falling for you.”
