With just seconds left on the clock and the Kezar Pavilion scoreboard showing Mission leading Washington 55-45 on Thursday, sophomore guard Gary Law dribbled out the remaining time and clinched a junior varsity championship for the Mission Bears.
Five assists from guard Jerrel Stancil, six steals from guard Joji Kurtoni, 15 rebounds from sophomore Ronald Murillo, three blocks from sophomore Amrand Caradine and a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Austin Smith were just some of many stories in the thrilling JV championship match.
Once again it would be the bread and butter for Mission — defense would provide them the key to victory.
“There’s no secret to what we’re gonna do,” head coach Dan Goepel said moments before the game. “We’re going with the full-court press.”
Although the Bears had a slow start, trailing almost all of the first quarter and a portion of the second, it would be their defensive intensity that would give the team in gold the advantage. The Bears claimed the lead early in the second quarter and never looked back.
Pushing their lead to double digits in the third quarter, the Bears enjoyed their largest lead of the game, 48-30, in the fourth frame.
The Eagles attempted to pull out one final run, and though they were able to narrow the gap to six points with just over a minute left, could not make up the deficit.
For many of the sophomores in this year’s squad, this will be the last season in a JV uniform.
“It feels great,” said sophomore Isaac Strasnickas as he flaunted the first-place medal around his neck.
“Winning (is) a very common thing here in Mission. I’ve already got two championship and I’m hoping to get three.”
Strasnickas and Ronald Murillo can now add their newly acquired frosh/soph championship to their Turkey Day football championship on their list of Mission titles.
For many, the second the final buzzer rang was an immensely emotional and triumphant moment — notably for head JV coach Dan Goepel, who was able to bring home the gold in his first season of head coaching responsibilities.
“It feels great. I’m really proud of my guys. They really came together,” Goepel said after he embraced friends and family who were present to see the win.
“We struggled early on, and it really could’ve gone bad when we were one and six in the preseason. And than we ended up losing our second game in league [73-47 against Lincoln] to a really good team. But I kept telling them we’re talented and we can do it,” he said.
“And they finally started to figure out how Mission basketball works and they really put it together. I give them all the credit in the world. I also thought that Washington played an incredible game and really gave us a run for our money, especially in the fourth quarter — I was getting a little nervous,” Goepel said with a slight chuckle.
To conclude the night and the JV season, we asked Goepel to describe the season in one word.
“Success,” the six-foot-seven coach said with a smile as he stored his team’s equipment in his Mission-branded duffel bag and headed toward the doors of Kezar Pavilion.