Last year, the Woodland Christian boys varstiy basketball team endured a heartbreaking end to the season following a two-point loss in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D5 quarterfinals.

A long 376 days later, the Cardinals (26-5, 14-0 Sierra Delta League) got that loss back, clinching a spot in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Championship game, set for Friday at noon at the Golden 1 Center.

“Last year stung,” said Cardinals head coach Casey Neimeyer. “We knew we were better than that, so it was something to chew on this whole year. We came back more focused and knew the goal at hand. Now, we are in a position to accomplish what we set out to do.”

After locking in over the summer, running the table in the SDL and stacking up a still-active 18-game winning streak, the Cardinals made up for last year’s disappointment in the best way possible thanks to a 76-61 win over D5 No. 4 seed Bret Harte on Tuesday night at Jack Hamlin Gym.

The boys basketball program also made Woodland history as the first ever to reach a section championship game.

“I’m feeling great right now,” Cardinals star junior Romelo Bruhn said. “Coming into the playoffs, we were focused and locked in. We had a goal to make sections and win, and now that we are here, we have to finish off the goal.”

The No. 1 overall-seeded Cardinals got off to a fast start in the D5 bracket, taking down No. 17 seed Mariposa County 88-43 on Feb. 19 in the first round, then defeating No. 8 seed Western Sierra Collegiate Academy 70-57 in the quarterfinals this past Friday.

“The games looked like easy games if you look at the final score, but they weren’t,” Neimeyer said. “We had to do a lot of preparation and withstand a lot of runs from the other team.”

The Cardinals now await No. 2 seed Argonaut in the championship game.

“Bret Harte is a really good team, but our team was so focused on making the right plays,” Bruhn said. “Our chemistry is also so good right now, and it’s just something you can’t stop. I’m so excited for the championship. This is a dream come true. I have been dreaming about this since the eighth grade.”

The Cardinals held to a tight 27-25 lead with about three minutes to go in the first half.

Bruhn, who had a game-high 29 points on the night, drew a foul and drained both free throws before sophomore Malakai Baker splashed a shot from deep to make it 32-27. Junior Isaiah Hunt scored two of his four points on a layup to make it 34-31 before Tanner Thomas tied it up at 36-36 right before the halftime break.

Out of the break, Cardinals junior wing Cole Haines drained a jumper before Thomas found Baker on a backdoor cut to give the Cards a 40-38 lead. Bruhn then played a part in the Cardinal’s following 7 points, assisting Baker before scoring the next five points to go up 47-40.

Baker, who ended the night with 16 points, then scored the next four to make it 51-43. Thomas, who also poured in 16 points, drained a three to make it 54-45. A last bucket from Bruhn gave the Cardinals a 56-47 lead going into the fourth.

Bruhn kicked off the final period with a bucket and could before a Thomas layup opened up a 63-47 lead.

A few possessions later, Bruhn made a set of free throws, followed by another basket to break the game open at 67-52. Minutes later, with the game’s result out of the question, the buzzer rang, and the home crowd stormed the court to celebrate a win and trip to the section title game.

“We just need to come in locked in with the right mindset,” Bruhn said. “We have one goal, and that’s to win the game. After the game, I can go and enjoy the stadium and take my pictures, but right now, we are locked into the game.”

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Neimeyer said. “We have a team full of guys that are excited, and we are going to go in there as a team, together, just as we have been playing all season, and we are going to finish it off together. From the beginning, I believed we were the best team out here, and if we show up, I truly believe it’s ours for the taking.

It’s going to be a tough matchup, but we will go in prepared. Really, we just need to go with our game plan. We can watch films on the other team, but ultimately, it’s about what we come out and do and how we execute them because I think we are the best team in the division.”