SGA to play for first state championship

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL

San Gabriel Academy played a challenging schedule to be ready for the postseason, and now the team is where it wants to be — playing on the big stage in the CIF State Championships

San Gabriel Academy’s Mahamadou Diop makes an emphatic slam dunk against Maranatha in the CIF State Southern California Division III Regional championship game Tuesday. San Gabriel Academy won 58-49. Photo by Keith Durflinger

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By Fred Robledo

frobledo@scng.com

San Gabriel Academy first-year coach Danny Piepoli didn’t care if people thought he was crazy for scheduling early-season games against Harvard-Westlake, Sierra Canyon and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. All three of those teams were selected this season for the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.

SGA lost all three games and started the season 1-5, but Piepoli knew what the experience would do for his young team. Who can argue with him now?

San Gabriel Academy defeated Maranatha 58-49 on Tuesday to win the CIF Southern California Division III Regional title and earn an opportunity to play for the school’s first state championship today against Sunnyvale’s King’s Academy (27-4) at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento at 2 p.m.

“I was called everything from crazy, to I don’t know what I was doing,” Piepoli recalled, “and people were apprehensive and unsure about taking on those (Open Division) teams. But we stuck to it and we kept working hard. We have a plan to be an Open Division team in the next three to five years; that’s where we want to be. It’s a process and I’m going to work as hard as anyone to get us there.

“But this is our first step, and it’s exciting to play on the big stage.”

The Eagles (20-13) lost in the CIF-SS Division 3AA semifinals to Sage Hill, but used that setback as motivation in the state playoffs.

They showed how much they have grown Tuesday night after giving up a 15-point lead to Maranatha in the second half. The Eagles fell behind by a point with less than five minutes to play, but rallied to win. After the game, they cut down the nets for their first regional title.

This is a team that is loaded with developing talent.

Mohamadou Diop is a 6-foot-11 sophomore from Mali, a country in West Africa. Diop had 16 points, 16 rebounds and 7 blocks in the win over Maranatha. He has offers from UC Riverside and Texas Tech. Rivals ranks him as the No. 28 recruit in the country for the class of 2027.

“He’s such a major talent,” Piepoli said. “He’s only been playing basketball for three years.”

There is also 6-8 sophomore forward Mohamed Toure from Guinea, who has a 7-foot-3 wingspan. He averages seven points and eight rebounds.

“He’s got humongous hands,” Piepoli said of Toure. “He was a first-sport soccer guy who has an incredible motor that generates a lot of energy. Just a great rebounder and defender.”

Another player from Mali is 6-4 junior Mamadou Traroe, who threw down a thunderous two-hand dunk in Tuesday’s win.

There is also 6-8 freshman Oumar Dabo from Guinea, who Piepoli believes might be the best of all of them by the time he’s finished.

“That kid has talent out of every ounce of his body,” Piepoli said of Dabo. “He can shoot it, he’s charismatic. He’s a guard who probably will be nearly 6-11 in a few years. And he’s just got so much confidence in himself. Just a big, big future.”

San Gabriel Academy has top role players too. Junior Marquise Humphreys is a strong playmaking guard who Piepoli said is the team’s leader on the court.

Sophomore Xavier Wang and senior Coco Britt each average nine points and give the Eagles players on the perimeter who can make shots and create plays for others.