SACRAMENTO — In the storied history of Archbishop Mitty basketball, there never has been a team quite like this one.
Then again, there never has been a player quite like Aaron Gordon.
The star sophomore had a record night, leading the Monarchs to their first state title with a 53-50 victory over Summit-Fontana on Friday in the CIF Division II final at Power Balance Pavilion. Gordon had 17 points and tied the state championship record with 21 rebounds, the last of which capped a frantic finish.
“This is just an out-of-body experience,” Gordon said with a wide smile. “This is so amazing, I can’t explain it. To see a 2010-11 championship banner is going to be a great thing.”
The Monarchs almost gave that banner away in the final minutes. But after losing a late seven-point lead, they went ahead on Brandon White’s free throw with 22 seconds remaining.
Summit’s Dorian Cason then threw the inbounds pass over Montigo Alford’s head, and when Alford tried to save possession, he whipped the ball right to White, who was waiting under Mitty’s hoop.
White’s layup put Mitty up three.
“Just don’t miss,” White said when asked what he was thinking. “I thought he would let it go out, but he threw it right to me.”
Alford’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and appropriately landed in Gordon’s hands.
The Monarchs (32-2) were out of sync in the first quarter, but Gordon took off in the second quarter — and he pulled his teammates along with him.
Gordon outscored the SkyHawks 11-10 in the frame, showing off nearly every part of his impressive offensive arsenal.
He scored 10 straight for the Monarchs on two dunks, a pull-up jumper, a tip-in and a left-handed scoop layup. Gordon’s free throw at the end of the half was his 13th point — along with 12 first-half rebounds — and put Mitty up 26-19.
“Aaron settles us down,” Mitty coach Tim Kennedy said. “When guys weren’t hitting their open shots like they normally do, he got some easy buckets, and everybody just played a little bit lighter and little bit more confident.
“That was huge for us.”
Summit stormed back in the third quarter, tying the game on three separate occasions before Neil Vranicar’s corner 3-pointer kicked off a crucial Mitty run.
After Kyle Toth’s 3-pointer, Brent Younger (12 points) hit back-to-back fadeaways to put Mitty up 48-41 with 4:45 remaining.
But the SkyHawks had one more run in them. Summit clamped down on defense and scored six points at the free-throw line during a 9-2 run that tied the score at 50.
White took control from there, with a little help from the SkyHawks (28-8).
“I trusted my guys, and we had one stop to make,” Kennedy said. “We got lucky a little bit when they threw the ball right to Brandon, but I was confident because this is what we’ve been playing for.
“Guys were ready for it.”
Now the returning Monarchs are ready for more.
Gordon, who won the title that eluded his older brother and former Mitty star Drew Gordon, was quick with an answer when asked what’s next.
“I’m going to try and hang two more banners,” he said.
For more on high school sports, see Alex Pavlovic’s After School blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/highschools. Contact him at 408-920-5899.
