Chelsea Gray addresses her teammates Afure Jemerigbe, Alle Moreno
and Ali Gibson.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Big things were expected to come out of Stockton, Calif., during the high school season.
After coming within one point of defeating 2008 national champion Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) in March 2008 -- the team's lone loss of the 2007-08 season -- the St. Mary's Rams (Stockton, Calif.) returned a stocked squad for an ambitious 2008-09 season.
With the powerful class of 2010 duo of Chelsea Gray (No. 18 in the ESPN HoopGurlz Super 60) and Afure Jemerigbe (No. 23) leading the way, St. Mary's was an easy preseason pick as the top high-school team in the country.
But the Rams weren't the Connecticut of this year's high-school season. Among the top 10 teams in the country, just one -- Ben Davis from Indianapolis -- finished the season unscathed, and the mayhem started with the preseason favorites.
"If anybody would have asked me how I'd felt being No. 1 going into December, there's no way," Rams' coach Tom Gonsalves said. "Everywhere you go, there's cameras, the gyms are full ... we're not the type of team that plays really well early in December. We don't normally do that; it just takes us a while."
During a two-week span, the Rams lost three games and dropped from No. 1 to No. 22 in the ESPN RISE Fab 50. A Dec. 6 loss to Kentwood (Covington, Wash.) in the Northwest Nike Invitational kicked off the early-season antics, which continued seven days later with a loss to Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) at the Eagles' tournament.
The Rams then headed into the toughest stretch of their preseason, the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, where they lost to eventual tournament champion Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, Pa.).
In December, the Rams went 9-3 between three tournaments, but the three losses threw St. Mary's, which went 33-1 the previous season, for a loop.
"Being ranked No. 1 is a lot of responsibility to live up to," Jemerigbe said. "Especially due to the fact that we're all juniors and nobody's a senior. Our coach told us good teams win and good teams lose. We just needed to keep our heads in the games."
St. Mary's returned home from the Nike TOC and continued its annual dominance in the Tri-City Athletic League, but a little spark was missing. Through an undefeated January, the Rams rebounded from their losses but not everything came together until early February.
On Feb. 9, the Rams had their one opportunity for vindication of their three December losses -- hosting Clovis West. Behind 23 points from Gray and 15 three's by the team, St. Mary's cruised to an 84-48 win, bouncing back from December's seven-point loss.
"It was just a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the season," junior Alle Moreno said. "But there was a moment. We figured out that we had to overcome everything and play as a team. Just go for our goal and try our hardest. Whatever happens happens, and if we tried our hardest, no regrets."
Whatever it was that clicked against Clovis West -- what Gonsalves called his team's "coming out party" -- it held through the rest of the season. After the loss to O'Hara, the Rams won 23 consecutive games to close the season.
The Rams faced Sacred Heart Cathedral one more time for the Northern California championship, but this year St. Mary's came out one basket ahead. Gray, who should be nicknamed Miss Consistency for her 20 points, six rebounds, six steals and six assists per game this season, scored with two seconds remaining for the 62-60 win. It was the final vindication the Rams wanted before having a shot at their first state title since 2004.
And while their victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral may have been the most emotional, their final victory was the biggest of them all. On March 21 at Sacramento's ARCO Arena, the Rams won the program's fifth state title and claimed the Division III crown with a 71-62 win over Inglewood.
"I've never appreciated a state championship as much as I do this one," Gonsalves said. "It just seems like there was a lot of adversity."
The tough times didn't stop at the three losses or the typical teen girl drama. Jemerigbe battled ankle issues throughout the season, including missing a handful of games at the beginning of the playoffs. She played when she could, but the 5-foot-11 shooting guard wasn't her usual self, at least not until the state championship. Against Inglewood, Jemerigbe scored 13 of her game-high 23 in the second quarter.
The Rams are returning the entire squad that will be led once again, at least in the headlines, by Gray and Jemerigbe. So, with a year of tough tournaments and coming together as team under their belts, are the Rams ready for the challenge of possibly being ranked No. 1 again early next season?
"Definitely," Jemerigbe said, grinning wide and without hesitation. "We're up to the challenge."
