Long Beach Poly Wins Title the Hard Way

SACRAMENTO — Twenty forfeits, four injured players and one continuous stream of adversity.

And now, a state title.

Long Beach Poly, behind the play of Jasmine Dixon and a defense that took Berkeley out of its game, won its first girls’ basketball state championship Saturday with a 54-34 Division I victory at Arco Arena.

Dixon, a 6-foot sophomore forward, was the central figure with 18 points on seven-for-14 shooting and 16 rebounds. Candice Nichols and Kalani Patterson had six points apiece.

The Jackrabbits (11-25) put an exclamation mark on the Moore League’s collective decision, albeit by a 4-3 vote, to give them the league’s fourth-place -- and final automatic -- playoff berth. Since then, Poly has won nine of 10 games, none bigger than Saturday’s. Two weeks ago, the Jackrabbits lost the Southern Section Division I-AA final to Lynwood.

“There were some people that believed in us and gave us a second chance ... and some who didn’t, who called us cheaters,” said Coach Carl Buggs, whose team forfeited the victories because an administrative error allowed ineligible April Cook to play most of the season. “That hurt me as a coach, hurt us as a team, because we don’t cheat. We play hard, we play fair and try to be respectful.”

Even though Berkeley (21-12) had three players averaging a collective 35 points, they scored only 22 Saturday. Alexandria Mitchell, a 6-3 junior who averaged 13, scored a team-high eight and managed only three rebounds, thanks to Patterson, Poly’s only senior starter.

Berkeley committed 21 turnovers. Nichols and Kelli Thompson, one of four Poly players who missed games this season because of injuries, had three steals apiece.

Poly had 19 offensive rebounds, nine more than Berkeley, and made 21 of 57 shots from the field. Berkeley, which was outrebounded, 40-30, made 13 of 40 from the field.

Nichols, Taja Edwards and Brittany Whitehurst had big games defensively to hold Berkeley guards Jennifer Gross and Jazmine Perkins to 14 points combined, eight fewer than their average.

No quarter was worse than the third for Berkeley, which was trying to win its third state title. The Yellowjackets were one for 10 and outscored, 14-2, as Poly stretched its 24-18 halftime lead to 38-20.

The second quarter wasn’t much better for Berkeley. Poly led going into it, 10-8, then scored 11 of the first 15 points for a 21-12 lead. Berkeley never got closer than five after that.

“When I took the program over [seven years ago], the teams were Lynwood and Narbonne,” Buggs said. “The goal was to get our program to the same status. I don’t think we’re there yet, but this got us a step closer.

“This team has set the standard for how the program will be measured.”