SJND Pilots are going to the State Championship!

For the sixth time in 18 years, the Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School men’s varsity basketball team is going to the state championships.

The young Pilots team, which features three starting sophomores, will play Windward of Los Angeles for the Division V title game on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Tickets are $16 for Adults, $10 for Students
$12 parking fee
Click Here for a map to Arco Arena from SJND.

If you can’t be at the game, there will be opportunities to follow it online. The Oakland Tribune has said it plans to offer a live blog of the game at its website, http://www.insidebayarea.com/high-school-sports, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

In addition, audio of the game will be broadcast live on www.KBCSports.com, also at 1:30 p.m.

Click Here for Athlete Profiles

*Photos from the Oakland Tribune

SJND pulled off a miraculous victory on Saturday against Branson-Ross, after being down by 19 points with three minutes left in the game. The 42-40 win earned them the Nor Cal Division V Championship, and it made them an instant hoops legend – the miracle team that came back, against all odds.

Accounts of the game filled the newspapers Sunday. To check out the news stories, click the following links.

Balancing Act at St. Joseph's, SF Chronicle, 3/15/2009

Unbelievably, St. Joseph among 5 East Bay teams heading to state, BA News Group, 3/14/2009

Steward: St. Joseph comeback one for the ages, Oakland Tribune, 3/14/2009

Marin Independant Journal Video 3/14/2009

Sophomore point guard Jacari Whitfield said he heard the cheers of the SJND students during the last few minutes of the game. Team mate Dominic Lippi, also a sophomore and the son of Coach Don Lippi, scored 15 points during that time, igniting the victory rally.

“I heard it when they started chanting, ‘It’s not over. It’s not over,’” Whitfield said. “That made a difference.”

The game came down to the final seconds, when Whitfield banked in a shot at the buzzer. More than 100 ecstatic SJND fans rushed the court, embracing each other, the players and the coaches.

Coach Don Lippi also heard the students’ rallying cheer. “Had they not been there, we would not have won it,” he said.

“I’m really jazzed,” said Jomar Martinez, a senior who helped lead the cheer. “This is a really exciting time. It’s just a big celebration.”

SJND won its first state basketball championship in 1991, when the team took the Division I title. A year later, in 1992, the team, lead by senior Jason Kidd, who also played in 1991, won it again. Kidd now plays for the Dallas Mavericks.

The team also went to the state championships in 1998 and 1999 and lost both match-ups.

Then, in 2004, the year Lippi returned to coach at SJND, the team went back to the state championships, in Division IV. They won, beating Verbum Dei, 49-47.

“It’s a moment in time for these boys,” said Lippi. “You never forget that moment.”

2008/2009 Season Information

2009 CIF State Brackets