Sierra Canyon boys basketball proud of hard-fought win in CIF state Division I final

Maximo Adams #25 of Sierra Canyon Trailblazers holds the trophy and bites the medal after defeating Lincoln 58-53 to win a boys CIF State Division 1 championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 14, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

SACRAMENTO – Winning the CIF State Open Division championship is the highest achievement of California high school boys basketball.

Sierra Canyon boys basketball has won a couple of Open Division championships, in 2018 and ‘19.

On Friday, the Trailblazers won the CIF State Division I title with a 58-53 victory over Lincoln of Stockton at Golden 1 Center.

LeBron James reacts in the second half of a boys CIF State Division 1 championship basketball game between the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers and the Lincoln Trojans at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 14, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

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To Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier, the Division I championship is good enough.

“We prefer the Open Division,” Chevalier said. “But this one was hard as hell. We’re going to hang a banner like it’s a world championship. We’re going to get rings like it’s a world championship.”

Sierra Canyon gets that CIF State championship banner and the championship rings because the Trailblazers played their best basketball in the final two minutes of Friday’s game.

It started with a 3-pointer by junior Maximo Adams that put Sierra Canyon on top 51-50. He was 0 for 5 on 3-point shots before that one.

“Coaches tell me to keep on shooting,” Adams said. “So I let it fly.”

Lincoln’s Anthony Moore made one of his two free throws to tie it 51-51.

Bryce Cofield scored inside for Sierra Canyon to give the Trailblazers a 53-51 lead with 58 seconds remaining. Adams put in a layup with 17 seconds left off of a great bounce pass in the lane from Stephen Kankole, was fouled on his basket and made the free throw to push the lead to 56-51.

Anthony Moore scored for Lincoln to make it 56-53 with eight seconds to go. Adams iced the win with two free throws with four seconds remaining.

Maximo Adams #25 of Sierra Canyon Trailblazers shoots against the Lincoln Trojans in the first half of a boys CIF State Division 1 championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 14, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

The loudest cheer of the night came when the Lakers’ LeBron James walked into the arena to watch his son Bryce play for Sierra Canyon. Sitting in a front-row seat alongside his wife and other members of his family, LeBron actively cheered the Trailblazers and interacted with fans around him. LeBron has been sidelined with a groin injury and was not with the Lakers for Friday’s game in Denver.

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Gavin Hightower led Sierra Canyon (27-7) with game-highs of 15 points and nine rebounds. Adams scored 14 points, Cofield scored 11 points with three steals and Kankole scored 10 points. Bryce James contributed three points and five rebounds.

Moore and Donez Lindsey scored 18 points each for Lincoln (31-5).

Lincoln coach Anthony Matthews intimated afterward that the officiating was one-sided. Sierra Canyon shot 30 free throws, and made 20 of them, while Lincoln was 11 of 18 at the line.

Lincoln led for most of the first half. The Trojans were the superior defensive team in the first half and moved the ball around on offense more quickly than the Trailblazers did.

Moore made a 3-pointer late in the first quarter to give Lincoln its biggest lead of the half 16-10. Kankole answered with a 3, making it 16-13 at the end of the quarter.

Hightower scored on an offensive rebound to put the Trailblazers on top 23-22 with 1:17 to go, their first lead since it was 8-7 in their favor, That did not last long; Lincoln scored the half’s final five points to take a 27-23 lead into halftime.

Before the game, when it was thought LeBron James was entering through one tunnel, people – especially the Lincoln student section – rushed the railings, leaning over them to get a look. But James came out one on the other side, and when he did the people screamed like they do at a concert when the house lights dim before the act takes the stage.

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