Mission Prep wins CIF basketball championship in double-overtime thriller: ‘So much grit’
Mission Prep’s boys basketball team knows what it is like to play in CIF title games.
Coach Terrance Harris had taken five previous Royals teams to regional CIF title games. Five times they came out on the short end.
That all changed Friday night when Harris and his squad battled to a hard-fought, intense 63-59 double-overtime win over Central High of Fresno to secure a championship that “required contributions from everybody,” the 19-year Mission Prep coach said.
The No. 1-seeded Royals (25-7) came back from 11 points down to find themselves celebrating with jubilation after the gritty victory at Selland Arena in Fresno over the No. 3 seeded Grizzlies (20-13).
“Winning is hard to do,” Harris said. “And tonight, these guys just had so much grit, so much fight. They just refused to give up. We needed contributions from everybody. There were so many big plays in that game.”
Harris cited a number of key contributors who helped put the Royals in position to win, including:
▪ Early offense from David “Deuce” Kellogg to jump-start a sluggish opening (Kellogg finished with 11).
▪ Three clutch free throws from Brody Miller to tie the game up at 50-50 at the end of regulation.
▪ A huge 3-pointer from Stokes Whalen to trim a deficit to one in the double-overtime period.
▪ A Roman Benedetti 3-pointer to put the Royals up by two points.
▪ Jayden Nozil’s tough defense on the Grizzlies.
The Royals had to withstand the sharp-shooting of Central’s Gerald Perry, who made a heroic three after being fouled in the process, and hit the free throw to go up 55-53.
Perry was a tough guard throughout the game, pouring in 32 points and making life difficult for Royals’ defenders, even after a twisted ankle kept him out of much of the third quarter.
Benedetti, a senior who tallied a team-high 21 points, hit a big turnaround two-pointer to make it 55-55 to send it into double overtime after some tough defense again held Central.
And then Benedetti, the CIF-Central Section player of the game for Mission Prep, followed with the go-ahead 3-point shot in double overtime and Miller sealed the deal with two insurance free throws with less than 30 seconds remaining.
When the final whistle sounded, senior leader and a stalwart on defense Brayden Mott hoisted the ball in the air and jumped up and down along with his teammates.
“We couldn’t get going offensively early,” Harris said. “Deuce got us going with some buckets. Brody Miller was clutch from the free throw line. We needed everybody tonight.”
After a slow start offensively for both teams that resulted in a 6-5 Mission Prep lead at the end of the first quarter, both teams showed some nerves, missing several open looks, especially 3-pointers.
“What I’m grateful for is these guys are mature on the floor, and they didn’t panic,” Harris said. “We were struggling offensively. We only scored 16 points in the first half, and we’re down three at halftime. It was frustrating, but they didn’t panic. They were poised.”
Last year, Mission Prep earned a berth in the CIF Central Section Division 2 championship game in 2024, falling in a heart-breaker to Dinuba 46-42.
On Friday, many of the same Royals returned to the same arena to taste victory.
“They just believed in themselves,” Harris said. “They just kept fighting to get well. They believed it was theirs. ... We’re pretty ecstatic.”
The Royals now move on to the state tournament, playing Tuesday, with their seeding and opponent details to come.
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 10:51 PM.
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