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SACRAMENTO — They recalled the weekly COVID-19 tests, the missed opportunities in a “changed world” and the steady flow of adversity. But for the first time since 2019, players and coaches from some of the best boys and girls basketball teams in California spoke with enthusiasm and gratitude at the CIF State championships.

Players rushed the NBA-sized floor at Golden 1 Center to celebrate. They hoisted trophies, danced about and even sang in postgame interviews.

The state championships made a triumphant return Friday after being canceled the past two years because of the pandemic.

“It’s huge,” Damien senior forward Kaleb Smith said after the Spartans’ 65-57 victory against Clovis North in the Division I final. “All of us here have worked hard our whole lives for this moment. As a kid, you think about this: ‘State championship, I’m going to go out there and I’m going to win.’

“I love every last one of (my teammates), so to be able to share this with them life-long and remember this forever … is amazing.”

Spivey Word #2 of Damien celebrates with teammates after defeating Clovis North 65-57 to win the CIF State Division I boys basketball state championship game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

The coaches recalled some of the challenges of the journey.

Oakland Tech girls coach Leroy Hurt celebrated a Division III title with his squad while also remembering the COVID-19 testing his public-school team completed.

“I don’t think there’s another team out there that has been through what we’ve been through,” he said. “COVID testing daily. COVID testing twice-a-week. This kid is out, that kid is out. A lot occurred this year, so to get through this year and win it all … is very satisfying for myself and I know it’s satisfying for the kids.”

Thankfulness indeed won the day.

The players also soaked up competing in the 17,000-seat home of the Sacramento Kings. A massive scoreboard above the floor captured their every move.

But they weren’t the only ones who returned Friday. The arena was filled with the sounds of cheering student sections, Damien’s pep band and cheerleaders from multiple schools.

La Salle fans react in the first half of a CIF State Division III girls basketball state championship game between the La Salle and the Oakland Tech at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday, March 11, 2022. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

CIF State executive director Ron Nocetti watched all the action unfold but also listened carefully to what the players said afterward in the interview room.

“For the most part, what they’re talking about more than anything else is their friendships, doing this together as a team and bonds they built with their coaches, and that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “To hear that again from our student-athletes, there’s nothing better than that.

“They appreciate what was missing. The kids always get it right.”

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