Marina High School’s players and coaches celebrate after earning a CIF title Saturday. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
By ALEX SUAREZ
For OC Sports Zone
Marina High School boys basketball won its first CIF championship with a 53-49 victory over Long Beach Poly Saturday afternoon in the 2A final at Edison High School.
The Marina program was 0-4 in CIF final appearances going into Saturday’s game.
“We went into this thing knowing Poly had 21 or 20 CIF championships and we had zero,” said Marina Coach Nick Racklin. “I think that was motivation enough for our guys to just say why not, why not Marina? My challenge to them today was could we box out better than we did against San Gabriel Academy and could we be tougher. We certainly met both of those goals today.”
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Marina head coach Nick Racklin (center) poses with his players after the Vikings conquered their first CIF title in school history.
Marina players pose with the CIF Division 2A title plaque.
Marina senior power forward Ryan O'Rourke poses with the CIF Division 2A plaque amongst his teammates.
Marina head coach Nick Racklin poses with the championship plaque after the Vikings conquered their first CIF title in school history.
Marina head coach Nick Racklin poses with the championship plaque after the Vikings won their first CIF title.
Marina head coach Nick Racklin poses with his players after the Vikings earned their first CIF title.
Long Beach Poly head coach Shelton Diggs and his players Jovani Ruff (1), Giovanni Ofoegbu (4) and Austin Unegbu (12) pose with the CIF finalist plaque.
Marina head coach Nick Racklin hugs sophomore Connor Gomez after the Vikings victory over Long Beach Poly.
Marina players Luke Pratali (13), Barak Simon (1), and Dylan Gomez (2) react after the Vikings CIF title victory over Long Beach Poly.
Marina's Mark Yeager, and Long Beach Poly battle for a rebound during the fourth quarter of the CIF Division 2A Championship game.
Marina's Mark Yeager, and Long Beach Poly battle for a rebound during the fourth quarter of the CIF Division 2A Championship game.
Marina junior point guard Barak Simon enters the Long Beach Poly key as Jackrabbits center Jonas Oware is in pursuit.
Marina junior guard Dylan Gomez pulls up a jumper as Jackrabbits center Jonas Oware is in pursuit.
Marina junior point guard Barak Simon enters the Long Beach Poly key as Jackrabbits sophomore point guard Nana Ofoegbu is in pursuit.
Marina's junior guard Luke Pratali goes up for a layup during the first half of Saturday's CIF Division 2A championship.
Marina's junior guard Luke Pratali is guarded by Poly's Jovani Ruff during the first half of Saturday's CIF Division 2A championship.
Marina's power forward Jared Palacio pulls up a layup as he is guarded by Poly's Jonas Oware during the first quarter of Saturday night's CIF Division 2A Championship at Edison High School.
Marina's power forward Jared Palacio is guarded by Poly's Jonas Oware during the first quarter of Saturday night's CIF Division 2A Championship at Edison High School.
Marina and Long Beach captains fist pump the CIF championship game officials prior to the tip off.
Marina Vikings fans celebrate as the CIF Division 2A title game winds down to its final moments.
Marina's Dylan Gomez and Barak Simon celebrate in jubilee as the Vikings win the school's first ever CIF championship game Saturday afternoon at Edison High School.
Marina's junior Dylan Gomez jumps in jubilee as the Vikings win the school's first ever CIF championship game Saturday afternoon at Edison High School.
Marina's Dylan Gomez shoots a free throw in the closing stages of the CIF championship game Saturday afternoon at Edison High School.
Marina head coach Nick Racklin yells instructions to his players during the closing stages of Saturday's CIF Division 2A game against Long Beach Poly.
Long Beach Poly's Jovani Ruff attempts a desperation jumper in the closing stages of Saturday's CIF Division 2A title game against Marina.
Marina's junior Dylan Gomez dribbles in jubilee as the Vikings win the school's first ever CIF championship game Saturday afternoon at Edison High School.
Long Beach Poly fans cheer for the Jackrabbits in the closing stages of Saturday's title game against Marina at Edison High School.
Marina's Luke Pratali passes the ball up the court.
Marina's Ryan O'Rourke (35) and Luke Pratali (13) communicate after a team huddle.
Long Beach Poly and Marina fans cheer for their team during the second half of Saturday's CIF Division 2A title game at Edison High School.
Marina substitutes support their team during the second half of Saturday's CIF Division 2A title game at Edison High School.
Long Beach Poly's Austin Unegbu passes the ball up the court.
Long Beach Poly's Austin Unegbu is covered by Marina's Luke Pratali.
Marina's power forward Jared Palacio is guarded by Poly's Jonas Oware during the first quarter of Saturday night's CIF Division 2A Championship at Edison High School.
Poly's Mason Myers (right) salutes teammate Daylynn Sierra (3) during pregame warmups prior to Saturday's CIF Division 2A Championship at Edison High School.
Marina (26-7) went into halftime with a 34-22 lead, shooting 6-17 on 3-pointers. The Vikings allowed LB Poly to bring the game to a one possession game but pulled out the win late after clutch free throw shooting. Marina finished 7-of-7 on free throws.
“We were still mad about last game, we should’ve won by more,” said Marina’s Barak Simon. “We wanted to get that back here today.”
Simon led the Vikings with 19 points and three 3-pointers. Dylan Gomez finished the game with 11 points while Mark Yeager had nine points.
After reaching the finals three years ago the Marina coaching staff was not prepared to head back to school without the championship hardware.
“We really didn’t want to go back to the school and give the speech that we were up 12 at half, but they were just better athletes,” said Racklin. “I was not prepared to give that speech again, that’s why I was pretty emotional lifting that plaque up.”
Marina’s last trip to the CIF finals was in 2021 when the Vikings lost to Glendora 53-50 in the 3A finals.
Jovani Ruff was the leading scorer for Long Beach Poly with 19 points. Giovanni Ofoegbu finished with 13 points and Austin Unegbu had 10 points.
“This is my third championship loss in a row,” said Poly Coach Shelton Diggs. “I kind of know how to get back up and get ready for state. We just have to regroup and get ready to go on a state run.”
Both teams are headed to the Southern California regional that begins Tuesday.
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