Winning a league championships is never easy, even if it’s the fourth in a row for a defending CIF-SS champion.
Sonora was put to the test by Buena Park, but Sean Murphy’s 21 second-half points helped the Raiders pull away late for a 56-40 victory in the hot-and-raucous Sonora High gym that clinched the Freeway League title.
“I told our guys what they’ve accomplished in league is every bit as impressive as we did last year winning CIF,” Sonora coach Mike Murphy said. “Everybody graduated. Nobody’s back.”
The coach’s son, Sean, scored all of his points in the second half while making five 3-pointers that sent the Sonora crowd into a frenzy.
“I feel like I’m walking on air when I’m out there playing like that,” Sean Murphy said. “It feels great, especially to win it for my dad.”
Buena Park (20-7, 7-3) kept the game close during a frenetic first three quarters and tied the score at 38 with the first basket of the fourth quarter.
Sonora (19-9, 8-2) pulled away slowly before Murphy hit three consecutive threes to push the lead to 11 points.
“When the game is going on, it’s just a Sonora Raider out there,” Mike Murphy said. “As he was making them, I was just like ‘and another one and another one and another one.’”
Kevin Marlow also contributed big for Sonora down the stretch with 17 points. Bryce Rutledge scored 11. Joe Galvan led Buena Park with 13 points.
Sonora lost two of its first three league games this season, but ends the regular season with a nine-game winning streak.
ZACH CAVANAGH,
Contributing writer
