Sacred Heart Prep boys' basketball team grew throughout the season and became a state champion contender

He quickly answered in the negative. How could he know? A Southern California native, Wulbrun was new to the SHP community this year, although he must have been paying some attention during his time on the Stanford staff from 2016 to 2021.

While winning league, section, regional and state championships are always a goal of teams at the beginning of the year, stating those goals and going out and making it happen are two different things.

But that goal is now a reality for Sacred Heart Prep (20-11), which reached the 20-win mark with the Nor Cal title. Up next is the Gators’ Southern California counterpart, third-seeded San Juan Hills-San Juan Capistrano (21-14) at noon Saturday at the Golden One Center, home of the Sacramento Kings.

“This is heckuva run,” Wulbrun said Tuesday night after Alex Osterloh hit a pair of free throws with under a second left to play to beat the Cougars.

“We don’t get down (emotionally).”

Not surprisingly, there were growing pains early as coach and players adjusted to each other. Things started promising enough, as the Gators opened the season with three straight wins, but followed that by losing five of next six, albeit to quality teams.

They won three in a row as they embarked on West Bay Athletic League play, sprinkled with tough non-league games against Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton.

The Gators dropped to 3-4 in WBAL play after Priory completed the season sweep, 53-49, Feb. 6. But then SHP found another gear. They followed that loss to the Panthers by dismantling Harker, 71-29, Feb. 10 — and the Gators haven’t lost since.

They won their final three WBAL games to finish 6-4 and in third place behind league champ King’s Academy and Priory and have now won seven straight playoff games, winning both the Central Coast Section and Nor Cal Division IV titles.

“We had a lot to figure out,” Wulbrun said. “We got to the second round of league and we started making strides. The growth (this season) has been incredible.”

That starts with Osterloh, a 6-3 senior point guard who is the heart and soul of the team, leading the Gators in the three major statistical categories: points (13.4), rebounds (5.9) and assists (3.6).

But it’s not just the numbers. It’s his style of play. He is not afraid to attack the basket — even if Half Moon Bay’s 6-9 center Owen Perez is lurking. It was that fearlessness that helped lead the Gators back from an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit against Half Moon Bay Tuesday, as he scored SHP’s final six points, twice to tie the game and the two free throws to end it.

He also has ability to break down the defense with his dribble penetration and then dish it to an open teammate.

Osterloh is the complete point guard.

“He’s made such incredible growth as a player,” Wulbrun said. “He values the basketball. He makes good decisions.”

But Osterloh doesn’t get to play hero Tuesday if not for Gators’ sharp shooters shooting them back into the game. SHP hit just 1 of 10 3-point attempts in the third quarter, a big reason Half Moon Bay managed to open up a 12-point lead.

But if you can die by the 3, you can also shoot your way back into the game with the 3 and that’s what the Gators did. Brady Grossman hit a pair of 3s in the final eight minutes, with Zack Beals and Alberto de Bernardis each adding one as SHP connected on 4 of 6 in the fourth quarter.

Those three combined to shoot 39% from behind the 3-point arc this season.

While the Gators were shooting themselves back into their game, it was their defense that had the Cougars’ offense in a nearly four-minute scoring drought which allowed them to get back in the game.

Half Moon Bay did a good job of getting to the rim and had a number of good looks roll off and the rebound grabbed by SHP.

“We turned up the heat defensively. … We wanted to disrupt them. … They handled our heat well,” Wulbrun said. “But it has a cumulative effect.”

The Gators will face a similar team in San Juan Hills, which finished in third in its league with a 4-4 record before the Stallions lost in the Southern Section Division V semifinals.

But the Stallions have rebounded, earning a bid to the regional tournament and they have won four straight in moving into the Division IV state title game. They are led by senior Rocco Jensen, who is averaging just under 21 points per game. Another senior, Cameron Goltara, gives SJH a second double-figure scorer, averaging 13 points per game.

This is the first state championship appearance for each school. Sacred Heart Prep played in the 2012 Division IV Nor Cal championship game, but fell to Salesian-Richmond, 69-38. San Juan Hills had never been to a regional final until this season.

“You’re on this five-month journey,” Wulbrun said. “Only the guys in the locker room know how far we’ve come.”