Sports
With LeBron James looking on, Sierra Canyon captures Division I state title

SACRAMENTO — LeBron James’ entrance at Golden 1 Center on Friday night produced a crowd reaction similar to a rock star walking on stage for a concert. Fans began to rise from their seats and shout. Anyone with a camera tried to capture the scene of James, his wife and young daughter walking to their courtside seats to watch son Bryce play for Sierra Canyon against Stockton Lincoln in the state Division I championship game.
James, sidelined because of a groin injury, had another son, Bronny, with the Lakers in Denver, with both games going on simultaneously. It was a fitting ending to James’ six-year run as a Sierra Canyon parent trying to balance his responsibilities as one of the world’s most famous athletes with being the father of two teenage basketball players.
James’ presence helped bring out one of the largest crowds (8,396) for a Friday night state final in years, and Sierra Canyon rallied in the fourth quarter behind Maximo Adams to pull out a 58-53 victory.
Sierra Canyon (27-7) fell behind by four points at halftime after making just one of 13 shots from three-point range. The Trailblazers finally took charge in the fourth quarter when Adams made a three with 1:52 left for a 51-50 lead. The Trailblazers had been three for 23 on three-pointers until that clutch shot.
“My coaches tell me to keep shooting, so why not let it fly,” Adams said.
Then came a Bryce Cofield basket, a three-point play by Adams, plus two more free throws from Adams.
Gavin Hightower finished with 15 points, Adams 14 points, Cofield 11 and Stephen Kankole 10. Donez Lindsey and Anthony Moore each scored 18 points for Lincoln, which felt the officiating favored the Trailblazers, who made 20 of 30 free throws.
“It wasn’t a great flow tonight,” Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier said. “There were a lot of whistles blown.”
Sierra Canyon has been prominent in the Open Division, but Chevalier will take the Division I title.
“This was hard as heck,” he said. “We’re going to hang this banner like it’s the world championship.”
Afterward, Lincoln’s Moore was helped up off the floor when LeBron James gave him a hand.
“That was crazy,” Moore said. “I’ll remember that.”
Chevalier said it was “the best coaching job of my career” after overcoming the loss of players who left, the disruption of the L.A. fires and an early loss to Santa Barbara.
Bryce James finished with three points and the first CIF state title in the family.
Division III
San Gabriel Academy 52, King’s Academy 51: Mahamadou Diop, San Gabriel Academy’s 6-foot-11 sophomore center from Mali, is someone fans in Southern California will need to watch in the coming years. He’s that good.
“My dream is to go to NBA,” the 17-year-old said.
He had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in the first half of the state championship game. Three of his baskets came on dunks. He didn’t score in the third quarter when his team’s lead was cut from 13 points at halftime to four. That’s when he rose up to get his team rolling, and San Gabriel held on for its first state title.
Diop finished with 20 points, making 10 of 16 shots, 13 rebounds and seven blocks.
With San Gabriel leading by nine in the final minute, the Eagles started committing turnovers and fouling. King’s Academy closed to within 50-49 with 11.3 seconds left before Xavier Wang made two free throws for a three-point lead.
“I lost about five years in my life in the last 15 seconds,” San Gabriel coach Daniel Piepoli said.
After San Gabriel’s 25th turnover led to a layup just before the buzzer, the Eagles were able to to run out the clock and celebrate their first championship.
Diop, who doesn’t speak much English, said he likes blocking shots more than dunking.
“He gets better every single day. You can see he can tear the rim down,” Piepoli said.
As Diop improves his shooting touch from outside, his value will only increase.
Division V
San Francisco International 71, Diamond Ranch 52: Conor Maguire scored 32 points to help International come back from a six-point halftime deficit to win the title. Devin Turner scored 16 points and Michael Salazar had 14 points for Diamond Ranch (23-15), the Southern California champion.
The Panthers were outscored 16-0 during one drought. In the first half Salazar made seven of 10 shots and scored all 14 of his points as Diamond Ranch led 30-24. He got into foul trouble, then fouled out. It was a tough way to potentially end his basketball career.
“I’ve been hooping my whole life,” Salazar said. “It’s hard. I hope I don’t have to give up basketball yet.”
Diamond Ranch coach Kevin Ryan said, “These guys went into every morning practice trying to get better every day. Basketball is a game of runs and they swung at us and hit us hard.”

Sports
Eagles' Jalen Hurts skipping Trump visit as teammate spends time with him at golf course

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Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts reportedly made a decision on whether he would attend the team’s Super Bowl celebration at the White House with President Donald Trump on Monday.
Hurts will not attend due to “scheduling conflicts,” Fox News confirmed.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts speaks to the media after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Feb. 9, 2025. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
The word of Hurts’ decision came hours before the celebration was set to take place. Hurts raised eyebrows last week when he dodged a question on the red carpet for the Time100 Gala about attending the celebration.
Hurts didn’t give a glowing review of the president’s decision to attend Super Bowl LIX, which saw Philadelphia defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.
“He’s welcome to do what he wants,” Hurts said in February.
NFL NETWORK’S KYLE BRANDT SLAMS MEDIA OVER SHEDEUR SANDERS DRAFT COVERAGE

Honoree Jalen Hurts attends the Time100 Gala, celebrating the 100 most influential people in the world, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2025, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Meanwhile, running back Saquon Barkley was seen with Trump at his golf course in New Jersey on Sunday. He rode back to Washington on Air Force One with the president.
Barkley pushed back on the criticism he received on social media for his interactions with Trump.
“lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley wrote on X. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago… and look forward to finishing my round with Trump ! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day.”

President Donald Trump talks to Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in New Jersey. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Eagles team owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Nick Sirianni have both expressed their excitement to head to the White House.
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Sports
Prep talk: Venice baseball is 21-1 and rising in City Section

With a 12-2 win over Loyola on Saturday, Venice’s baseball team improved to 21-1 and is positioning itself for a high seeding in the City Section Open Division playoffs.
While the winner of the West Valley League, either Birmingham or El Camino Real, is the likely No. 1 seed, Venice has a good argument to be right behind. The Gondoliers are 14-0 in the Western League and own wins over Valley Mission League leader Sun Valley Poly and have a win over El Segundo, which is 17-6-1.
Coach Kevin Brockway has a senior-dominated team that includes Noel Moreno, who is 8-1 with an 0.58 ERA. Sophomore Jace Lindblom is 5-0 and senior Canon King is 6-0. Having three quality pitchers is a must to win a City Open Division title.
King leads the team in hitting with 30 hits. Venice has six games left on its regular-season schedule, with matchups against San Fernando and San Pedro set to be the toughest.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Shilo Sanders joins Bucs after he falls completely out of NFL Draft

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Shedeur Sanders was not the only person in Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders’ household to have a significant fall during the NFL Draft over the weekend.
Shilo Sanders, the defensive back who also played for the Colorado Buffaloes, failed to be selected at all. He was a bit of a long shot to be drafted, and experts predicted he would become an undrafted free agent once the event wrapped up on Saturday.
Colorado Buffaloes safety Shilo Sanders (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)
Sanders did find a time after the seven rounds finished. He signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will now embark on a quest to make the 53-man roster before summer is over.
He said on Saturday afternoon that he needed to fire his father as his agent.
“Dad was our agent, but that hasn’t been working out too good,” he said during a Twitch livestream. “So today I had to sign with an agent. So, we’re going to see what happens.”
SHEDEUR SANDERS PRANK CALL CONTROVERSY YIELDS STUNNING DEVELOPMENT

Colorado Buffaloes safety Shilo Sanders (Dylan Widger-Imagn Images)
Sanders transferred to Colorado once his father took over as the head coach of the Buffaloes. He initially went to South Carolina.
He played in 21 games for Colorado between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He had 137 tackles, one interception and one sack during his career. The lone interception was returned for a touchdown.
Sanders making the roster will be a tough journey.

Colorado Buffaloes safety Shilo Sanders (Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)
Tampa Bay selected cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish in the draft. The team already has Zyon McCollum, Jamel Dean, Josh Hayes, Tyreek Funderburk and Bryce Hall as corners; Antoine Winfield Jr., Christian Izien, Kaevon Merriweather and Marcus Banks are listed as safeties.
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