Santa Maria boys basketball players couldn’t hold back their emotions.

The team started celebrating with their family and friends while the final buzzer still echoed throughout Wilson Gymnasium.

“This is something I’ve always wanted to feel ever since I started playing basketball,” Jordan Medina said.

The Saints’ 103-75 win over California City to reach the CIF-Central Division 5 championship game wasn’t just any win. It signified redemption.

Santa Maria lost the same semifinal game last year to Strathmore High School.

“I’m just excited for these boys,” Saints coach Johnny Rodriguez said. “You can see we really developed a family here.”

California City won the High Desert League and was led by juniors Cassius Brown and Avery Spears.

But after Spears left the game early in the first quarter with a serious ankle sprain, the Saints took advantage.

Senior Jordan Medina scored 12 out of his team’s first 13 points. By the time his twin brother, Julius found his touch from behind the arc, Santa Maria already had a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Saints continued their hot shooting, especially from behind the 3-point line.

Led by the Medina brothers and a few shots by Gio Silvas and Daveyon Tyler, the Saints made nine first half 3-pointers and the lead never dropped below 15 points.

California City coach Shawn Corley just shook his head.

“They are probably one of the best shooting teams we have seen,” Corley said,

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Defensively, the Ravens, now without Spears, who averages 17.8 points and 12 rebounds, couldn’t find their bearings and struggled to keep pace. Santa Maria entered halftime with a 54-31 advantage.

“It was our energy,” senior forward Gio Silvas said. “We stayed together the whole time and we didn’t let up.”

Rodriguez didn’t want to bring up any past games this week. The returning players already knew what how heartbreaking last year’s semifinal loss was.

Instead they focused on how this season was already different than in years past.

“This is our team,” said senior Julius Medina who finished with a team-high 31 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. “We practice hard as a family, we play hard as a family and we give it all we got.”

Santa Maria increased its lead up to as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter but the Ravens started to put together a run.

After a quick timeout, the Saints got right back on track and the 3-pointers continued.

Jodan Medina finished with 22 points and six rebounds, while Silvas finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

Jon Kennedy’s 3-pointer in the final two minutes put Santa Maria over the century mark and was the final dagger.

The Saints were headed to Fresno to face Coalinga next Saturday.

The last time the Santa Maria boys basketball team won a CIF championship came in 1966, when Steve Patterson led the Saints over Antelope Valley High School in a 68-65 win to claim the CIF-Southern Section “AA” championship.

“It’s not over,” Rodriguez said. “But Thursday was a great step forward.”