Mike Wall is the first person to admit it. He’s not easy to play for.
There are several reasons for this. The Folsom Bulldogs boys basketball coach is a sticker for details, for accountability, and it’s non-negotiable on sharing the ball and defending as if your very life depended on it. Oh, and this: Wall can be gruff, he can growl, he can be loud and he can bark. But he can also soak in a great moment, and this season has been by every measure, a great campaign.
And there’s one more game to play.
With the Bulldogs displaying their typical brand of team-first execution and defending as if their souls depended on it, Folsom has pushed its season to the final step of the season: to Golden 1 Center this weekend for a shot at a CIF State championship. The Bulldogs on Tuesday night withstood the challenge of the King’s Academy of Sunnyvale in Santa Clara County to register a dramatic 78-68 victory, seizing the CIF Northern California Division I championship in front of a raucous overflow home crowd.
With four senior starters and a smooth and versatile sophomore star in Parks Weaver, Folsom put together another Wall Ball clinic of how to play the game. Everyone can handle the ball and shoot it, and everyone runs the break and defends. Senior guard Jack Shull scored 31 points to lead the charge, hitting 3-pointers, backdoor plays, fast breaks and free throws; 6-foot-6 senior forward and fourth-year varsity starter Joven Dulay scored 24 points; and the 6-3 combo guard Weaver added 15.
The Folsom Bulldogs’ Jack Shull reacts after making a 3-pointer in the second half of the CIF Northern California Regional Division I boys basketball championship against the Kings Academy Knights on Tuesday in Folsom. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
Senior guard Scott Nardinelli again set a defensive tone with his on-ball tenacity, senior forward Alec Day set a tone of versatility and leadership, and role players such as William Hakes, Kellen Garcia and the bench mob all played a role in delighting the spirited student rooting section.
Leading all of this blue-of-white wave of fun was Wall, in his 25th season at Folsom with a trophy case full of league and section championships. Wall has won CIF section banners in Division I and Division II, including topping mighty Modesto Christian for the D-I section title last season with contributions from this year’s starters. Wall has won CIF NorCal Open Division games, he has won a NorCal D-II title, doing so in 2014 and now he has his school in its first D-I state final, 8 p.m. Friday night at Golden 1 Center.
Folsom now seeks its first CIF State crown in this sport since 1985 when the late, great Stan Harms coached the Bulldogs to the D-III crown. Harms died at 83 in 2020, but not before spending years watching Wall coach the Bulldogs. The two became good friends.
The Kings Academy Knights’ Xavier Barnett scores over the Folsom Bulldogs’ Joven Dulay in the second half in the CIF Northern California Regional Division I boys basketball championship on Tuesday in Folsom. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
Wall Ball is appreciated enough regionally that a number of top-flight area referees came for a peek Tuesday, as did scores of area coaches, including from Sheldon. Cuzear Ford was also there. He is the father of Jordan Ford, a two-time Sacramento Bee Player of the Year and The Bee’s Player of the Decade for the 2010s who as a playmaking guard led Folsom to the CIF state finals in 2014 and is now playing professionally overseas after a stint with the Sacramento Kings.
“Just so fun to watch,” the elder Ford said walking out of the gym. “What a great team and a great coach. What a treat to watch.”
Said an ecstatic Wall, “The seniors stuck with me. They’re just amazing people and basketball players. Very proud of them.”
In winning for the 24th time in 26 outings, Folsom moved to 29-6 on the season and will take on Southern California powerhouse Damien of La Verne for the championship. You can bet that Wall Ball will be there, and the coach is inviting Folsom students to show up in full force.
The Folsom Bulldogs coach Mike Wall looks up at the final score after the Bulldogs defeated the Kings Academy Knights in the CIF Northern California Regional Division I boys basketball championship on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Folsom. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com Folsom coach: ‘This is beautiful basketball’
Folsom has the ability to play fundamentally sound — the chest passes, moving without the ball — and still play with fun and flair. The Bulldogs will look for cutters and 3-point shooters, and they’ll run like the wind. Good luck dealing with this group.
“You stick with the basic principles,” Wall explained. “We just do what we do, and these guys have embraced it and taken it and run with it and just really embody what Folsom basketball has been about for 25 years. I couldn’t be happier for our seniors. They’re champions, and they deserve it.”
Nothing quite beats senior experience. Folsom seniors generally compete with composure, and they salted this game away by making all eight free throws in the final minute, with Dulay making six.
“Yes, and the calmness, and everybody did their job,” Wall said. “And together, this is beautiful basketball. They’re just old-fashioned basketball players. They can do it all. Everyone can dribble. Everyone can shoot, and everyone can pass. It’s really a joy to coach and watch.”
The Folsom Bulldogs’ Jack Shull strips the ball from the Kings Academy Knights’ Adrian Barnett in the second half in the CIF Northern California Regional Division I boys basketball championship on Tuesday in Folsom. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
The Folsom vibe included local businesses purchasing stacks of tickets so students could pack into their bleacher seats, which delighted athletic director Lisa Finley, who said later, “What a neat thing to see — all of it.”
Folsom impressed early this season with a big tournament win in a national event in Southern California, then stormed to a 14-0 record in the rugged Sierra Foothill League. The Bulldogs suffered a 66-64 loss to Modesto Christian on Jan. 17 in a showcase game and lost to Sheldon in a section D-I semifinal. Modesto Christian went on to top Sheldon for the section crown and moved onto the Open Division tournament.
The Kings Academy Knights’ Boss Mhoon defends the Folsom Bulldogs’ Alec Day as he dribbles up court in the second half in the CIF Northern California Regional Division I boys basketball championship on Tuesday in Folsom. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
Folsom took advantage of its second life in the NorCal rounds with impressive triumphs over Bellarmine of San Jose (68-64), Franklin of Elk Grove, (63-61) Dougherty Valley of San Ramon (86-61) and the then the best team in the 34-year history of the King’s Academy, a team that won the CIF NorCal D-III crown last season.
“We’re all happy to be here and we’re excited for the opportunity to play for a state championship,” said Shull, the super senior who scored 31. “We learn from the start, when we come in as freshmen that the basketball standards are high. Coach Wall is old school. He got us ready for this, the whole season.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 10:18 PM.
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Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.