Damari Milstead from Moreau Catholic of Hayward is a NorCal Player of the Year candidate since he began the CIF NorCal Division II playoffs with 2,200 career points and more than 500 career assists. Photo: BallisLife.com.
It’s another week of boys & girls hoops, baseball and softball mixed together. Highlights include two coaches reaching 700 career wins in different sports, Aurora Adams of Garden Grove Santiago driving in 10 runs in one game and Junior Ramirez scoring 30 points for Selma as it wins first section boys hoops title in 103 years.
Note: We will collect totals from MaxPreps, newspapers, tweets and from those sent in to us. We also will compile single-game highs from this post throughout the season and of course we use our weekly State Stat Stars collection as an aid for the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. That is the only state record book anyone has ever done and we have published it seven times with full copyright protection. To report totals to us for this feature and for the record book, email markjtennis@gmail.com or call 209-608-1317. You can also text to 209-608-1317.
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(All players listed in alphabetical order)
(Writeups also by Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett)
(For games played through Saturday, March 4 with some games from this week)
BOYS BASKETBALL
Braelee Albert (Brentwood, Los Angeles)
With the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA championship on the line, this sophomore hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer as the Eagles defeated Burbank 55-54. He also finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Earlier this season, Selma’s Junior Ramirez scored his 1,000th career point. He had 30 in leading the Bears to a section title last weekend. Photo: Twitter.com.
Cameron Ba (St. Joseph Notre Dame, Alameda)
Nearly outscoring Lick-Wilmerding of San Francisco on his own, Ba basically told the opposition to go bye-bye as he had 30 points during a 63-33 win for the CIF North Coast Section Division IV championship.
Dawson Baker (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo)
Making 10 of his 11 free throw attempts, this junior shot 50 percent from the floor on his way to scoring 25 points during a 41-31 win over Oxnard in the CIFSS Division 2A finals.
Damari Milstead (Moreau Catholic, Hayward)
The four-year starter put his career scoring total at exactly 2,200 points after he pumped in 32 points and had nine rebounds in leading the Mariners past Tamalpais of Mill Valley 77-71 in the CIF North Coast Section Division II championship. In the semifinals, a win vs. Oakland Bishop O’Dowd, Damari had 17 points and seven steals.
Alex Mishaw (West, Torrance)
Laying down the law in a 65-54 victory vs. Blair of Pasadena that decided the CIFSS Division 4AA title, Mishaw netted 30 points and hauled in nine rebounds. With the win, West also captured the school’s first CIFSS crown.
Matt Mitchell (Roosevelt, Eastvale)
With Jemarl Baker not feeling well and having an off night shooting, the Cal-State Fullerton-bound Mitchell stepped up to lead the offense with 29 points during a 57-54 win over Centennial of Corona in the CIFSS Open Division consolation semifinals. It was the fourth win against no losses for Roosevelt this year against its Big VIII League rivals.
Junior Ramirez (Selma)
In a historic outing, Ramirez put on a remarkable performance with 30 points (making 10-of-11 free throws) plus eight rebounds and three assists in a 56-42 win against Sanger in the CIF Central Section Division III final. Selma won its first Central Section championship since 1914 (103 years). Six-foot-7 junior Tiveon Stroud also had his moments with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks.
Justin Vigil (Fall River, McArthur)
The 6-foot-7 senior led the Bulldogs to the CIF Northern Section Division VI title with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three assists in a 85-26 romp past Liberty Christian of Redding. Vigil also had 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the semifinals vs. Los Molinos.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Chynna Cochran (Escondido Adventist)
It was quite an adventure for Cochran and her teammates in the CIF San Diego Section Division IV title game as they came from behind to beat Mission Vista of Oceanside 48-46. She ended with 29 points and improved her season average to 17.9 per game.
Rebekah Obinma (Rosary, Fullerton)
With the games becoming more important, the junior center has showed up and led the Royals to a CIFSS Division 2AA championship. She scored a game-high 17 points to go with 14 rebounds and five blocks during a 52-51 overtime win against Camarillo.
Janelle Sumilong (Hanford)
The standout senior finishes in 6th place in Central Section history with 2,301 career points after she scored 30 points in the section semifinals in Division I in a 55-52 loss to Clovis.
Frankie Wade-Sanchez (Huntington Beach)
Despite her game-high 29 points and 17 rebounds, the Oilers were on the losing end of a 41-38 final score in the CIF-SS Division IA championship game against Bishop Montgomery of Torrance.
SOFTBALL
Cassie Gasper from El Capitan of Merced has already thrown back-to-back no-hitters this season. Photo: Twitter.com.
Aurora Adams (Santiago, Garden Grove)
We decided to not wait and mention her performance from this week as the Cavaliers’ senior captain homered twice and drove in 10 runs during a 23-3 win over Costa Mesa. It was her second multi-homer game this season and she now has hit six home runs with 32 RBI in just seven games this season. Last week, she had three games with at least five runs batted in as she twice drove in six runs in helping the Cavaliers off to a 7-0 start on the year.
Hailey Flud (North, Bakersfield)
Shining for the Stars, Flud was perfect at the plate by going 5-for-5 in hitting with a triple and four RBI in a 15-5 win over Corcoran.
Cassie Gasper (El Capitan, Merced)
So far this season, this senior has pitched 21 innings and has yet to allow a run and has pitched back to back no hitters. First, Gasper struck out 18 during a 0-0 tie against McLane of Fresno and then had 14 strikeouts during a 7-0 win over Sonora. Her no-hitter streak ended at two but still it was a four-hitter with 14 strikeouts during a 6-0 win over Madera earlier this week. Back in November, she signed a letter of intent to play in college at Dominican University.
Julianna Martinez (Clovis West, Fresno)
She had a career high of six RBI, and went 4-for-5 with a double and a triple in a 13-2 victory vs. Valley Christian of San Jose. The Golden Eagles also won in a second game against the Warriors 7-3 and in that game Martinez added a double.
Mila Rodriguez (Millennium, Tracy)
This junior infielder showed off a powerful bat last week as she homered in four straight games, including back to back two homer games. First, she hit two home runs and drove in five runs during a 22-3 win over Vallejo and then hit two more while driving in seven runs during a 16-3 win over the Red Hawks. Two days before, she hit a home run and drove in seven in a 23-6 win over Lathrop.
Kloee Scott (Fullerton)
Not only did she go 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs batted in but she also pitched and struck out nine during a 6-4 win for the Indians over Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana.
BASEBALL
Hagen Danner (Huntington Beach)
He’s had some early outings that make him look like a Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year possibility, including two home runs at the plate and six solid innings on the mound during a 7-2 win over Orange Lutheran. To that is one thing, but to do it in a game matching two of the top teams in the state and nation is something else.
Kyle Lockham (El Dorado, Placentia)
You could say this player for the Golden Hawks was locked in a 14-0 triumph over Anaheim. Lockham finished with eight RBI and got those runs mostly from hitting a pair of homers.
Joe Naranjo (Ayala, Chino Hills)
Potentially leading the state in runs batted in this season so far, this sophomore now has 17 runs batted in with his big game last week. That showed him with one homer and five RBI in a 15-2 romp past Garey of Pomona. Ayala also had won its first six games of the season.
Spencer Palmer (El Segundo)
He has now homered in all three games season for the Eagles, including an outing of two homers and one triple with five RBI earlier this week in a 11-3 victory over Carson.
COACHING MILESTONES
According to our own Cal-Hi Sports coaching records, St. Francis of Mountain View girls basketball coach Brian Harrigan began this week’s CIF NorCal D2 playoffs with 701 all-time wins. Most of Harrigan’s wins came during his years from 1991 to 2009 at Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco. He began the season with 687 wins and St. Francis had 14 wins after CIF Central Coast Section playoff competition. Harrigan, who began his career coaching from 1982 to 1990 at St. Rose of San Francisco, is just the third in California history to reach 700. The only others are Joe Vaughan from Buena of Ventura (retired in 2007 with 761) and still active Kevin Kiernan from Mater Dei of Santa Ana (721).
Congratulations to head coach James Patrick of Clovis in reaching 700 career wins as his team beat Mt. Whitney of Visalia 9-1 in the Coca Cola Classic. The Cougars were led by Mason Grotto with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Patrick’s 701st win then came in a 7-1 triumph vs. Sunnyside of Fresno behind the strong pitching (8 Ks) of Blake Sodersten. According to Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Patrick is closing in on the section record for coaching wins of 708 held by former Fresno Bullard and Fresno Central head coach Mike Noakes.
Paul Muyskens is the Stockton office assistant editor for Cal-Hi Sports. Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
