Cal-Hi Sports Insider Blog

Quick-hitting, behind-the-scenes news and notes from the CalHiSports.com staff, including previews of upcoming content and events.

Friday CIFSS Girls BB Highlights

By Harold Abend | Published March 1, 2025

Rancho Christian’s girls basketball team, along with head coach Marlon Wells (far left), shows off patches and plaque after winning CIFSS D1 title on Friday. Photo: Harold Abend.


Winners for Friday’s CIF Southern Section girls basketball championship games played at Toyota Arena in Ontario were Rancho Christian for D1, Oak Park for D2AA, Rolling Hills Prep of San Pedro for D2A and Mark Keppel of Alhambra for D3AA.

We hope you enjoy this free post on CalHiSports.com. Please help us out today by becoming a member of our Gold Club so you can see all of our great content. All new State TOP 30 rankings and several of the upcoming all-state team posts and will be for Gold Club members only plus upcoming state record updates. For more on special offer to get signed up for $4.99 per month, CLICK HERE.

CHECK OUT CALGAMESWANTED.COM
Created for Coaches by Coaches for California Varsity High School Head Coaches and Athletic Directors, Start building your schedule with CalGamesWanted.com.
User friendly to take the stress out of scheduling.

Despite only receiving the No. 8 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, Rancho Christian (25-8) has run the table, and in a battle of teams with Eagles as their mascot, the Cal-Hi Sports No. 19 ranked Eagles from the far southeastern reaches of the Inland Empire pulled off the upset over second-seed and No. 12 ranked Brentwood of Los Angeles to win the championship, 58-48, on Friday night at the Toyota Arena in Ontario.

Gonzaga-bound senior Julia Wilson led all scorers with 22 points plus eight rebounds and three assists. Junior Alyson Boyd added a double-double 19 points and 11 rebounds. Boyd was out ill when Rancho Christian lost 64-58 to No. 16 ranked Sacramento McClatchy back in early December at the La Jolla Country Day Sweet 16 event.

While Rancho Christian was winning in Ontario, McClatchy, just like the victorious Eagles, also pulled off an upset after winning the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 championship over state No. 9 Folsom with a 64-53 victory.

Both McClatchy and Rancho Christian will be moving up in the next Cal-Hi Sports rankings, but McClatchy will be in the CIF Northern Regional Open Division playoffs while Rancho Christian will be in the Southern Regional Division I field.

After winning a CIF Southern Section Division 3A championship in 2023 when Wilson was a sophomore, Rancho Christian didn’t have enough players to field a team last year until December 27 when its transfers were eligible. The team still had a decent season but lost to Ivy League arch rival Moreno Valley in the quarterfinals of the CIFSS Division 2AA playoffs.

This season, the Eagles lost twice in league to Moreno Valley but when they defeated Brentwood it sort of avenged the losses since Brentwood defeated Moreno Valley in the semifinals.

“Last year we couldn’t play a game until the end of the sit-out period, and now to be able to compete for a Division 1 championship, and not get any respect in the seedings, it’s a beautiful thing,” said Rancho Christian head coach Marlon Wells. “We’ve been on a roll. We played the number one, number two, number five and number seven team in the country, and Clovis West, and they’re undefeated, but we compete, and its not always pretty, but despite being only the number eight seed you have to play the games, and we did and we won.

“I’ve been doing this awhile, and I’ve had some really good teams in the past and some great players, but overall, this is one of my favorite teams and these girls worked very hard and really deserve it, and it starts with our leader Julia Wilson,” continued Wells, who coached both No. 1 and No. 2 all-time leading scorers Destiny Littleton at La Jolla Bishop’s and Charde Houston at San Diego.

Rancho Christian bolted out to a 7-0 lead, and although the game was tied twice in the third quarter, the team never trailed.

All in all, Rancho Christian dominated in all aspects of the game. Brentwood came into the game having made 381 three-pointers and shooting 35 percent from behind the arc. On Friday they were 5-of-33 while Rancho Christian was 5-of-18. Rancho Christian won the rebounding battle 41-28 and the assists at 10-8 as well.

“Two glaring things,” said Brentwood head coach Charles Solomon. “We got a ton of open shots and they were just not falling, and they controlled the paint. The five threes was our low total for the year.”

UC San Diego-bound senior Lev Feiman played her heart out and finished with 22 points, but no other Brentwood player had more than seven points. Senior Payton Sugar, who came into the game shooting 37 percent outside the arc with 126 made three-pointers, was only 2-of-13 on treys.

Rancho Christian is behind all of the CIF Southern Section Open teams that were not selected for the CIF Open Division in the south for Sunday’s seedings. That mean’t a drop to Division I, but it is a No. 5 seed with the first round opponent being Oak Park (see below).

Oak Park’s CIF Southern Section D2AA championship team is shown on the bench just prior to them getting all of their patches. Photo: @OPgirlsbball / X.com.

Division 2AA
Oak Park 68, North Torrance 57

After winning the CIF Southern Section 3AA title last season. Oak Park (22-3) moved up two notches to win the 2AA championship in the nightcap at the Toyota Arena on Friday.

We had felt that Oak Park should have possibly been in Division 1 but it worked out well for head coach William Burr and his Eagles’ girls.

Sophomore Maya Deshautelle picked the right night to have a huge double-double after finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Ava Rogerson added 14 points.

North Torrance (20-8) got 23 points from Keimi Santiago, 18 points from Camryn Shimazaki and 11 points from Shay Tokeshi.

On Sunday, Oak Park was seeded No. 12 in the CIF SoCal D1 playoffs. It’s first-round opponent will be CIFSS D1 champion and No. 5 seed Rancho Christian.

Division 2A
Rolling Hills Prep (San Pedro) 51, Rosary (Fullerton) 49

The way this game started, it looked like Rosary was going to run away and hide.

Rosary held Rolling Hills Prep scoreless and led 17-0 after the first quarter. The Royals increased the lead to 22-0 before the Huskies finally scored at 5:53 of the second quarter. It got to 24-2 before Rolling Hills Prep went on a 31-9 run to tie things at 33-33 and only trailed 36-33 after three quarters.

Rolling Hills Prep then fell behind 49-42 but from that point on the Huskies were the only ones to score. When Sophomore Regan Enright hit her lone three-pointer after missing her first seven attempts, the score was tied at 49-49 with 18.4 seconds left.

Rolling Hills Prep got a turnover and as time was running down it looked like Enright was trapped near midcourt but the officials called a foul on Rosary with one second left. Enright stepped to the free-throw line and not only did she give Rolling Hills its first lead of the game but she nailed both to complete the unbelievable comeback for Rolling Hills Prep.

“I was nervous but I knew if I made one of two we would win,” Enright said.

Actually, the game wasn’t over. Rosary was able to get a off a shot with a second left from beyond halfcourt, but it fell well short.

Enright led Rolling Hills Prep (22-8) with 17 points and seven rebounds. Senior Noelani Pablo came off the bench to add 11 points and sophomore had 10 points before fouling out with the Huskies trailing 43-37.

Rosary (18-13) had three players with eight points — junior Kate Duarte, and sophomores Isabella Holmes and Kaiya Watties.

Division 3AA
Mark Keppel (Alhambra) 49, Cerritos 39

In the early Friday afternoon opener at the Toyota Center, Mark Keppel (24-9) won its first-ever CIF Southern Section title.

Keira Kamida led three Aztecs in double-digit scoring with 15 points. Jady Ly and Alyssa Canizal added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Cerritos (17-16) got 13 points from Cameron Lacorte.

Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend

Salute to Mike Alberghini

By Mark Tennis | Published February 14, 2025

The Northern California and state football coaching great from Grant of Sacramento died this week at age 78. His influence was still obvious at Grant this last season when the Pacers won the CIF D2-AA state championship.

There may not be a coach in state history who has experienced the highs and lows that former Grant of Sacramento head football coach Mike Alberghini did during his 31 years as the leader of the Pacers.

Mike Alberghini from Grant of Sacramento is the last head coach from a public school to lead a team to the CIF Open Division state title . Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.


The highest of highs was an upset win over Long Beach Poly in the CIF Open Division state championship in 2008. The lowest of lows came in 2015 when one of Alberghini’s players, J.J. Clauvo, was shot and killed during a lunch break on a game day. Coach Al knew how to handle all of it and always thought about all of his players, not just the ones who would eventually go on to play in the NFL such as RB Onterrio Smith, WR Donte’ Stallworth, RB Devontae Booker, LB Shaq Thompson and DE Carl Granderson.

Alberghini died on Wednesday at age 78, according to the Sacramento Bee, due to complications that were from a stroke that he suffered in late 2022.

The last season for Coach Al was in 2021 and it took some time for the football program to get back to being among the best in Northern California. That has happened for the past three seasons especially with co-head coaches Carl Reed and Syd’Quan Thompson. Both men played for Alberghini and have continued the motto of “Pacer4Life.”

When Alberghini retired, his reported coaching record of 282 wins was tied for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section record set in 2017 by Mark Loureiro of Escalon. For our state records, however, forfeits are not included and Alberghini has one less win by that count at 281. The 2008 State Coach of the Year and Loureiro have since been passed by Modesto Central Catholic’s Roger Canepa. Alberghini also ended his career with 18 league championships and seven SJS crowns. He is in the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame, the California High School Football Hall of Fame and SJS Hall of Fame.

Before Mike took over the Pacers’ program in football after it had been run successfully for 15 years by Bob Vukajlovich, he had been the assistant coach and varsity baseball head coach. His baseball teams in those years in the 1980s were prolific. The 1989 team finished 37-7-1, which set a state record for wins and likely will never be broken since teams these days don’t play 37 games. The Pacers of 1984 had a 27-game win streak in a 39-game season and scored 379 runs with 424 hits. The runs total is still an all-time NorCal record and No. 3 in state history. The hits total is still an all-time state record.

Alberghini gave up he baseball head coaching to take over football where he took the Pacers to similar heights, although the records were more set by individuals such as Onterrio Smith for rushing/scoring. He also coached in other sports and was Grant’s athletic director for many years. All in all, he had been an educator in the Twin Rivers Unified School District for 53 years.

“Coach Al had a unique ability to connect with students, see their potential, and inspire them to achieve their very best, not just on the football field, but also in the classroom and in our community,” Twin Rivers Superintendent Steve Martinez said in the statement. “He was a mentor, a role model, and a true champion for our kids. He will be profoundly missed, but his legacy lives on in the many lives he touched.”

As a high school player himself in the late 1960s, Alberghini was part of a great program at Mira Loma High in Sacramento. He’s not the only one from that era of Mira Loma football who became one of the winningest head coaches in state history. Others are Kevin Rooney from Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, Randy Blankenship most recently of Aptos, Terry Stark most recently from Inderkum of Sacramento and Dave Humphers most years at Nevada Union (Grass Valley).

We offer our condolences, peace and love to Coach Al’s family and the greater Grant High community.

Riordan WCAL Dominance Continues

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published February 13, 2025

After seeing state No. 3 Santa Maria St. Joseph in person two weeks ago, we got to check out No. 8 Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco at home in a Tuesday night game against Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, a team that normally gives the Crusaders a tight game. Not this time. The 65-40 win was indicative of how the Crusaders are rolling through the West Catholic Athletic League, which just doesn’t happen very often.

By Dante Moody
Special correspondent

Riordan vs. Mitty on Tuesday night at Riordan’s historic home gym did not leave anything to the imagination. By the end of the first quarter, the game was already over.

The Crusaders were led in points by Kirby Seals, who dropped 18. It was a very balanced team effort, however. The amount of steals and dunks in the first half alone were too many to count. Andrew Hilman, one of the top juniors in the state, had the team’s first five points but was more of distributor afterwards to Seals, 6-foot-10 center Nes Emeneke and others.

Junior guard Andrew Hilman scored the first five points of the game vs Mitty and is progressing as a shooting guard or point guard prospect down the road quite well. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.

In the end, Riordan came through with a dominant victory, winning 65-40. After the game, head coach Joey Curtin commented that “the goal was to hold Mitty under 40 points.” The Crusaders in the West Catholic Athletic League this season have been in a complete league of their own in terms of dominance.

In terms of Riordan’s incredible start in the WCAL, Curtin described it as “unheard of” and “historic.” It is uncommon for California teams to only have one loss up to this point, but it is a testament to how athletic and dangerous Riordan can be.

The fascinating thing about the game was that Riordan did all its work inside the arc. The team did not make a single three the entire game but absolutely destroyed the inside.

The win against Archbishop Mitty marked the fifth straight win against the Monarchs and completed a two-game regular season sweep. Riordan has pushed up to 21-1 in its chase of the No. 1 seed for the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs, while Archbishop Mitty fell to 12-11. Junior guard Caeden Hutcherson made some impressive plays for the Monarchs.

The Crusaders definitely have a good case for the one seed. Curtin agrees as well. When asked about why his team deserved it, he had some interesting points. First, he talked about the lone loss against JSerra of San Juan Capistrano at the Torrey Pines tourney. He talked about how they played “four games in five nights” and that JSerra got to “sleep in their own bed.”

Curtin also described JSerra having “all their guys healthy” while Riordan was “without all their guys.” It is a good argument to look at Riordan’s team as a whole and claim it is much better with all its moving parts. One of those who wasn’t yet eligible for the Crusaders in that loss was 6-foot-9 junior J.P. Pihtovs, who is a difference maker inside the paint. They didn’t have Pihtovs and Emeneke on the floor together much at the same time, but there could be big games later on where that is going to be effective.

Riordan will square off next against Valley Christian of San Jose on Friday. Curtin is fully aware that St. Joseph of Santa Maria could get the No. 1 seed for the north in the Open Division if the CIF were to place the Central Section team in the North (which by its bylaws can do), but admitted how weird of a situation it is. “People see NorCal rankings all the time and they are never in it,” he said. “If we win out, we should be the one seed.”

L.A. City Updates: Arenas Sets Mark

By Ronnie Flores | Published February 1, 2025

This week, the state career scoring record fell. Last week, the CIF L.A. City Section career record was surpassed by a player who probably would have surpassed this week’s total next season if not for a reclassification.

TO SEE UPDATED ALL-TIME STATE CAREER SCORING LIST AFTER THIS WEEK’S GAMES (GOLD CLUB), CLICK HERE.

FOR WRITEUP ON NEW STATE CAREER SCORING RECORD, CLICK HERE.

While Tounde Yessoufou gets plenty of attention for breaking the state’s all-time scoring mark held for 21 years with Jason Crowe Jr. on the horizon, we want to also mention that Alijah Arenas of Chatsworth recently hit some significant milestones. Had Arenas decided to stay in the 2026 class, he too might be surpassing Yessoufou’s mark, but since he’s doing only three years of high school he will likely settle for joining the state’s 3,000-point club.

Alijah Arenas makes a move for Chatsworth during 2024 CIF D4 state championship game. Photo: Willie Eashman.

Arenas committed to USC last Thursday and six days earlier, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard broke the all-time L.A. City Section scoring mark early in the Chancellors’ 76-74 overtime loss to Cleveland of Reseda of 2,540 points set by three-time all-L.A. City choice and 1998 all-state standout Deon “Popeye” Green of Los Angeles High School. Green, who went on to to play at South Florida, averaged 18 ppg as a freshman in 1994-95 and improved his marks each season, topping out by scoring 762 points in 27 games (28.2 ppg) the season he made the elite all-state team. While DeMarcus Nelson held the state mark for 21 years, Green held the L.A. City mark for 27 years.

After scoring a single-season section record 1,154 points as a sophomore last year, we had a good idea Arenas was going to be the L.A. City’s Section’s scoring king, so we dug a bit deeper for players who were high scorers that played on good teams or starred on the varsity as freshmen. We uncovered some interesting notes about the section’s stars of the past.

Green’s mark meets the cut off for the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book online listings, as he accumulated his total in 105 games. One more player who makes the 2,300-point cutoff mark is Danny Walker, who played at L.A. Westchester (1993-95) & L.A. Fremont (1996) and went on to play at USC and Nebraska. Walker, like Green, averaged 18 ppg as a freshman on a talented Westchester team that made the 1993 L.A. City Section 4A semifinals. The 1993 State Freshman of the Year played on much stronger teams than Green, so his average didn’t go up much until he went for 24 ppg as a senior at Fremont, but he also played in more games. Walker finished with 2,354 points in 119 games, with the point total making our online state record book.

Arenas had 1,971 points in two seasons and the third section player on the list who we found with over 2,000 career points who he surpassed this season happens to be his father Gilbert Arenas of Van Nuys Grant, who prepped there between 1997-1999. He had a better sophomore season than we recall for the 7-15 Lancers (22.5 ppg), then he really turned it up in his junior (787 points) and senior season (841 points), averaging 32.3 ppg in 1998-99 to finish with 2,124 career points. Dad actually scored more points as a senior than his son did as a freshman in 2023 when he led the Chancellors to the CIF D4 state title game.

Even though Gilbert Arenas’ overall point total doesn’t meet our state cutoff, he made his mark in 74 career games, which averages out to 28.7 ppg, which is the section’s all-time high mark for players with a reported 1,500 or more career points. He broke the old mark of 28.3 ppg set by Darren Daye (1977-79), the MVP of the 1979 McDonald’s All-American Game out of Granada Hills Kennedy who scored 1,783 points in 63 career games.

There are players who are near or even above Gilbert Arenas in career scoring, but didn’t play in as many games or competed during a time when the L.A. City Section had much shorter seasons. We are still doing more research, but there may be only a few above or near 2,000 career points. It’s quite an accomplishment for Alijah Arenas (and Green before him) considering the individual talent and great teams that have come through the section. If case you’re wondering about players such as Marques Johnson, John Williams, Chris Mills, and a host of other All-Americans from city schools, they didn’t play in enough overall games or played on teams too strong to reach those individual marks. Most L.A. City Schools didn’t have ninth grade until the mid-1980s and the great Crenshaw and Westchester teams were defined by depth and defensive pressure, not individual high scoring marks, and rarely had sophomores with big numbers.

We still doing more research on four-year standouts such as Dwyane Polee Sr. (L.A. Manual Arts) and Mark Bradford (L.A. Fremont), but we’re pretty confident Alijah Arenas stands alone. Including Friday’s senior night victory over Granada Hills in which he scored 25 points, the Chatsworth star now has 2,614 points with five regular season games and the playoffs still to come.

All-State FB Patch List For Juniors

By Mark Tennis | Published January 26, 2025

All-State Football patches will again be handled this year by our friends at BillyTees.com. For more information about Cal-Hi Sports merchandise at BillyTees.com, CLICK HERE. The patches from this year are in and recent years are still available now.


Congratulations to the following players listed in alphabetical order who have been selected to either first team, second team or third team on the 2024 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Junior Football Teams for the fall season. These players and their families can now order an official all-state football patch plus you’ll get a certificate through our partners at BillyTees.com. We also like to post the names on a list so we’re not collecting a subscription from a parent who is only interested in seeing if their son has been picked and then finds out the son wasn’t picked.

For ordering info to get 2024 all-state football patch, CLICK HERE.

To get a Gold Club subscription so you can see the complete presentation of the Cal-Hi Sports 2024 All-State Junior Football Teams (fall season), CLICK HERE.

Oscar Aguilar (Downey)
Isaiah Arriaza (Damien)
Ja’Myron Baker (Los Alamitos)
Bryson Beaver (Vista Murrieta)
Jaxon Bell (Liberty, Brentwood)
Truly Bell (Pittsburg)
Davon Benjamin (Oaks Christian)
Corin Berry (Charter Oak)
Balen Betancourt (Newbury Park)
Devyn Blake (Edison, HB)
Brian Bonner (Valencia)
Brady Bretthauer (Valencia)
Israel Briggs (Mt. Whitney)
Malik Brooks (St. Pius X-St. Matthias)
Quinn Buckey (Liberty, Bakersfield)
Wes Burford (Oakdale)
Chase Cahoon (St. Francis, MV)
Andre Calderon (Bakersfield Christian)
Andrew Condello (Palos Verdes)
Caleb Caudillo (Merced)
Carson Clark (St. John Bosco)
Jayden Crowder (Santa Margarita)
Savion Day (Long Beach Poly)
Kaden Dixon-Wyatt (Mater Dei)
Jeremiah Duhu (Beaumont)
Rahsjon Duncan (McClymonds)
Vlad Dyanonov (Folsom)
Isaiah Ene (Granite Bay)
Elisha Faamatuaino (Murrieta Valley)
Luke Fahey (Mission Viejo)
Manoah Faupusa (St. Ignatius)
Dash Fifita (Santa Margarita)
Carlos Flores (Bishop Amat)
Carson Floyd (Whitney)
Troy Foster (Huntington Beach)
Derek Garcia (Ventura)
Chaz Gilbreath (Mayfair)
Aiden Gomez (Downey)
Blake Graham (Leuzinger)
Kodi Greene (Mater Dei)
Coby Herman (La Costa Canyon)
Tyran Hicks (St. Ignatius)
J.D. Hill (Mission Viejo)
Colton Hogge (Twelve Bridges)
Leki Holani (Santa Margarita)
Joshua Holland (St. John Bosco)
Ryan Hopkins (JSerra)
Dutch Horisk (St. John Bosco)
Troy Hugn (Mission Hills)
Lenny Ibarra (Los Alamitos)
Talanoa Ili (Lutheran, Orange)
Cooper Javorsky (San Juan Hills)
Jaden Jefferson (De La Salle)
Auma Jennings (Lutheran, Orange)
Derrick Johnson (Murrieta Valley)
Jeffrey Johnson (Oak Hills)
Mikhal Johnson (Sierra Canyon)
Nehemiah Johnson (Lutheran, Orange)
Taylor Johnson (Cajon)
Jeron Jones (Mission Viejo)
Simote Katoanga (JSerra)
Jacob Kreinbring (Loyola)
Steel Kurtz (Huntington Beach)
C.J. Lavender (Mater Dei)
Justin Lewis (Thousand Oaks)
Zander Lewis (Ontario Christian)
Tay Lockett (University City)
Brandon Lockhart (Loyola)
D.J. Logan (Mt. Miguel)
Jhadis Luckey (California, San Ramon)
Ryder Lyons (Folsom)
Maxwell Mapstone (Portola, Irvine)
Quinn Martinez (Manteca)
John McClellan (Rancho Cotate)
Sean McCullough (Vista Murrieta)
Jonathan McKinley (Centennial, Corona)
Max Meier (Loyola)
Aiden Migirichian (Lutheran, Orange)
Jermaine Missouri (Rodriguez)
Michael Mitchell (Archbishop Riordan)
Samu Moala (Leuzinger)
Dathan Moore (Lassen)
Kenneth Moore III (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
Sean Morris (Loyola)
Trent Mosley (Santa Margarita)
DeVohn Moutra (Serra, G)
Jayden Nicholas (De La Salle)
Niniva Nicholson (JSerra)
Daniel Odom (St. John Bosco)
Jaden O’Neal (Narbonne)
Noah Penunuri (Rio Hondo Prep)
Matthew Perez (St. Bonaventure)
Tristan Phillips (Ventura)
Jameson Powell (Folsom)
Cam Purnell (Lincoln, SD)
DeShonne Redeaux (Oaks Christian)
Jackson Renger (Los Alamitos)
Madden Riordan (Sierra Canyon)
Oscar Rios (Downey)
Deagan Rose (Clovis)
Quinn Roth (La Costa Canyon)
Marcellous Ryan (Serra, G)
Casey Sanchez (Damien)
Ryan Scully (La Costa Canyon)
Shaun Scott (Mater Dei)
Jackson Shevin (Mira Costa)
Izak Simpson (Simi Valley)
Mariyon Sloan (Shafter)
Luke Sorrenson (Servite)
Jaylen Stokes (St. Pius X-St. Matthias)
Brady Smigiel (Newbury Park)
Brandon Smith (Central, Fresno)
Ryder Smith (Great Oak)
Kamari Smith (Long Beach Poly)
Vance Spafford (Mission Viejo)
Brayden Stevenson (Tulare)
Francis Taamu (Edison, Stockton)
Caleb Tafua (Lakewood)
Jackson Taylor (Thousand Oaks)
Nemiyah Telona (De La Salle)
Jerod Terry (Los Alamitos)
Cynai Thomas (Archbishop Riordan)
Taron Thompson (Silverado)
Blake Thorp (Yorba Linda)
Journee Tonga (Leuzinger)
Tomuhini Topui (Mater Dei)
Tommy Tofi (Archbishop Riordan)
Nathan Turk (Loyola)
Sam Utu (Lutheran, Orange)
Sunia Vuki (Casa Roble)
C.J. Wallace (St. John Bosco)
Kobie Watson (Frontier)
Luc Weaver (Notre Dame, SO)
Malik White (Rancho Cucamonga)
Khary Wilder (Serra, G)
Madden Williams (St. John Bosco)
Tre Williams (Moreno Valley)
Jasen Womack (Oak Ridge)
Carlos Young (Clovis)
Ronen Zamorano (Sierra Canyon)

All-State FB Patch List For Sophomores

By Mark Tennis | Published January 19, 2025

All-State Football patches will again be handled this year by our friends at BillyTees.com. For more information about Cal-Hi Sports merchandise at BillyTees.com, CLICK HERE. The patches from this year are in and recent years are still available now.


Congratulations to the following players listed in alphabetical order who have been selected to either first team, second team or third team on the 2024 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Sophomore Football Teams for the fall season. These players and their families can now order an official all-state football patch plus you’ll get a certificate through our partners at BillyTees.com. We also like to post the names on a list so we’re not collecting a subscription from a parent who is only interested in seeing if their son has been picked and then finds out the son wasn’t picked.

For ordering info to get 2024 all-state football patch, CLICK HERE.

To get a Gold Club subscription so you can see the complete presentation of the Cal-Hi Sports 2024 All-State Sophomore Football Teams (fall season), CLICK HERE.

Maliq Allen (St. John Bosco)
Boogie Anetema (North, Torrance)
Kingston Anetema (North, Torrance)
Larry Baer (Quartz Hill)
Joshua Banks (Vista Murrieta)
Zac Benitez (Granite Hills, El Cajon)
Mark Bowman (Mater Dei)
Jaymieon Bradley (San Leandro)
Marcel Brisco (Benicia)
Champ Brown (Aquinas)
Harrison Brown (Madison)
Carsten Campbell (Frontier)
James Clifford (Poway)
Kye Cooper (San Diego)
Cooper Cirillo (Edison, HB)
Lua Da Berry (Folsom)
Troy Bowens (Sutter)
Dillon Davis (St. John Bosco)
DeMare Dezeurn (Alemany)
Jelani Dippel (Central, Fresno)
Eli Dukes (Palma)
Brady Edmunds (Huntington Beach)
Zo Edwards (Grant, Sacramento)
Taven Epps (Tustin)
Honor Faalave-Johnson (Cathedral Catholic)
Lemani Fahoko (Serra, San Mateo)
Sione Felia (Oak Hills)
Havon Finney (Sierra Canyon)
Dorian Franklin (St. John Bosco)
Matix Frithsmith (Hart)
Kody Galloway (Banning, Wilmington)
Travon Garrison (Damien)
Osani Gayles (St. Mary’s, Stockton)
Elija Harmon (Inglewood)
Bayon Harris (Central, Fresno)
Gavin Honore (Mater Dei)
Jon Ioane (Tustin)
Jaden Jefferson (Cathedral, L.A.)
Julius Jefferson (Long Beach Poly)
Duece Jones-Drew (De La Salle)
Nikko Juarez (Manteca)
Jack Junker (Santa Margarita)
Isaiah Lelua (Servite)
Lance Lewis (Elk Grove)
Iese Magalei (Orange Vista)
Lincoln Mageo (Oceanside)
Lex Malaingi (Mater Dei)
Kevika Martinez (La Habra)
Chase Mattoon (El Segundo)
Ahmad McClellan (Hemet)
Daniel Mielke (Ontario Christian)
Courtney Miller-Thompson (Lincoln, SD)
Calvin Moala (Rancho Christian)
Nestah Natapu (Paramount)
Alex Parker (Notre Dame, SO)
Isaiah Phelps (Pacifica, Oxnard)
Isaac Pierce (Oak Ridge)
Pai Polamalu (St. Augustine)
Damani Porras (Downey)
Josiah Poyer (St. John Bosco)
Ryan Rakowski (Palos Verdes)
Demaje Riley (Tulare)
R.J. Riley (Frontier)
Finley Rivera (Acalanes)
Adan Rodriguez (Red Bluff)
Alijah Royster (Pacifica, Oxnard)
Brody Samon (Simi Valley)
Trevor Schneider (Norco)
Zion Secrease (Sacred Heart Cathedral)
Koby Shabazz (Grant, Sacramento)
Troy Simonson (Nipomo)
Carter Sobel (Chaminade, West Hills)
Brett Smith (Centennial, Corona)
Joseph Smith (Balboa)
Jaxsen Stokes (Sierra Canyon)
Cole Stripling (Chino Hills)
Troy Talua (Carson)
Terrance Tasila (Bishop Diego)
Prince Tavizon (Lincoln, San Diego)
Khalil Terry (Tustin)
George Toia (Summit, Fontana)
Kahlio Vaetoe (Cardinal Newman)
Isaia Vandermade (St. Ignatius, San Francisco)
Gabriel Villalobos (St. John Bosco)
Zason Walker (Palmdale)
Aaryn Washington (Mater Dei)
Dane Weber (Chaparral)
Richard Wesley (Sierra Canyon)
Isala Wily-Ava (St. John Bosco)
Philip Wilson (St. Bonaventure)
Wesley Winn (Archbishop Riordan)
Duvay Williams (Serra, Gardena)
Gavin Williams (Damien)
Jeremiah Williams (Tustin)
Josh Williams (Palos Verdes)
Justen Womack (Oak Ridge)

State Defensive Player of the Year: Marco Jones

By Mark Tennis | Published January 16, 2025

A Defensive Player of the Year for the state from the East Bay portion of the CIF North Coast Section is nothing new, but all of those who’ve gained this honor in the past were all from De La Salle. We’re pretty sure that even many Spartan fans would agree about the talent, skill and play-making of San Ramon Valley’s Marco Jones.
 Read more…

CIF State Football Title Game MVPs

By Mark Tennis | Published December 16, 2024

Ryan Rakowski looks to complete one of the 20 passes he had for Palos Verdes in its big win vs Twelve Bridges for the CIF D2-A state title. Photo: Scott Kurtz.


Some are easy, some are hard and we obviously have to do this without seeing all of the games in person. But we have an MVP for every CIF state championship game played since 2006 when the current event was renewed for the first time since 1927. The tradition continues from Dash Beierly of Mater Dei in the Open Division to Joseph Smith from Balboa of San Francisco in D7-A.

FOR SATURDAY GAME WRITEUPS AT SADDLEBACK COLLEGE, CLICK HERE.

FOR SATURDAY GAME WRITEUPS AT LONG BEACH & FULLERTON, CLICK HERE.

FOR FRIDAY GAME BREAKDOWNS AT SADDLEBACK COLLEGE, LONG BEACH & FULLERTON, CLICK HERE.

Note: We hope you enjoy this free post on CalHiSports.com. After the preseason, all weekly and final state rankings are available only to our Gold Club members as well as our state stat star of the week honor rolls. To check out getting a Gold Club membership to see all of those rankings plus all of our updated state record lists, totally authentic historical features, recruiting player ratings and more, CLICK HERE.

CHECK OUT CALGAMESWANTED.COM
Created for Coaches by Coaches for California Varsity High School Head Coaches and Athletic Directors, Start building your schedule with CalGamesWanted.com.
User friendly to take the stress out of scheduling.
Read more…

Troy Classic: Ontario Christian Triumphant

By Harold Abend | Published December 4, 2024

After knocking off two-time defending CIF state Open Division champions and Cal-Hi Sports and national preseason No 1 Etiwanda at the Harvard-Westlake tournament two weeks ago, preseason No. 4 ranked Ontario Christian headed to Texas for the Nike Hoopfest in Texas and came back victorious and looked to remain unbeaten at the Troy Classic in Orange County. 

Read more…

NorCal Tip-Off Classic Recaps

By Ronnie Flores | Published November 30, 2024

Alec Blair of Concord De La Salle rises up to take a jumper during season-opening win vs Crespi of Encino at the NorCal Tip-Off Classic. Photo: Greg Stein.


Here’s the results and recaps from the 17th Annual NorCal Tip-Off Classic at Dublin High School. State No. 9 De La Salle is impressive in its season opener and state No. 11 Redondo Union goes 2-0 on early-season NorCal road trip. Two overtime games also highlight nine-game slate, with best game of the day a 70-68 victory by No. 29 Lincoln of Stockton over No. 20 San Ramon Valley of Danville.   
Read more…

    Latest News

    Insider Blog