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.

Ballislife Podcast on Kobe Bryant

By Ronnie Flores | Published January 28, 2020

Subscribe to the In The Paint Show on iTunes | Subscribe to the In The Paint Show on SoundCloud

In Episode No. 54 of our “In The Paint Show,”  co-hosts Devin Ugland and Ronnie Flores, Cal-Hi Sports Managing Editor, publish the podcast they never thought in a million years would be necessary: a recollection and insight into the life of a gone-too-soon basketball star. In this case, it’s still shocking former Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant is no longer gracing the earth, gone at age 41 after a aviation accident last Sunday that killed seven other passengers, including his 13-year old daughter GiGi, and the pilot.

In a special two and one half hour show, the fellas bring on six special guests, each with their own unique perspective and insight on either Bryant’s formative years, legendary pro career or his untimely death.

Roundball Classic and ABCD Camp founder Sonny Vaccaro holds no punches, going in-depth on his relationship with Bryant while at Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pa.) and how the move was orchestrated to turn pro and join the Lakers after his show-stopping performance at the 1995 ABCD Camp.

Rashad Phillips of Sports Talk 2319, a member of the Class of 1996 as is former NBA guard Corey Benjamin, both break down their unique relationship with Bryant. Phillips was a late add-on to the 1996 Roundball Classic All-Star Game and Bryant’s inspirational words on national television that day still resonate. Benjamin, the 1996 Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball at Fontana High School, talks about what separated The Black Mamba from himself and other elites in that class.

Rome Douglas, a former NFL offensive lineman and Grid-Hoop star at Claremont High School, has a 11-year old daughter who is an up-and-coming basketball player, and both were present at the Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on that fateful day. Douglas talks about being at the facility when the awful news broke and how Kobe’s and GiGi’s loss will reverberate in the girls basketball community for many years to come.

Frank Burlison of BurlisonOnBasketball.com talks about evaluating Bryant for the first time as a rising junior while playing for the Sam Rines AAU travel ball club in Las Vegas. You won’t believe what Bean shot from the field on the day he made a lasting impression of the Hall of Fame sportswriter.

Beto Duran, a well-known sports broadcaster on many platforms in Southern California, discusses his interactions with Kobe while covering the Lakers and what the basketball icon meant to the Latino community in Southern California.

SHOW NOTES: Episode 54 Rundown

14:47: Sonny Vaccaro describes his reaction to Kobe’s death, goes in-depth on his history with Kobe.

56:50: Rashad Phillips on his memories of playing against Kobe at the 1996 Roundball Classic.

1:12:40: 1996 CalHiSports POY, former NBA player Corey Benjamin on hearing about Kobe in high school, interactions with him over the years.

1:22:48: Former NFL player Rome Douglas who was at Mamba Academy Sunday morning watching his 11 year-old daughter play. 

1:36:05: HOF hoops writer Frank Burlison recollects on his first time seeing Kobe play in high school and following his illustrious Lakers’ career.

2:00:51: Longtime SoCal journalist Beto Duran on his interactions with Kobe and what made him such a respected figure in the Latino community.

2:26:44: Ronnie and Devin close out the show with their most memorable Kobe moments.

To learn more about our hosts, Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland, and to get more information about what “In The Paint” is all about, check out our intro below!

State Defensive POY: Justin Flowe

By Mark Tennis | Published January 16, 2020

Regarded as the best linebacker in the nation and one of the best in California for the past 20 years, Upland’s Justin Flowe adds top defensive honors for the state to his growing list of honors, including the Butkus Award that is given to the nation’s most outstanding linebacker.
 Read more…

Sierra Canyon Back On Track

By Ronnie Flores | Published January 11, 2020


In the second matchup of the year between state heavyweights Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth and Rancho Christian of Temecula, this time at No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings, it’s the No. 2 team that is victorious once again, as No. 2 Trailblazers win the rematch game, 78-62. The dynamic Sierra Canyon forward duo of B.J. Boston and Ziaire Williams combine for 50 points, as the Trailblazers will regain the state’s top ranking next week and be in good position for the upcoming CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.
 Read more…

Best Fitness Trackers For Athletes

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published January 8, 2020

Finally, a new decade is here! We’re all bursting with New Year resolutions, and health & fitness goals are a part of that list. So what better way to keep your fitness goals alive all year round than by getting a personal fitness assistant who continually checks on your vitals, calories and sleep quality. Photo credit: https://totalshape.com/fitness/

Investing in a quality fitness tracker will help you ace your fitness resolutions this year. We feature some A-list brands and evaluate each in terms of specs, stand-out features, design and software compatibility.’=

Want to crush your workouts and maximize your recovery? Get yourself a smart fitness tracker.
Tone up!

What to consider when choosing a fitness tracker?

Fitness trackers are targeted at different users. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced fitness enthusiast, there are tons of fitness trackers available and finding the right one can be quite challenging.

Whether you’re an avid athlete or gym rat, there’s a fitness tracker for your health and fitness needs. before buying a fitness tracker consider the following:

Power: What is the battery life of your fitness tracker? Can it last long enough to complement your physical activity needs? A wide variety of fitness trackers run on batteries and you’ll need to refill the tank once they dry out. The longer-lasting the battery, the better value for your bucks you get.

Smartphone compatibility: Choose a fitness tracker that can connect to your Smartphone device. This way, you can send and receive texts and calls while you exercise and also your workout stats. Some trackers feature Smartphone apps to allow you to store your health data in one convenient place.

Design: Test out your wearables to find out whether they are lightweight and comfortable or heavy and super clunky. Invest in a fitness tracker that fits your wrist like a glove and is not an eyesore. Look for wearables in a variety of colorful and stylish designs to complement your outfits.

Wellness features: What fitness goals do you want to achieve and what are the essential components you have to track? Some trackers monitor your heart rate while others track your sleep patterns and calories burned. We have monitors that keep track of daily movement and distance covered per workout. These give you valuable insights into your physical and mental state.

Physical activity: What are your fitness routine needs? How can your fitness tracker improve your fitness regimen? If you engage in a light exercise like walking, yoga or Pilates, go for a basic fitness tracker to monitor your sleep and heart rate.

On the other hand, if you are into high-intensity workouts including swimming and running, choose a more premium quality fitness tracker with a slew of features like vital reads and mileage tracker.

Best Fitness Trackers for Athletes:
These innovative fitness trackers are the inspiration you need to get off the couch. They’ll help nudge you towards better lifestyle choices. Whether you want to ace your fitness goals, keep tabs on your overall health or analyze your performance, there is a fitness tracker for your needs.

Fitfort fitness tracker with blood pressure HR monitor
Fitfort takes the crown when it comes to the best fitness tracker for athletes. If you’re looking for a fitbit with blood pressure monitor, this is your ideal choice. Fitfort is one of the most accomplished all-round fitness trackers with a full suite of fitness tracking features including all-day step counting, heart rate and blood pressure monitoring thanks to its smart Matter Sensing Technology.

We like the large, stylish 0.9 inch LCD display with up to 5 adjustable brightness levels. Couch potatoes! This wristwatch will remind you to keep it moving plus it features 14 fitness modes to help you spice up your workout routines. Plus it lasts you up to a week on a full tank.

Get valuable insights into your sleep quality, step count and calories torched per workout session. With the SNS alert, you can stay connected to your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. On the flip side, you can only connect to a Smartphone but not iPhone or tablet.

Mgaolo fitness tracker

Style and substance meet quality with the innovative Mgaolo fitness tracker. This wristwatch offers a slew of creative perks to help you nail your fitness goals. Monitor your heartbeat with a glance on your wrist. It comes in a thin, stylish design with an innovative scorecard to help you adjust your workout plans and lifestyle to suit your needs.

With the innovative sleep tracking capabilities plus detailed sleep analysis, you can monitor your sleep patterns to wake up refreshed both physically and mentally. This wristwatch is a pretty darn good investment if you’re looking to get into shape. The vivid display shows you how much calories you have torched after each workout plan.

This reliable fitness tracker is a plus especially for ladies. You can monitor your menstrual cycle and ovulation days when you’re trying for a baby. The only downside is the GPS isn’t inbuilt, and it’s not compatible with PC and iPad.

How much does a fitness tracker cost?

Most fitness trackers cost between $50 and $250. Less than $50 and you’re stuck with a subpar device with mediocre accuracy. Also, they don’t come with a display so you can’t keep track of your steps unless you use your smartphone.

Pricey options over $250 pack a slew of top-notch features including built-in GPS and heart-rate monitors and are often tailored towards exercise enthusiasts. Figure out your needs first before buying a fitness tracker. If your primary physical activity is walking, save yourself the extra expense of buying a tracker with a heart rate and blood pressure monitor.

Bottom line:

Fitness trackers are essential for sports junkies. These powerful devices help push your limits while exercising and enable you to smash your fitness goals.

Before settling on your ideal fitness tracker, be on the lookout for durability and features. This will determine whether you go running or swimming. If you want high-end features, you’ll definitely spend more. The best fitness tracker narrows down to what you want to achieve.

Mater Dei girls win at Jamboree

By Mark Tennis | Published December 31, 2019

Here is the championship photo of the Santa Ana Mater Dei team after winning in Platinum Division title game of the West Coast Jamboree. Photo: Paul Muyskens.


The 20th annual West Coast Jamboree concluded in the Platinum Division on Monday night at College Park High in Pleasant Hill where it was a matchup between two of the state’s top five ranked teams. The most historical moment of the night, though, occurred in the third-place game when Archbishop Mitty of San Jose head coach Sue Phillips won the 700th game of her career.

For our all-decade all-state teams, CLICK HERE.
For recaps of the SoCal Classic involving Long Beach Poly and La Jolla Country Day, CLICK HERE.

Before the Mater Dei of Santa Ana and Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth girls basketball teams hit the floor for the title game of the Platinum Division of the West Coast Jamboree, it was already known that unbeaten Cal-Hi Sports state No. 1 La Jolla Country Day had dropped its first game of the season earlier in the evening in the title game of a different tournament in San Diego to Long Beach Poly.

Sierra Canyon, the defending CIF Open Division state champions with a wealth of returning standouts, was looking to make a statement after losing to La Jolla Country Day by one point in the finals of the top division at the Nike Tournament of Champions.

Brooke Demetre grabs a rebound for Mater Dei during game against Sierra Canyon at West Coast Jamboree. Photo: Paul Muyskens.


Instead, the statement after Monday night’s games may be this: It’s going to be a dogfight anytime one of the top four or five teams in the state plays each other and any one of them can win on any given night.

Mater Dei scratched out an early lead against the Trailblazers and really never let it go in posting a 43-42 victory before a packed gym at College Park High in Pleasant Hill. A big moment for the Monarchs, who lost their only game in overtime to Long Beach Poly in a different tourney final, came in the closing seconds of the third quarter when Soleil Montrose buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to give them a 31-27 lead.

With the two head coaches, Kevin Kiernan of Mater Dei and his former assistant, Alicia Komaki of Sierra Canyon, employing difficult defensive strategies, getting a four-point lead in that type of a game seemed to feel as if it was much larger. The Trailblazers tried a couple of three-pointers in the last 30 seconds that could have cut it to a one-point lead but the shots didn’t fall. There was one last shot that did go in, but Mater Dei already had secured the win.

Alyssa Frescas led the Monarchs with 12 points and joined teammate and MVP Brooke Demetre on the all-tourney team along with Meaali’i Amosa who finished with 12 rebounds to go with eight points. Demetre, the team’s talented junior forward, was held in check by Sierra Canyon’s defense but was honored for her output from earlier in the tourney. Caia Elisaldez also hit double figures with 10 points while Montrose finished with nine.

Vanessa Smart, who was once the Ventura County Player of the Year at her previous school (Hueneme of Oxnard), kept Sierra Canyon close by making three from three-point land in the first quarter. She ended with a game-high 17 points. The Trailblazers’ other lead guards, Vanessa DeJesus and Ashley Chevalier, got the bulk of the defensive attention from Mater Dei and could only score seven and six points, respectively.

Both teams will have further opportunities to try to secure the important No. 1 seed for the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs (although Long Beach Poly may be the leader for that right now). It’s also important to note that for the second year there will be home sites used for the CIF Southern California Open Division regional final and none of the CIFSS teams will want to have to travel to La Jolla to play in that game.

Third-Place Game Platinum Division
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 75, St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) 39

The big storyline after the Monarchs breezed past the Pilots was that head coach Sue Phillips became just the fifth coach in the history of California girls hoops (according to our own Cal-Hi Sports state records) to win 700 games.

Mitty improved to 8-3 with its losses to Mater Dei (in the semifinals of the Jamboree played last Saturday 47-41), nationally ranked Riverdale Baptist of Maryland (58-51) and La Jolla Country Day. The Monarchs led 17-8 over the Pilots after the first quarter and went nuts in the second quarter to take a 54-27 lead.

Phillips’ girls will only get better. She has a lineup almost exclusively of juniors and sophomores and the group may add standout junior Hunter Hernandez (rehabbing a knee injury) before the end of the season.

Football Cleats Buying Tips

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published December 18, 2019


No matter what your role in football is, either lineman, quarterback, or defensive back, you will always need football cleats. This can offer support, traction, and comfort to your feet. Indeed, the cleats can make a big difference in your performance. Without cleats, you can increase your chances of having injuries as you make tackles and cuts.
Read more…

Updated State FB Teams of Yr Lists

By Mark Tennis | Published December 18, 2019

We have traditionally posted the updated all-time State Teams of the Year for football after each season as part of our postseason coverage of free content. We are doing it this year in a blog post attached to the main story. We also are adding the public schools all-time list (scroll below), which currently goes back to 1990. Prior to 1990, public schools were more often the overall State Team of the Year. All final state rankings will be Gold Club content.
Read more…

Mikey Williams: Freshman hits for 77

By Mark Tennis | Published December 14, 2019

San Ysidro of the CIF San Diego Section had the leading freshman scorer in the state last season when D.J. Dudley knocked down 24.6 points per game, including a highest scoring single-game of 40 points.

FOR UPDATED GOLD CLUB MEMBERS’ ALL-TIME SINGLE-GAME STATE SCORING LIST, CLICK HERE.

FOR FIRST CLASS OF 2023 STATE PLAYER RANKINGS (ALSO GOLD CLUB), CLICK HERE.

TO SIGN UP FOR GOLD CLUB SO YOU CAN SEE BOTH IF YOU’RE NOT A MEMBER, CLICK HERE.

But that’s nothing compared to what freshman Mikey Williams is doing for the Cougars this season. With Dudley now at Fairfax of Los Angeles on a transfer, Williams already had two 51-point games this season for San Ysidro. Then on Friday night in a semifinal game of the Tiger Classic tourney at Imperial High (home of NFL running back Royce Freeman), Mikey blew up for 77 points in a 116-52 win over Kearny of San Diego.
Read more…

Quick Picks: CIF State Football Finals

By Mark Tennis | Published December 12, 2019

Feel free to leave your own predicted scores of each CIF state football championship being played this weekend in our comments section. With respect to every team that is still playing and with congratulations to all, here would be our annual picks for each game in our annual battle to beat the computer. We did two years ago and had a tie last season.
Read more…

Tips On Managing Pain After Injury

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published December 5, 2019

Pain can affect every sports person’s next performance, and not to mention it can be very debilitating. The most common sports injuries that also cause pain to a lot of athletes include ankle sprain, hamstring strain, groin pull, shin splints, tennis elbow, and knee injury. Sudden stretches and overusing muscles can tear tendons, ligaments, and muscle fibers.

Whether a player is into high school football, college basketball, volleyball, or martial arts, sustaining injuries may cause acute or chronic pain that would require prompt medical attention for proper pain management and faster recovery. But, how do you manage pain using conservative and proven methods aside from over-the-counter or prescribed pain medications?

Below are some helpful tips to help you manage pain after a sports injury:

Find an Effective Alternative Pain Treatment

Athletes are usually bombarded with plenty of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids to treat pain. However, these traditional medications can cause tons of side effects, such as stomach ulcers, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, bleeding tendencies, and cardiovascular and renal problems.

It’s a good thing that cannabidiol (CBD) is now available. CBD is an effective alternative treatment over NSAIDs and opioids. Many athletes are now turning to CBD to reduce the pain and inflammation brought about by sports injuries and boosting their performance.

Here are the good-to-know facts about CBD as an effective alternative treatment to traditional pain medications:

In a study, it shows that CBD serves as a neuroprotectant. That’s why it’s suitable for football players and other contact sports with high risk for sustaining concussions and traumatic encephalopathy.

CBD can help relieve pain and promote relaxation either internally, through sublingual route via CBD tincture or CBD oil, or topically, such as patches, body oils, balms, and bath soaks.

CBD helps relieve muscle soreness and spasm. You use CBD creams to ease the pain of sprain or strain, so it helps if you have one when training or during any competition because this CBD product is easy to apply.

Apply the Modified RICE Therapy

In 1978, Dr. Gabe Mirkin wrote the book entitled The Sportsmedicine Book, where he introduced the acronym RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) that many physical therapists, physicians, coaches, and the public have adapted for many years.

Dr. Mirkin has stated that simply putting ice, complete rest, use of NSAIDS, immune suppressants, steroids, and anything that blocks the response of the immune system to injury may delay healing. Further, ice application can reduce speed, strength, coordination, and endurance, which significantly affect an athlete’s performance.

Here are the latest recommendations of Dr. Gabe Mirkin:

R for Restrict Activity: If you’re injured, better take a rest on training or exercising until you’re healed.

I for Ice: Because ice application is an effective method to reduce pain, you can still apply ice. However, to avoid the delay in the healing process, after 10 minutes, you should remove it. If you need to apply again, wait for 20 minutes, and only limit applying ice one or twice.

There’s no need to apply ice if more than six hours have already passed after the injury.

C or Compression: If the sports injury is limited to muscles or soft tissues, compression (elastic bandage) should only be applied by a doctor, coach, or trainer to help reduce swelling.

E or Elevate: If possible, elevate the injured area to prevent swelling. However, before elevating any extremity, a qualified person should assess if the condition won’t be aggravated with movement.

Avoid Self-medication

Drug abuse, most especially to pain killers, is rampant in the sports world, and you don’t want to end up getting addicted to NSAIDs and other pain medications. That’s why it’s always advisable to consult a doctor when it comes to proper dosing.

Physical Therapy

Consider physical therapy for acute or chronic back pain brought about by sports injuries. Physical therapists usually focus on relieving pain with passive treatment modalities, such as:

Heat or ice packs
Iontophoresis (a device that use electricity in small voltage to treat pain)
A TENS unit (a battery-operated device used to treat pain by delivering electrical impulses via electrodes to a person’s skin)
Low impact aerobic exercises (running, walking, stretching)

Conclusion
Pain management after a sports injury doesn’t only involve NSAIDs and opioid-based medications. Even healthcare professionals use conservative and alternative treatments to address pain. Implementing the modified RICE therapy is also advisable so that the performance of athletes is not affected while ensuring faster healing of sports injuries.

    Latest News

    Insider Blog