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.

Modesto Chr boys win SJS “Open”

By Mark Tennis | Published March 4, 2018

No, they don’t call the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I boys basketball playoffs an Open Division bracket, but thanks to several years of the smaller private schools being moved up in divisions it’s just about the same as others that are officially labeled as open divisions.

And the finishes over the past two years involving two of the top teams in Northern California each time sure warrant the section’s top division standing out that much.

Senior Gabe Murphy celebrates on the bench with teammates shortly after Modesto Christian won CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title. Photo: Mark Tennis.

In Saturday’s D1 section final at University of the Pacific, Modesto Christian earned the blue banner with a 60-56 victory over Sheldon of Sacramento. The Crusaders were down 56-55 with less than 30 seconds left but needed to get off a shot with about 10 seconds remaining. As the shot clock was just about to sound, senior guard Junior Ballard launched a 35-foot bomb that found all net for a hard-to-believe three-pointer and a 58-56 lead.

Sheldon’s players knew they had time for a last-second shot of their own and it looked like the Huskies got a break when a foul was called with two seconds on the clock. Senior Dale Currie could have made two free throws to tie the score, but missed on the first attempt. Modesto Christian then added two free throws with 1.1 seconds left for the final margin.

“No, I didn’t know the shot clock was going down,” said Ballard, who was 1-for-8 shooting and 0-for-4 on threes before taking that last one. “I just heard Mike (Mike Pearson, the point guard) yelling for me to shoot it so I did.”

In winning the matchup of teams ranked No. 6 and No. 12 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, Modesto Christian (28-3) won its 19th section title and secured either the No. 2 seed or No. 3 seed in the upcoming CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs. Getting No. 2 or No. 3 (Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland could also be No. 2) is important because the No. 2 seed would host in a possible semifinal. The top seed is expected to go to overall state No. 1 Salesian of Richmond.

Sheldon (26-5) lost a heartbreaker in the section final for the second straight year. In 2017, the Huskies fell to Woodcreek of Roseville 69-68 when Woodcreek’s Jordan Brown made two free throws with less than one second remaining. This time, they couldn’t make two with two seconds left that would have forced overtime. At least head coach Joey Rollings can tell his players they bounced back last year to gain a rematch with Woodcreek in the NorCal final.

Four teams from the SJS D1 bracket were taken into the eight-team NorCal Open Division last year and it is believed that will happen again. Both semifinalists Folsom (lost to Sheldon in OT) and Capital Christian (lost to Modesto Christian) have the resumes to go up.

“Essentially this is our Open Division,” said Modesto Christian head coach Brice Fantazia. “We’ve won section titles before, but to win in Division I is so much more special. We’re now back in D1, Capital Christian is now D1 and there are others. They are the big boys and we consider us big boys. We want to play anybody.”

Tyler Williams made two buzzer-beating shots earlier in the game for the Crusaders and led all scorers with 13 points. Ballard’s bomb gave him 10.

Currie may have missed that free throw, but came up huge for Sheldon. One of the leading candidates to be the Sacramento Bee’s Metro Player of the Year, Currie had 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and made four three-pointers. Both Chris Wreidt and Ronald Agebsar were tough on the boards with 10 rebounds each and combined to score 17 points.

Girls BB: NorCal Record for St. Mary’s

By Mark Tennis | Published March 4, 2018

After winning its 11th straight CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title on Saturday at University of the Pacific, the St. Mary’s of Stockton girls basketball team established a new Northern California record, according to the Cal-Hi Sports state record book.

The Rams, who defeated Folsom 71-48 for the SJS Division I championship, also moved into a tie for second-place on the all-time state list in the category of most consecutive section titles. They broke the previous NorCal best of 10 straight section titles held by Pinewood of Los Altos Hills (1998-2007) and tied in 2009 by Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco. Both of those schools, as is current state and national No. 1 Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, are from the CIF Central Section.

Ariel Johnson had one of her best games for St. Mary’s with 26 points in a section championship game. Photo: Mark Tennis.

The state record for consecutive section titles in girls hoops was set at 16 in 2008 when Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo didn’t win a title in the CIF Central Section. The Royals began their streak in 1993 in the CIF Southern Section. St. Mary’s is now tied for second on that list with Brea Olinda of Brea, which won 11 section titles in a row in the Southern Section between 1989 and 1999.

Beating Folsom convincingly, of course, was the bigger goal on Saturday night. St. Mary’s, which has been No. 2 in the state since losing to Mitty in the title game at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona, was facing a Bulldogs’ club that was 26-3 coming into the night and was up to No. 7 overall in the state.

Folsom didn’t play into its role of underdog in the early going. Freshman guard Charity Gallegos frustrated the St. Mary’s press defense with breakaway layups and a couple of three-pointers en route to 11 points in the first quarter. The Bulldogs found themselves ahead 23-13 with four minutes left before halftime, but then momentum changed rather quickly.

Florida-bound senior guard Ariel Johnson sparked a 17-1 run to end the second quarter with three driving layups and a three-pointer. She continued to have a hot hand in the third quarter. Folsom’s 23-13 lead had become a 36-24 lead for the Rams and it was all but over.

“I told them at halftime that one advantage was that they couldn’t match up with her speed,” said St. Mary’s head coach Tom Gonsalves when asked about the game that Johnson had. “She did an outstanding job executing the game plan. She had a great game.”

Johnson finished with 26 points and out-shined the two McDonald’s All-Americans who were in the game. Teammate Aquira DeCosta started slow but racked up 14 rebounds and five blocks to go with 22 points. Folsom’s McKenzie Forbes, who is a close friend of DeCosta’s, didn’t score until the third quarter but ended with 14 points. Gallegos led the Bulldogs with 15.

Both teams now move on to the CIF NorCal Open Division. Pairings will be released by the CIF on Sunday afternoon. The Rams, who also have now won 19 section titles in all, know they will be seeded second behind Mitty but know the entire bracket can be dangerous.

“We’ve been working very hard and I think we are ready,” said Johnson, who suffered a gash on her nose early in the fourth quarter from what she thought was running into the teeth of DeCosta. “(If we play Mitty again) we just have to do a better job and shut down Haley (Jones).”

CIF Central Sec: Frosh phenoms

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published February 28, 2018

Here’s some record updates and highlights of top coaches, players & teams from the past week as reported to us from CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett of Fresno. Bob has done phenomenal work on behalf of CIF Central Section schools, athletes and coaches for more than 40 years.
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Please split CIF BB Open Div. finals

By Mark Tennis | Published February 28, 2018

As we were putting together this week’s State Top 20 rankings packages for boys and girls basketball it was hard not to speculate over which 16 teams — eight in the north and eight in the south — were likely going to be placed in the upcoming CIF Northern California and Southern California Open Division playoffs. Those projections are for a different post, but in looking ahead to the two CIF Open Division state championships we were reminded how hectic it is that the boys and girls Open Division finals have been held every year back-to-back on a Saturday night.
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LA Galaxy still in pursuit of Ibrahimović

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published February 26, 2018

The LA Galaxy had a nightmare season in 2017 that led the team board to embark on a revamp that saw players like Ola Kamara arriving. However, there is still need for the team to continue its rebuilding exercise as it seeks to jump back into the Western Conference playoff picture where bookmakers such as realbookies.com are tipping them to return. Among the players, the club is linked with is Zlatan Ibrahimović, the experienced Manchester United forward who has had a tough season at the club so far.
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Manual Arts Daily 1936

By Mark Tennis | Published February 23, 2018

For the next few months, an ongoing project of ours is going through approximately 90 boxes of notes, game programs, media guides and other high school/college sports items that were owned by legendary sports historian Bruce McIntosh, who died on December 1 of 2017. Once in a while, it will be too hard to resist writing about some of the items.

We had no idea, for example, that at least one high school in California had a daily newspaper that existed for more than 25 years. That’s a newspaper printed out five times per week, Monday through Friday. We know because among Bruce’s collection are bound volumes of the Manual Arts Daily. Here’s some hard-to-believe reporting from the 1936 editions:

Modes, Manners Club Discusses, Analyzes Types of Girls
(From Manual Arts Daily March 10, 1936)

Do you know what type you are? This was one of the questions brought up in the discussion of personality at the first meeting of the Modes and Manners Committee under the direction of Mrs. Whitney during activity period, Wednesday.

There are six types of girls and every person fits into one of the types. You are either conservative, extreme, athletic, feminine, boyish, or reserved.

By way of explanation several girls were analyzed. For example, Jane Corbin was found to be the feminine type, while Margaret Trider was found to be the athletic type.

All should try to dress in such a fashion as to accentuate personality in an individual way.

Lack of College Educated Newspaper Men Told By Examiner Reporter
(From Manual Arts Daily April 14, 1936)

“A college education is of the same benefit to a journalist as to a person in any other profession. However, only about fifty percent of our present day reporters attended college.”

This was the statement Dale B. Frady, sports writer for the Examiner, made when he spoke to the Press Club last activity period.

Frady was the assistant editor of the Daily Trojan while he attended USC.

“Journalism,” he said, “is lots of hard work. You receive very little money at the start and you meet many disappointments. However, nice things do happen to make you think it’s a grand profession.”

Germany’s Unemployment Diminishing Fast
(Manual Arts Daily May 11, 1936)

“Germany’s unemployment has been decreased very much since Hitler has been in power,” said Mr. Herman Schwin, who spoke to the World Friendship Club last Tuesday.

Mr Schwin was born in Germany, but is an American citizen, having been in America for 10 years.

He spoke of the political conditions in Germany from just after the world war (WWI) to the present. He stated that most of the news about Germany that reaches this country is propaganda, and that is why not many of the things said about Germany are very complimentary.

CIF Model Coach Award Winners

By Mark Tennis | Published February 22, 2018

For the 17th time, the CIF state office has announced its winners of the annual CIF State 2017-18 Model Coach Award Winners. The honors were released on Wednesday in a program designed to recognize those coaches who are positive role models for their school and community. We primarily only cover football, boys hoops, girls hoops, baseball and softball on this web site, but all 13 deserve the spotlight.
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CIF Central Sec: Kendrick can do

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published February 21, 2018

All-NorCal Football Honors

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published February 15, 2018

This one-stop hub for the 2017 All-NorCal Football honors is from our partners at SportStars Magazine. We don’t do an All-NorCal team at Cal-Hi Sports but would pretty much go along with SportStars over others who do the same. Sound off below, or take it to the tweets. Here we go.

CLICK THE IMAGES TO READ

PLAYER OF THE YEAR | TARIQ BRACY • MILPITAS • RB/DB | STORY BY MIKE WOOD

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR | JOSEPH NGATA • FOLSOM • WR | STORY BY STEVEN WILSON

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR | HENRY TO’OTO’O • DE LA SALLE • LB | STORY BY CHACE BRYSON

ALL-NORCAL OFFENSIVE ROSTER

ALL-NORCAL DEFENSIVE ROSTER

COACH OF THE YEAR | PAUL CRONIN • CARDINAL NEWMAN | STORY BY CHACE BRYSON

CIF Central Sec: Yosemite’s Cannon

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published February 14, 2018

BOYS BASKETBALL

Senior Cannon Eames from Yosemite of Oakhurst scored a season high of 36 points in a 82-77 win over Chowchilla. It was how he got those points that was more unique. Eames made 20 of 32 free throws. He also had six steals. Cannon is a three-sport athlete for the Badgers who also plays football and baseball.

Anthony Valencia of Mt. Whitney (Visalia) had a nice week by scoring 30 points in a 81-72 win over Hanford West and then a game high of 24 points as the Pioneers beat Hanford 70-66. With the wins, Mt. Whitney tied Hanford for first place in the West Yosemite League.

Junior Isaiah Hill from Liberty of Bakersfield scored 31 points and had 10 assists & 7 rebounds in an 84-49 win over Garces of Bakersfield. Hill also had 21 points in a 65-62 triumph over Centennial of Bakersfield.

Speaking of Centennial, the Golden Hawks have made 325 3-pointers for the season for a new Central Section record. They passed California City, which made 319 in 2017. Justin Greiner has made 112 of those 3-pointers for the season. He needs four to break the individual section record. Greiner was the NorCal Player of the Week two weeks ago and averages 25 ppg.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Junior Madison Campbell of Clovis West (Fresno) scored a game high of 27 points in her state-ranked team’s 68-41 victory over Clovis North (also state-ranked) and set another school record. She set the mark for most points scored in a season. Madison has scored 624 points, breaking the old record of 597, held by Paige Bowie in 1996. Madison also scored 15 points in a 63-26 win against Clovis East earlier in the week. Clovis West pushed its Tri-River Athletic Conference winning streak to 59 consecutive wins for another new school record.

Keeping on with the Clovis West girls, head coach Craig Campbell has been at the helm since 2006 and has won 13 consecutive league championships with a sparkling league record of 126-3. He came to the school after winning state titles at Reno High in Nevada.

Finally, Mirayha Gonzales of Firebaugh had a productive week, which began with 21 points, 6 assists & 6 steals in a 53-47 win over Mendota. Mirayha also scored a game high of 31 points in a 62-61 win over Dos Palos.