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.

Softball: Californians & Team USA

By Mark Tennis | Published July 13, 2017

It wasn’t the ending that Team USA wanted in the final of the World Cup of softball last weekend as Japan used a two-run inning to hold on for a 2-1 win. Still, it’s always fun going through Team USA rosters in softball and looking at all of the former California high school stars who were on the team.

Two of the young ladies were actually in their hometown of Sacramento this week practicing with the national team and playing an exhibition game. That would be infielder Ali Aguilar from Casa Roble of Orangevale and pitcher/infielder Ally Carda from Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove.

Aguilar is one of our favorites because when she was a freshman at Casa Roble in 2010 we kind of went out on a limb in naming her as State Freshman of the Year. There were some other contenders from Southern California and that pick was met with a lot of flak. The usual strength of competition arguments were made. But Ali has gone on to make that pick look good. She later went to Washington and became an All-American and is now on the national team.

Carda was on Pleasant Grove’s team in 2009 that upset Sheldon of Sacramento to win its first-ever CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title. She was a sophomore on that team and both the Eagles and Huskies that season were two of the best teams in the state and nation. Carda went on to UCLA and was Pac-12 Player of the Year twice.

In addition to those two, there were eight others out of the 20 who were on the Team USA roster that was in the World Cup of Softball. That’s 10 of the 20 in all and it still shows that California remains the leader of all states in the nation in the sport. Here’s the complete list:

Ali Aguilar (Casa Roble, Orangevale) INF
Val Arioto (Foothill, Pleasanton) INF
Ally Carda (Pleasant Grove, Elk Grove) P/INF
Hannah Flippen (Bonita Vista, Chula Vista) INF
Delanie Gourley (El Capitan, Lakeside) P
Paige Halstead (Rancho Cucamonga) C
Jazmyn Jackson (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) INF
Jessica Moore (Sutter) P
Delaney Spaulding (Etiwanda) INF
Janie Takeda (El Dorado, Placentia) OF

The only one of the group who was a State Player of the Year in high school was Moore, who was a State Small Schools POY for Sutter.

Mental Training: Free with Lucid app

By Mark Tennis | Published July 12, 2017

Aaron Gordon as All-American. Photo: Ronnie Flores.

Former San Jose Archbishop Mitty CIF state champion Aaron Gordon only one of a growing list of professional athletes who are using mental training app launched earlier this year by Lucid. The Mission of San Francisco Bears also have used it. Now, any high school athletes in all sports can use this app for FREE.

Note: To check out this absolutely free app that can greatly enhance the mental skills of any high school athlete, CLICK HERE.

As many will remember, when the NBA’s Aaron Gordon was developing into a two-time Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year at Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, he had difficulty at the free throw line. Gordon would fidget at the line and had free throw shooting percentages that hovered around 50 percent.

Today, playing for the Orlando Magic, Gordon is making approximately 70 percent of his free throws. So was it just a question of practice, practice, practice?

Actually, the answer to that question is no. It was more of a mental aspect of training that Gordon has welcomed and it’s that mental training in the form of the Lucid phone app that all California basketball players — boys or girls — and all athletes in any sports really can benefit from and at no cost.

Graham Betchart of Lucid spent time on the phone with Cal-Hi Sports this week to discuss Lucid and how the system works.

“It’s all about next play speed,” said Betchart, who in addition to working with Gordon has worked with other NBA players, NFL players such as Brandon Marshall of the New York Giants. “It’s how fast you can think about and focus on the next play. Aaron had to buy into it. I don’t care if you’ve made 80 mistakes in a row, it’s all about the next play.”

Download the Lucid app on your phone today.


“Buy in. Buy in,” Gordon says on the GetLucid.com web site. “More than anything you need to be mentally strong. Training with Lucid gives me the mental strength I need to perform in the NBA.”

Betchart and Lucid have broken down the mental training program into a five-minute daily listening session that they call MVP.

“M stands for meditation, V stands for visualization and P is for positive self talk,” said Betchart, who also has helped coach the boys team at Mission of San Francisco, which on Friday won the CIF Division III state title. “Most young kids want to be MVPs. What I will see after someone consistently uses the program is a resilient person who has the ability to fail but will not get caught up in failure.”

When you think about it, this mental strength to play in the moment, maintain focus from play to play and remain calm carries over into all sports. Examples include quarterbacks who have just thrown an interception, a golfer who has hooked a tee shot into the trees and a baseball player who has struck out multiple times in row.

When the mental training program is operating on the app, after a brief time of meditation (breathing is present and centered), Betchart leads the athlete in visualizing himself or herself succeeding in difficult circumstances.

“The brain doesn’t know the difference when you are doing in your mind and when you are doing it for real,” he said. “It’s about imagining yourself put in situations and then overcoming them.”

The five-minute program ends with a series of positive self-talk statements. This would be similar before smart phones to taping up self-affirming words on a mirror so you see them every morning. Examples could be: “I will not miss a free throw tonight. I will ace that test.”

This mental training isn’t just for athletes, but the early focus of the app’s launch is on younger student-athletes and making everything easy and free.

“You simply download it onto your phone, for free, and then choose the workout you want,” Betchart said. “It’s mind-blowing how this mental training can improve anybody’s game.”

Girls BB: Paopao Ready To Break Out

By Harold Abend | Published July 6, 2017

Before she went down with a knee injury last fall, La Jolla Country Day incoming phenomenal sophomore Te-Hina Paopao was poised to have what many analysts believed would be a phenomenal freshman season.

Instead, Paopao rehabbed and although at only around 50-60-percent she actually made a return for the final four games of the season with the Torreys and Paopao bowing out in the second round of the CIF Southern Regional Division I playoffs to eventual state champion Windward of Los Angeles.

Te-Hina Paopao is almost back to the full strength she had last summer when she was a breakout Class of 2020 point guard. Photo: Harold Abend.


The point guard standout was invited to the USA U16 trials in late May and out of 133 girls that started competition for the final 12 spots on the team Paopao was the only California girl from the Class of 2020 to make the final 37 and next to last cut.

A few of the analysts and coaches at the trials we talked to felt Paopao should have at least made the final 18 despite the fact she was still at less than 75 percent.

While in San Diego for the 31st Annual San Diego Classic won by Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) but without La Jolla Country Day in the field for the first time in a long time, the Caravan stopped at Country Day between games to see Paopao at practice with her Torreys teammates.

The reason Country Day Coach Terri Bamford said she decided not to play in the Classic was because she knew her girls would be coming off a seven-game event at UCLA, and to play another six games before heading off as Wiggins Waves for the first half of the NCAA viewing period was just too many games in a short period of time for not only Paopao but everyone else.

During our visit, Paopao was having fun at practice with the various shooting drills Bamford puts the team through. The brace on her knee didn’t seem to hinder her movement or elevation at all even though she’s still not at full strength.

“I’ve gotten used to it now,” said Paopao about the brace at a break in practice.

“The progression she has made is amazing,” Bamford remarked. “Even at only about 80 percent right now she is dominating the game.”

One has to wonder. Had Paopao been at close to 100 percent would she have made the USA U16 team?

“If I was 100 percent I think I would have made it easily,” Paopao said.

Even so, Paopao recognizes her limits physically and some of the other criteria the USA selection committee uses to pick the team that go beyond physical and basketball skills.

“I’m only nine months since the injury and I still have limitations like with lateral movement,” Paopao said.

“I have areas to work on too,” Paopao continued. “I need to work on defense a lot more, and leadership skills, being more vocal. I feel I need to be that leader and guide the team all the way to state.”

First, it’s the viewing period where Paopao can re-impress the college coaches that raved about her last summer before the injury.

The Wiggins Waves open the viewing period this week at the Run for the Roses in Louisville, Kentucky.

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

More MLB All-Stars From California

By CalHiSports.com Staff | Published July 3, 2017

There aren’t that many this time despite the hoopla surrounding leading vote getter Aaron Judge from Linden High and the New York Yankees, but here’s a list of the others besides him.

For more on Aaron Judge when he attended Linden, CLICK HERE.

Jason Vargas (Apple Valley)
He broke into the Major Leagues in 2005 with the Florida Marlins and played with the Mets, Mariners and Angels before going to the Royals in 2014 and winning a World Series in 2015. This is his first time being named an All-Star as he has gone 12-3 with a 2.22 ERA so far this season. Back in 2014,the school honored the 2000 Daily Press Baseball Athlete of the Year by retiring his number.

Nolan Arenado (El Toro, Lake Forest)
Named to his third all-star team this season, Nolan hit .517 with five home runs his senior season to earn a selection to our all-state first team. The last two seasons he has led the National League in both home runs and runs batted in and once again he has a chance to be among the leaders.

Giancarlo Stanton (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks)
Go ahead and compare him to Aaron Judge. He also starred in three sports at Notre Dame and was our 2006-07 State Athlete of the Year. He’s now a four-time All-Star and is now enjoying 13-year, $325 million contract he signed with the Marlins in 2014. He will defend last year’s Home Run Derby championship at home ballpark and Judge will be in it as well. The two California studs side-by-side.

Stephen Strasburg (West Hills, Santee)
It may be hard to believe but Strasburg was just 1-10 on the mound during his junior year at West Hills before setting school records in ERA and shutouts his senior season and being named the school’s 2006 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Not drafted out of high school, he later became the No. 1 overall pick. This is Stephen’s third All-Star Game.

Note: Justin Turner (Lakewood Mayfair) is part of the fan vote to determine the final NL roster spot. Mike Moustakas (Chatsworth) is part of the fan vote to determine final AL roster spot. Turner should be there with .382 batting average.

Boys BB: Cancer claims Redondo star

By Ronnie Flores | Published June 22, 2017

Former Redondo Union of Redondo Beach all-stater Ryse Williams dies on eve of his high school graduation and the 2017 NBA Draft. Williams was 18 years old.
 Read more…

More State Baseball Coaches of Year

By Mark Tennis | Published June 21, 2017

In addition to overall State Coach of the Year Mike Gonzales of El Toro, we have additional state coaching honors for the 2017 season going to Rich Henning from Christian Brothers of Sacramento and Jim Cleveland from Redwood Christian of San Lorenzo.
 Read more…

More State Softball Coaches of Year

By Mark Tennis | Published June 20, 2017

In addition to overall State Coach of the Year Mike Noel of Clovis, we have additional state coaching honors for the 2017 season going to J.J. Vaivao from Buena of Ventura and Flo Galindo from Village Christian of Sun Valley.
Read more…

State’s Teams in Final Flo50 Ranks

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published June 20, 2017

Cal-Hi Sports partnered each week with FloSports channels in softball and boys volleyball this spring to compile a national ranking of high school teams. These rankings are known as the Flo50 and are similar to the FAB 50 national rankings that were directed for many years by Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis when he was an executive editor with Student Sports and ESPN. Last week, final rankings ran in boys vollayball and this week it’s softball.
Read more…

Get Strong, Stay Strong Hoop Training

By Special To CalHiSports.com | Published June 15, 2017

Top Offseason Strength and Conditioning
Exercises for Basketball Players

As a competitive basketball player, you undoubtedly know how important it is to stay in shape during the offseason. For today’s elite athletes, next year’s training begins as soon as the buzzer sounds on the final play of this season. Staying strong in the offseason is just as important as during the basketball season.

Explosiveness is measured by many coaches using vertical leap. Photo: Elite Training Academy of California.


A proper strength and conditioning regimen in the offseason is integral to preventing injury while building speed, agility, and muscle.

Let’s take a look at a couple of programs that you can follow during the offseason that will take your game to new heights and guarantee that you can form your own version of a dream starting five basketball team.

This first program will whip you into excellent offseason shape and set a fine baseline for more advanced workouts. Follow this schedule for four weeks:

Day One: do three sets of 12 to 15 reps of back squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, and reverse hyperextensions. Perform 10 vertical jumps and standing long jumps. Run 10 5-yard sprints, five 5-yard shuffles each way, and five 5-yard backpedals.
Day Two: do three sets of 12 to 15 reps of bench presses, military presses, and biceps/triceps presses. Go for your max in pull-ups.
Day Four: do two sets of 12 to 15 reps of back squats on each leg, step-ups on each leg, good mornings, and back raises. Follow this up with 10 vertical jumps and standing long jumps. Run 10 5-yard sprints, five 5-yard shuffles each way, and five 5-yard backpedals.
It’s all about strength on Day Five. Do three sets of 12 to 15 reps of incline presses, bent-over rows, dumbbell shoulder presses, and biceps/triceps presses.
Day Six offers an explosive conditioning circuit that will have your metabolism soaring. Do each exercise in the listed order for thirty seconds with minimal rest in between. Repeat the entire circuit twice. The exercises are kettlebell swings, prone holds, heavy jump rope, right side planks, jumping jacks, left side planks, kettlebell swings, crunches, heaving rope woodchoppers, and burpees. You’re verifiably superhuman if you’re not dripping after this circuit.
Days Three and Seven are off days.

If you’re looking for a more generalized offseason strength and conditioning regimen, follow this three-day-a-week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) template that allows you to customize to specific exercises of your choice. Simply pick an exercise of the recommended type and get to work. For example, you can do frog squat jumps for a speed/plyometric exercise and forward-backward sprints for an agility exercise. You get the idea.

Here’s how the schedule plays out:

On Monday, do a low volume of a high-intensity speed/plyometric exercise. Follow it up with moderate amounts of high-intensity metabolic conditioning and power/strength training.
After resting on Tuesday, start Wednesday with low doses of a high-intensity agility/plyometric exercise, a high-intensity metabolic conditioning exercise, and a low-intensity strength training exercise.
Thursday is another recovery day. On Friday, it’s time for a moderate volume of a high-intensity agility exercise followed by a high amount of strenuous metabolic conditioning and a moderate volume of mid-level intensity power/strength training.

There are no excuses for lounging this offseason. Hit the gym hard with one of these strength and conditioning programs to stay strong. You’ll make your next season as successful as a slam dunk.

Lions FB: All-Time Stat Stars

By Mark Tennis | Published June 10, 2017

We at Cal-Hi Sports are proud to continue to help out with the local all-star football game in our Stockton/Modesto community. We’ll post similar summer all-star football updates, but can only spend the time helping out our local game. Other games would need to send us the stories directly to markjtennis@gmail.com. This story is part of that support.

The 44th Lions All-Star Football Classic will be played on Saturday, June 17 at Wayne Schneider Stadium in Tracy. CLICK HERE to see the rosters of the two teams.

This list was inspired by the inclusion of Jake Dunniway (St. Mary’s) and Cutrell Haywood (Stagg) for the North team this year and also Will Semone (Oakdale) for the South. Unfortunately, Will withdrew from the South team two weeks ago.

St. Mary’s QB Jake Dunniway hopes to lead North team to victory in upcoming Lions All-Star Game. Photo: Mark Tennis.

Jake Dunniway Notes

Without question, Dunniway is the only quarterback ever selected for the Lions Game who has thrown for more than 4,000 yards for the previous season. To be exact, the recent graduate of St. Mary’s passed for 4,066 yards and 46 touchdowns while leading the Rams to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title and then in a heart-breaking overtime loss to San Diego-Cathedral Catholic in the CIF Division I state championship.

The only other quarterback in the history of the Lions Game who had totals as a senior close to what Dunniway had last season was Aaron Zwahen of Modesto-Downey. He was the MVP of the 2013 all-star game at Modesto Junior College and in his senior season for the Knights he passed for 3,852 yards and 49 touchdowns. The highest previous total for a participating North QB was Osai Brown of McNair, who played in last year’s game. Brown passed for 3,383 yards and 50 scores during the 2015 season.

Cutrell Haywood Notes

Haywood and his teammates at Stagg didn’t face Dunniway and St. Mary’s last season, but as juniors in 2015 it was the Rams who ended the Delta Kings’ season in the Division I section playoffs with a 65-35 triumph.

As a senior, Haywood became even more of a focus in Stagg’s offense and he wound up with 100 catches for 1,644 yards and 22 touchdowns. In the history of the Lions game, there’s never been another incoming receiver with that many yards from the previous season or one with that many touchdown catches. The only receiver who’s been in the game with more catches is Javon Kelly of Modesto-Downey. He played in the 2010 Lions game and had 105 catches for 1,565 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2009.

South note: The top stat star player from this year’s most current South roster is receiver Marcellus Boykins of Ceres. He caught 78 passes for 1,145 yards and nine TDs last season.

Based on going through year-by-year rosters, the state record book and other reported stat leader lists, here are some other players from the North and South squads who’ve been in the Lions All-Star Game after posting impressive senior season totals:

Wayne Brooks (Stagg) – As a junior for Delta Kings in 2011, he had 2,920 yards passing and 36 touchdowns. He added 2,012 more yards in 2012, then was in the Lions game in 2013.

Kevin Brown (Franklin) – During the 2004 season, Brown turned heads by catching 20 touchdown passes. He played in 2005 all-star game.

Aaron Zwahlen was MVP of 2013 Lions Game. Photo: Mark Tennis.


Anthony Cota (Sierra) – He piled up 1,966 yards rushing and scored 38 touchdowns during 2012 season. Cota later played in 2013 Lions game.

Justin Cox (St. Mary’s) – He shined for the Rams in 2010 and caught 54 passes for 1,153 yards and 13 scores. Cox played in the Lions game in 2011.

Jarrod Daniels (Sierra) – To go with 32 TDs, Daniels also rushed for 1,813 yards for the Timberwolves in 2009. He played in 2010 game.

Orlando Evans (Brookside Christian) – He played in the 1999 Lions game and in 1998 he had 38 touchdown passes.

JaQuan Gardner (Central Valley, Ceres) – Since Will Semone of Oakdale dropped (he had 2,851 yards rushing last season), Gardner is the one running back who’s played in the game for the South with the most yards. He had 2,467 yards and scored 27 TDs in 2012.

Demarrio Hammonds (Patterson) – The Tigers only lost one game in 2013 and Hammonds was sensational. He ended with 65 catches for 1,164 yards and 18 TDs. He also scored as a running back and on kick returns.

Javon Kelly (Downey, Modesto) – It was a zany year throwing the ball for the Knights in 2009 and Kelly was the team’s Lions Game rep. He had 105 catches for 1,565 yards and 20 TDs and oh by the way that was regular season only. No playoffs.

Brandon Labry (Gustine) – He played mostly at another position in last year’s game for the South, but the previous fall for Gustine he rushed for 2,199 yards and scored 24 TDs.

Richard Lopez (Downey, Modesto) — Another WR for this school, Lopez played in the Lions Game after catching 18 TD passes during 2011 season.

Zach Moreno (LeGrand) – A star player on LeGrand’s 2010 team that played in the CIF small schools state bowl game, Moreno had 71 catches that season for 1,453 yards and 21 TDs.

Bryan Morris (Weston Ranch) – Talented receiver was among the section leaders in 2007 with 21 touchdown catches and played in 2008 all-star game.

Jeremy Powers (Linden) – Prior to appearing in the 2012 Lions game, Powers had 1,962 yards rushing and 16 TDs for Linden in 2011.

Zach Roberson (Summerville) – He passed for 2,893 yards and 37 TDs as a junior in 2009 and then had 2,552 yards and 22 TDs as a senior in 2010.

P.J. Wilson (Downey, Modesto) – Yet another of the prolific recent QBs at Downey, Wilson passed for 2,901 yards and 34 TDs during 2013 season.

Aaron Zwahlen (Downey, Modesto) – As mentioned earlier, the MVP for the 2013 Lions Game went nuts as a QB for the Knights in 2012 with 3,852 yards passing and 49 TDs.

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