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.

Girls BB: How good will Mitty be?

They were the San Jose Cagers this summer, but all 10 of these girls will be on the roster next season at Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. They played all-star teams and went 32-3. Courtesy photo.

They were the San Jose Cagers this summer, but all 10 of these girls will be on the roster next season at Archbishop Mitty. They played all-star teams and went 32-3. Courtesy photo.

For more highlights from the Cal Sparks Ballin in the Ballroom event at Las Vegas, CLICK HERE.

All of the girls from the AAU San Jose Cagers will be on the roster for Archbishop Mitty of San Jose during the 2016-17 season. Here’s a look at where some of the girls are getting offers from after a summer in which they only lost three times in 35 outings:

Since they are not playing in an event for the final NCAA viewing period, the San Jose Cagers ended the summer 32-3 after posting a 58-50 win over 1 Nation Elite at the Cal Sparks Ballin’ in the Ballroom event in Las Vegas. The 1 Nation Elite squad is the same one that besides having a win in Vegas over Sparks Gold 1 had a 56-44 win over the Wiggins Waves.

The Cagers actually finished the tourney with the loss to Sparks Gold 1 but once again they were missing head coach Sue Phillips and arguably their top player, sophomore to be Haley Jones.

In the win over 1 Nation Elite, Maddie Holland had 14 points and 12 rebounds while junior Nicole Blakes had 10 rebounds and Karisma Ortiz dished out seven assists. The Cagers had their second loss of the summer just prior to the win over the Waves on Saturday to the Texas Elite Adidas 17U Prime.

Not having Jones against the big and tall Texas team might have been a factor, but still, all in all, it was a great summer for Phillips and her girls, and they will certainly be a team to watch this coming season.

With transfers possibly still to come to various teams around the state and injuries as well, Mitty should start the preseason higher than the No. 5 spot it finished in at the end of last season.

The recruitment of all the players also will be interesting to follow.

Heleyna Hill, an incoming senior guard, entered the Ballin’ in the Ballroom with offers from Nevada and San Jose State. Holland, a 6-foot incoming senior wing, has offers from the University of San Francisco, St. Mary’s, UC Davis, Fresno State, Boise State, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Tahlia Garza, a 6-foot-2 incoming senior forward, has offers from UC Irvine, New Mexico State, Pacific, Denver and Long Beach State. Blakes, a 6-foot-2 incoming junior, hopes to draw offers in the coming weeks. Ortiz, a 6-foot incoming junior wing, has offers from UC Santa Barbara and Santa Clara. Another girl that is a big part of the Mitty package is Daniella Guglielmo. The 5-foot-10 guard has offers from New Mexico State and UC Irvine.

And then there’s Jones, the highly-regarded sophomore. She has offers from Georgia Tech and UC Santa Barbara with some other big-time interest, including Cal, Stanford and UCLA.

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


Honorable Mention Schools of the Year

To go with our massive State Schools of the Year salute, here are some additional schools that were on our board in the various CIF state divisions and our in our own five-division format that we would consider to be honorable mention.
Read more…


Boys BB: San Diego Nike Camp

If you are a young player nearing high school or are the parent of a young player in that age range, the first Nike Boys Basketball Camp at UC San Diego may be the perfect place to be.
Read more…


FB: Top 10 from USA Dev. Games

Here is a list of 10 players from California that stood out on Saturday during the USA Football National Development Games played at UC Davis.
Read more…


Check Out Summer SoCal Golf Camps

There’s still time left to sign up for those high school age or younger athletes who are interested to become better golfers. For beginners to those trying to get better, Future Champions Golf may be the perfect fit.

The Basic Game Improve Camp is geared toward beginners and intermediate golfers looking to work on three major areas of their game.
Future Champions Golf
The camps are held at Stadium Golf Center in San Diego and Sail Ho Golf Club in the Point Loma area of the San Diego at various times in the summer. Some of those camps have already happened this summer, but others are still available.

For more information, CLICK HERE.

In addition, Future Champions Golf also has group classes, camps and events throughout the year. A Total Game Improvement Camp is scheduled for August 9-11.

Chris Smeal, the founder of Future Champions Golf, is one of the top instructors for young golfers in the nation. In 2015, he was named a Top 25 Elite Junior Golf Coach in USA Award Recipient.

For more information on Future Champions Golf summer series, CLICK HERE.


More State Baseball Coaches of Year

In addition to overall State Coach of the Year Gary Remiker, we have additional state coaching honors for the 2016 season going to Jeff Baumback from Redondo Union of Redondo Beach and Troy Ghisetti of Arcata.
Read more…


More State Softball Coaches of Year

In addition to overall State Coach of the Year Judy Shaubach, we have additional state coaching honors for the 2016 season going to Bobby Flores of Grand Terrace and Tony Williams from Mariposa County of Mariposa.
Read more…


Statewide partnership program begins

We are deciding over the next five to six weeks what our coverage plans will be for the upcoming 2016-17 school year on CalHiSports.com. A major factor will be whether we can attract partners for some of our most popular weekly features and perhaps additional features that may be produced.
Read more…


A Sport To Check Out: Mountain Biking

The SoCal High School Cycling League is taking its show on the road and providing a series of informational events to people interested in seeing a high school or middle school mountain bike club form at their local school. This year they kicked off the tour last Thursday May 26 at Haro Bikes in Vista (north San Diego County), but there are plenty more opportunities to find out more about the sport.

Read more…


5 tips to increase athletic performance

Whether your sport of choice is basketball, football, softball or baseball, all athletes strive to increase their athleticism in order to perform better on the court or the field. Here are five helpful and practical tips to aid you in increasing and maintaining your athletic ability so you can succeed in your sport.

Read more…


    Latest News

    Insider Blog