Valley Christian has won four straight CCS Division I titles (2016-2019, 2021)

Players to Watch:

JR P/INF Jacob Hudson
JR P Alec Belardes
JR P Micahel Castaneda
SR OF Easton Kreshel
SO OF Tatum Marsh (Stanford)

Schedule:

Going off some of the discussion on the Zeke Berry thread, how would everyone rank the following groups in terms of what you need to be very good/elite in to compete either at section/NorCal/State level?

Quarterback
Skill Positions
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams

Northgate makes the trek to the back-alleys of Moraga to face the Tough Kids…

Campo is ranked #1 in NCS by MaxPreps, and Northgate is ranked #2.

Both teams are undefeated thus far in league games.

Yeah, there’s a lot happening here at the Cougars’ Den tonight!

Right now, the Coug frosh are putting the hurt on NG, leading 47-24 in middle of the 4th quarter.

More in a bit…

1. Mitty beat St. Francis 59-57 and are now the only team in the WCAL with one league loss. The Monarchs, led by solid games from junior Derek Sangster and senior Aidan Burke, got out to a 9-2 lead, led by 10 points late in the second quarter and by eight after three quarters. St. Francis was able to make multiple runs, led by the three point shooting of senior Vince Barringer, but could never take the lead. Senior Isaiah Kerr played a solid all-around game.

2. It has been an up and down year for Vanden, but the Vikings picked up a solid win over Wood (49-42) to remain undefeated in league play. Vanden senior Takai Emerson-Hardy had 16 points. Wood was led by senior Devan Minouei with 17 points. Six of Vanden's 11 losses have come to Top 35 teams with a seventh loss to Clovis West.

3. Montgomery (13-5) beat Cardinal Newman 51-45 for its fifth straight win. Montgomery senior Nolan Bessire had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Donovan Hawkins also had 12 points. Cardinal Newman got 13 points each from junior Gavin Vogensen and junior Drew Krilich.

1. There was a Top 5 matchup on Wednesday as host Folsom beat Salesian 69-60. Folsom led 29-28 at the half before wining the third quarter 22-15. Salesian was led by 23 points from senior Nevaeh Asiasi. Tough games continue this week as Folsom travels to Del Oro on Friday while Salesian will host St. Mary's-Stockton on Saturday.

2. Bishop O'Dowd beat San Leandro 53-45 to extend their win streak to four games and their record to 10-1 overall. In eight of the 11 games, Bishop O'Dowd allowed less than 50 points. San Leandro (12-4) had won seven of eight games heading into Wednesday's contest. They will meet in San Leandro on February 1.

3. Carondelet beat Monte Vista 81-69 in the Cougars' second of four games this week. They will play Granada on Friday and San Ramon Valley on Saturday. The Wolves, which beat Monte Vista 74-49 on January 18, beat Dougherty Valley 78-38 on Wednesday. Today, the Wolves play Dublin before hosting Carondelet this weekend.

Good bounce back for Folsom in getting the home win over the Pride.

…. I just keep turning up at Campo’s gym.

Cougs will face College Park tonight. It’s expected to be a lopsided affair, but ya never know…. The words ‘trap game” come to mind because the Cougs are playing Northgate next, followed by Miramonte, two of the top teams in the league.

JV’s just won by 30 or so, I’m hoping to see more of the same in…. 15 minutes.

1. Mitty beat St. Ignatius 54-44 in San Francisco on Tuesday. Mitty outscored St. Ignatius 18-9 in the fourth quarter to remain undefeated in the WCAL. This was Mitty's lowest scoring output in a win this season. St. Ignatius has gone 3-3 through a daunting six game stretch against St. Francis, Vanden, Antelope, Sacred Heart Cathedral, St. Mary's-Stockton and Mitty.

2. Lincoln (19-2) has won 12 in a row following its 52-43 win over Placer. In 18 games of posted stats, junior Katie Leeth is averaging 20 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Their two losses have come to SFL programs Del Oro and Whitney.

3. Lick-Wilmerding (12-5) beat University (6-7) 64-60 and improved to 11-1 in its last 12 games. The Tigers' losses this year have come to Pinewood, Palo Alto, Moreau Catholic, Pinole Valley and Bishop O'Dowd.

There's a lot of discussion about the recently concluded weekend of divisional games being the best week in NFL history, and deservedly so. But that was also an amazing week of HS basketball.

Monday: MLK Classic, featuring University's shocking win over O'Dowd
Tuesday: Mountain View edges rival Los Altos in a one-point thriller
Wednesday: Mitty tops Riordan
Thursday: Miramonte wins at Clayton Valley by 2
Friday: Bruce-Mahoney overtime chaos
Saturday: Wilhite's buzzer-beater carries Riordan past St. Francis
Sunday: Dougherty Valley closes on a 17-4 run to beat Granada

Mitty-Riordan ended up being one of the least thrilling games. That's how good a week it was. And that list only includes games I went to. We could go on about Monte Vista upsetting San Ramon Valley, Northgate beating Miramonte, Serra bouncing back from a blowout loss to take down Mitty and much more.

Hopefully other Sunday games live up to Granada-Dougherty Valley. Terrific stuff. Granada went on a 20-5 run between the late third and mid fourth to go up 67-59, but Dougherty closed on a 17-4 run to win 76-71. A few other really good ones are on the schedule.

Going down to the wire. Mitty led early by double figures, but SI erased that and took the lead. 8-0 run has put Mitty back in front by six with two mins to go.

1. The top teams in the EBAL held serve as the top four (in my opinion) were all victorious. Dougherty Valley beat Livermore 74-45, De La Salle beat Amador Valley 48-24, Dublin beat California 66-49 and San Ramon Valley beat Granada 61-56 for its second win over the Matadors. Granada remains a team to watch with losses to St. Francis-La Canada, SRV twice, Dougherty Valley and Dublin. On Thursday, San Ramon Valley will travel to Dublin.

2. Sonora moved to 21-1 with a 44-39 win over Calaveras (16-7). Callahan Hanson, Chance Pimentel and Jacob Cassaretto each scored nine points for Sonora. The Wildcats have won 11 in a row. These two teams play again on February 8.

3. Fortune Early College, coached by Derek Swafford, has played a number of bigger schools this season. They moved to 7-9 with an 88-68 win over John Adams Academy. Juniors Tyree Rose (26 points) and Tyrece Rose (17 points) led four players in double figures.

For those that aren't familiar wirth Wade, he was a De La Salle grad. The new offensive line coach at FSU Saga Tuitele is who recruited my son to Cal Poly

1. Elk Grove beat Jesuit 57-45 as senior Ameere Britton had 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Senior Jordan Hess made six threes and senior Dajon Lott Jr. had 8 points and 13 rebounds. Jesuit has lost four in a row and have scored more than 50 points in one of those games.

2. Riordan got another road league win after beating Serra 76-68 in overtime. The Crusaders got 34 points from junior guard King-Njhsanni Wilhite. Serra was led by 28 points and 12 rebounds from senior Garret Keyhani.

3. Cameron Brown made the game winning shot as Bishop O'Dowd won at Piedmont 67-66. Brown finished with 28 points. Piedmont, which had won four in a row, got 25 points from senior AJ Harris and 17 points from senior Jojo Murphy.

I’m in the nicely-remodeled Contra Costa College gym, awating the Campolindo v. Vanden game

Vanden is 9 up, 10 down, against a rather difficult schedule. Despite the numbers, I have an idea that they will represent themselves well here vs. the mighty Cougars, the Tough Kids from the Back Alleys of Moraga.

(The Cougs will have to be tough; this is their 4th game this week)

1. St. Mary's-Stockton and Lincoln-Stockton played a competitive game on Monday with the Rams pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 73-50 win. The Rams were led by their strong guard trio of Brooklyn Perry (20 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals), Jordan Lee (26 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals) and Nia Anderson (16 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals). Perry also went 4-for-8 from three point range. Lincoln was paced by senior Faith Shelton (Air Force), who had a strong rebounding game, showed good footwork scoring on the block and stepped out for a couple of jumpers.

2. Oakland Tech picked up a 71-45 win over Rodriguez. They led 35-29 at the half before outscoring Rodriguez 36-16 in the second half. Five of Oakland Tech's six losses are to Top 25 teams with the other loss coming to state ranked Clovis West.

3. With a matchup against Marin Catholic coming up later this week, Branson beat Archie Williams 57-34. Junior Hannah Golan had 29 points and 16 rebounds and freshman Rosie Slayen added 14 points and six rebounds.

8:30 AM Las Lomas-Piedmont
10:00 AM Lincoln-Stockton-Menlo
11:30 AM Pinole Valley-Priory
1:00 PM Folsom-Mitty
2:30 PM Lick-Wilmerding-Bishop O'Dowd
4:00 PM Monte Vista-Pinewood
5:30 PM Oakland Tech-Clovis West
7:00 PM Heritage-Carondelet
8:30 PM St. Ignatius-St. Mary's Stockton

That game may have set the sport back a ways.

We are looking for a replacement opponent for this Saturday. We need to host due to Winter Formal but will return game in 2023.
Please message here or email ss24basketball@yahoo.com if interested.

Thanks
Larry Trigueiro
Caruthers Girls Basketball

I thought we should have a thread to update on cancellations and postponements of games related to COVID issues.

It has a been a busy recruiting off-season for a lot of McClymonds seniors, including Cisse. Some of his new offers include Idaho State, Princeton, Missouri State, Idaho and Columbia.

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Here are some notable games to watch for tonight. I assume all of these games will be played. If they are off, please post here.

Lincoln (13-2) at Ponderosa (18-0)
Folsom (14-4) at Granite Bay (12-9)
Whitney (15-4) at Oak Ridge (13-7)
Sacred Heart Prep (8-2) at Priory (7-7)
Los Altos (12-2) at Mountain View (10-4)
Clayton Valley Charter (9-6) at College Park (5-9)
Acalanes (5-6) at Campolindo (12-1)
Miramonte (15-1) at Northgate (13-2)
Branson (12-2) at Tamalpais (2-14)
McKinleyville (10-4) at Del Norte (10-4)

This should be a close game.
Rocklin up 16-15 after 1.
Rocklin future looks good with 4 underclass starting. If OR shoots it well from 3 I like them to prevail.

Crush in the valley continues…. My keyboard is back in the car, so minimal updates.

Earlier, Bishop O’Dowd smacked Sacramento 73-50.

Also, Denver Prep beat Our Savior Lutheran and its roster full of FIVE guys over 6’ 9” by about 8-ish.

Another Crush In The Valley game.

Lincoln is handing the Gators their lunch right now, 54-43 mid 4th quarter.

This is despite the fact Miles Byrd is having a bit of a rough go of it. Right now, he has four points on 2-of-10 shooting.

Dunno what’s going on with the Gators, and I don’t know their roster well enough to guess if they have guys missing. But they looked like world-beaters in December, not quite so much at the moment…

Bruins Win! 52-51 at Salesian....