Jake Vasquez, 6'4" Sr G with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Big win for Redwood on the road against a top ten NorCal opponent.

For those who are unable to attend this great tournament:

We wanted to share the information on watching all twelve games from the 49th Annual Fr Barry Christian Classic online LIVE from Jesuit! Since most people watch on their Smart TVs, the best way to share how to locate the game is to search for 'NorCal SportsTV' on their YouTube App. A direct link does not help those who want to watch on their TVs.


We also have the broadcast on our homepage: www.NorCalSportsTV.com

Our YouTube Channel can be found here: www.YouTube.com/NorCalSportsTV

But if sharing on social media or anywhere you need the direct links here they are:


Thursday, December 7th, 2023
3:30pm - Strake vs Cathedral Catholic

5pm - Loyola vs Mitty

6:30pm - St. Mary's vs Jesuit

8pm - Bellarmine vs Brophy


Friday, December 8th, 2023
3:30pm Game

5pm Game

6:30pm Game

8pm Game


Saturday, December 9th, 2023
2pm Game

3:30pm Game (Consolation)

5pm Game (3rd Place Game)

6:30pm Game (Championship)

I am pleased to announce the lineup for the 69th annual Gridley Invitational.

Here is some history of the GIBT.

In 1953 John Valentino, teacher and coach at Gridley High school, put into action his idea of school activity. It would involve many people from differing social, geographical and economical segments of Northern California. He organized and directed the first Gridley Invitational Basketball tournament.
From the onset, the 3- day GIBT has had the reputation as a tournament that extends invitations to top California basketball teams.
Valentino’s plan was an annual event that brought people together --- visiting players living with Gridley families, allowing social barriers to dissolve as people of different races, religions and lifestyles became directly associated with one another on a daily basis. Remember: This was 1953!
This pattern for cooperative behavior continues to work in the absence of Valentino who passed away early in 1984.
From 1953 through 1977 , the GIBT was a post – season tournament. It was a popular alternative to the Tournament of Champions ( TOC ) , which was held each year at the end of the basketball season.

In fact the GIBT was so popular, that some teams that had earned the privilege of participating in the TOC , chose to play in the GIBT instead.
This caused the CIF officials to make the decision to have only one post season tournament to determine the ultimate champion. This change occurred in 1978, the only year there was not a GIBT.
Gridley High School resumed the GIBT as a pre-season tournament in 1979, and it has continued to be one of the most prestigious varsity basketball tournaments for high school boys in Northern California.

Throughout the history of the GIBT , local families have opened their homes each year to house the visiting teams. The friendships that have developed through these arrangements have been many, and long-lasting.

Gridley High School and the GIBT Committee would like to thank everyone who has supported the GIBT throughout the years – Students players, Parents, and friends. You have helped to make the Gridley Invitational Basketball Tournament a Northern California tradition.

We welcome:

Salesian- Loaded with lot’s of long guards, who can share the load.

Branson – Not much needs to be said about them. They can play with the big boys, bringing in two highly rated guards.

Archbishop Riordan – They made a nice run last year. They are loaded with several Div 1 players

We welcome back - Clayton Valley – A young team, who went very far in the playoffs last year. Coached by Frank Allocco, jr.

Sheldon – They return 5 starters from last year. They always show up to play.

We welcome back - San Ramon Valley – They made a deep run last year, and why not. They return almost there whole team back for another run.

Clovis North – They bring back 4 starters from a State Championship run. Expect big things from them.

Gridley – Last but not least we have Gridley. As always they will have their hands full. After the Tournament it should all be downhill sailing.

This years Guest speaker, will be none other than Eric Bamberger. He was the two time most valuable player, and two time high scorer for our Tournament. Eric Bamberger played for Ygnacio Valley back in the day. He went on to play for Saint Mary's

Here is the lineup for Thursday.

4:00- Branson – Clayton Valley

5:30 – Archbishop Riordan – San Ramon Valley

7:00- Salesian - Gridley

8:30- Clovis North - Sheldon

Some things to note:
Norcalsports TV will be streaming the games.
You can go to Gridleyinvitational.org for updates.

What more can I say, Good folks, Good vibes, Great Hoops !!!

12/6

SI 54 O'Tech 45 Gritty performance by the Wildcats after a loss yesterday to SRV. SI went on a 9-0 run to end it. Freshman Liv Sanchez led the way with 22.

12/5

Los Gatos 44 Branham 30. As noted, Los Gatos should be ranked somewhere. They led start to finish. Ashley Childress with 13. First loss for Branham.

Acalanes 54 Heritage 47 Acalanes improves to 4-1. 22 for Dulci Vail. 22 also for freshman Ze'ni Patterson in a losing cause.

Aragon 40 Crystal 36. Aragon pulls the upset in Crystal's first game of the year.

Riordan 62 Marin Catholic 59. Solid win for the 5-0 Crusaders. Marin has lost three in a row (SRV, Acalanes and Riordan), and plays Mitty next.

Here are my five:

Clovis North at De La Salle: It is rare for the Spartans to face a team ranked higher than them in the state. And I'm still trying to figure out this Spartans team

Pittsburg at Folsom: The Ryder Lyons show continues for another week. Can Pittsburg slow him down? And can the Pirates build off last week's win over San Ramon Valley?

Grant at Rocklin: One of the games I wished we would have seen at some point during the regular season or section playoffs. Rocklin's defense vs. the running attack of Parker and Green should be great

Escalon at Acalanes: Both teams can put up points albeit in different ways and both teams have played challenging schedules.

Casa Roble at Soquel: Two fresh faces for the NorCal games. Casa Roble's offense vs. Soquel's defense will be a fun matchup.

Pinewood varsity girls basketball need to schedule a game. Please contact coach Doc Scheppler- dscheppler@pinewood.edu

Mitty hosted St. Josephs from Santa Maria, and its star Avary Cain (a 6'2 UCLA commit). Cain was excellent before leaving late with what I hope was a cramp. But despite her brilliance, St. Josephs had no chance against Mitty's size and speed. The final was Mitty 95 St. Josephs 63.

McKenna Woliczko was unstoppable for the Monarchs tallying 35 (unofficially), almost all of which came on layups and free throws. Morgan Cheli added 22 and several spectacular assists. Belle Bramer and Elana Weisman were also in double figures.

Gabrielle Abigor Berean Christian (CAL)
Mecca Alexander Cornerstone Christian (SAN JOSE STATE)
Belle Bramer Mitty (LEHIGH)
Emily Bowman Pleasant Grove (UC MERCED)
Sierra Chambers San Ramon Valley (SOUTHERN UTAH)
Morgan Cheli Mitty (UCONN)
Ashanti Dias Riordan (CAL STATE LA)
Carmela Fontes Priory (CAL POLY)
Inez Gallegos Sacred Heart Cathedral (BOSTON)
Quinn Godfrey Branham (UC MERCED)
Maya Hodge Lincoln (CORNELL COLLEGE)
Gabriella Kelley Univeristy (PENN)
Avery Knapp San Ramon Valley (CAL POLY)
Jordan Lee St. Mary's (TEXAS)
Kamryn Mafua Folsom (CAL)
Natalia Martinez Piedmont (SAN DIEGO STATE)
Leah Nelson Grant (UC MERCED)
Haper Peterson Whitney (STANFORD)
Reza Po Sacred Heart Cathedral (NEW MEXICO)
Kaela Stancil Williams McClatchy (UC MERCED)
Ella Uriarte Folsom (IDAHO)
Amya Vangkham-Griffin Lincoln Stockton (STANISLAUS STATE)
Keisha Vitalicio Carondelet (LEHIGH)
Elana Weisman Mitty (BUCKNELL)

Feel free to let me know anyone I have missed

I haven't seen everyone on the list yet, but I don't have much to quibble about. I would have put Branham ahead of Evergreen after they beat the Cougars this week. Also, Los Gatos belongs on here, somewhere in the 15ish range.

Got here a little late, but anywayyyy…

Bakersfield Christian leads Analy midway thru the first quarter, 13-6.

First dunk of my day.. 15-6.

All,

I am the Head Coach at Justin-Siena and we just had a team drop out of our Christmas tournament this morning and thus are down to 7 teams. If your team or any team you know is looking for 3 games, or even 1 game, please contact me ASAP. The field is very good and we expect some good competition. Contact me (Andy Bettencourt) at abettencourt@justin-siena.org.

Thank you!

Should be a fun night and it all gets going in about 15 minutes

OPEN DIVISION

Serra, San Mateo (12-0) vs. Mater Dei (12-1) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8:00 p.m. at Saddleback College

* TV: Spectrum News 1/Spectrum RSN (TBD)

DIVISION 1–AA

De La Salle (11-2) vs. Mission Viejo (12-3) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 8:00 p.m. at Saddleback College

* TV: Spectrum News 1/Spectrum RSN (TBD)

DIVISION 1–A

Folsom (12-2) vs.St. Bonaventure (12-3) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3:30 p.m. at Saddleback College

* TV: Spectrum News 1/Spectrum RSN (TBD)

DIVISION 2–AA

Grant (12-2) vs. La Serna (12-3) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 4:00 p.m. at Saddleback College

* TV: Spectrum News 1/Spectrum RSN (TBD)

DIVISION 2–A

Los Gatos (12-1) vs. Central Valley Christian (14-1) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m. at Pasadena City College

DIVISION 3–AA

Acalanes (10-4) vs. Birmingham (12-2) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 11:30 a.m. at Saddleback College

* TV: Spectrum News 1/Spectrum RSN (TBD)

DIVISION 3–A

Marin Catholic (13-1) vs. Mayfair (11-3) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m. at El Camino College

DIVISION 4–AA

Soquel (12-2) vs. Jurupa Hills (9-6) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 8:00 p.m. at Pasadena City College

DIVISION 4–A

Palma (10-4) vs. Mission Oak (10-5) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3:00 p.m. at Pasadena City College

DIVISION 5–AA

Pleasant Valley (10-3) vs. Ramona, Riverside (10-5) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 8:00 p.m. at El Camino College

DIVISION 5–A

Woodland Christian (14-0) vs. Banning (9-6) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3:00 p.m. at El Camino College

DIVISION 6–AA

St. Vincent de Paul (12-2) vs. Wasco (9-5) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 4:00 p.m. at Pasadena City College

DIVISION 6–A

Colusa (13-0) vs. Sweetwater (8-6) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 11:00 a.m. at El Camino College

DIVISION 7–AA

Ferndale (10-4) vs. Fairfax (10-4) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 4:00 p.m. at El Camino College

DIVISION 7–A

Strathmore (11-4) vs. Bell Gardens (10-5) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 11:00 a.m. at Pasadena City College

Bracket anybody?

The 49th annual Fr. Barry Classic at Jesuit High School is December 7-9, 2023. Deep and competitive field should make for 3 great days of basketball.

Round 1 matchups:
3:30 - Strake (Houston) vs Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
5:00 - Loyola (Los Angeles) vs Archbishop Mitty (San Jose)
6:30 - St. Mary's (Stockton) vs Jesuit (Sacramento)
8:00 - Bellarmine (San Jose) vs Brophy (Phoenix)

Tournament passes can be purchased here: https://gofan.co/event/1246030?schoolId=CA22554

PROLIFIC PREP CHRISTMAS BREAK CAMP​

Date: December 19-21st, 2023
Where: Napa Christian Gymnasium (2201 Pine Street, Napa)

Costs: $225 ($18 per hour) - Use PROMO CODE "fire" to get 10% off before 12/4/2023

Sign up: To sign up for either of the camps, Visit
https://store.jglove.com/xmascamps

Directors: All drills will be conducted by Humphrey Jackson and the Prolific Prep Staff. There will be GUEST Appearances as well by very good basketball players!

Time: 10am-2pm

Grades: Boys and Girls All Grade Levels. Players will be separated by age/skill level

Single Day Pricing: Single Day pricing depends on numbers of sign-ups. It may or may not be available ($80). Call for details (707) 849-1212, via email ProlificSummerAcademy@gmail.com

Contact: (707) 849-1212, or via email ProlificSummerAcademy@gmail.com

*Please note we do not offer refunds. We can give credit for future camps for all canceled transactions. Thank you

Game time vs. Carondelet is 12:30. claykallam@gmail.com

PROLIFIC PREP CHRISTMAS BREAK CAMP​

Date: December 19-21st, 2023
Where: Napa Christian Gymnasium (2201 Pine Street, Napa)

Costs: $225 ($18 per hour) - Use PROMO CODE "fire" to get 10% off before 12/4/2023

Sign up: To sign up for either of the camps, Visit
https://store.jglove.com/xmascamps

Directors: All drills will be conducted by Humphrey Jackson and the Prolific Prep Staff. There will be GUEST Appearances as well by very good basketball players!

Time: 10am-2pm

Grades: Boys and Girls All Grade Levels. Players will be separated by age/skill level

Single Day Pricing: Single Day pricing depends on numbers of sign-ups. It may or may not be available ($80). Call for details (707) 849-1212, via email ProlificSummerAcademy@gmail.com

Contact: (707) 849-1212, or via email ProlificSummerAcademy@gmail.com

*Please note we do not offer refunds. We can give credit for future camps for all canceled transactions. Thank you

Just for shits and giggles, I looked at the early season rankings and came across something interesting. In the current top 10 in NCS, you have a teams with terrible SOS. Which one of these stands out the most? Why schedule easy games where you know you're gonna blow teams out? just makes no sense...

#1 Cal 2.8 (1-5 decent games)
#2 Piedmont 4.3 (average 40 point wins)
#3 Acalanes 12.2 (good schedule so far, 3 good opponents)
#4 San Marin 3.5 (20-point average victory)
#5 St. Bernards (Eureka) 2.4 (30 ppg victory against some terrible schools-low for even a D4 school)
#6 Cornerstone .06 (not great teams except one on the schedule).
#7 Casa Grande 3.3 (not great teams, but playing c-Let this week)
#8 San Ramon 8.7 (has played some good teams. early tough games will have them battle-tested)
#9 Carondelet .09 (the teams they've played this early are actually embarrassing for a Norcal Premier school. It makes you wonder if they're padding stats or intentionally trying not to overschedule to get into the open-could be a good strategy).
#10 Ygnacio Valley 1.3 (not the toughest schedule but see some easy wins)

Others to Note
#26 Cardinal Newman 10.6
#27 Justin Sienna 10.2
#14 Maria Carillo 11.9

It does make me think back to a few years ago when SHC had a monster of a schedule, barely made WCAL playoffs, then went to the Norcal semis in D1. Only to be followed the next year by not making the post-season at all.

The CCS has its annual football coaches meeting this Wednesday November 29th to put forward proposals for any rules or play-off changes for future seasons.

I think the CCS should congratulate itself on coming up with a very good play-off format that has done a great job of addressing concerns from previous years. The CCS is now sending its two top teams to the top regional state bowl games and four winners of competitive equity based divisions. The CCS has largely eliminated mismatches and blow outs in its play-off format through competitive equity that has also largely put the private schools with a significant sports focus into play-off brackets with a. few of the public schools that still run high level programs.

The result this year was that 40% of the CCS playoff games were decided by one score or less and 54% by two scores or less and only 6% (the two Serra games) ended up with results of 36+ points. This compares to the SJS and NCS that both had 21% of their game within one score (NCS had 29% within two scores and SJS had 35% within two scores) and had 28% and 31% of their respective play-off games decided by 36+ points. Also 9 of the 11 section finalsts in the CCS were public schools and four of the six section champions..

I don't think the CCS should make any changes to its current play-off formatting (except forfeit rules discussed below) but there are a few things that have been floated on this board that are worthy of note. None would have a dramatic effect on the play-off system

1. Simplify the qualification criteria and use Cal Preps exclusively for at-large berths and seeding. This would have had a modest impact on the field (only one team would have been different (Aptos in and North Salinas out) and not that many seeds would have changed. It would make it much simpler for teams to know where they stand vs figuring out the complex CCS point system. It would also smooth out the vast differences that exist between various A leagues, playing league champions, etc. that can be slightly gamed int he current system.

2, Several have suggested eliminating A teams from DV and maybe DIV and/or not having B or C teams in Divisoins II and/or III. I don't think this is necessary. The A teams that are put in these divisions are at the same level of. the B and C teams in the field. I also think that to support the individual leagues in their competitive equity efforts in "forcing" schools up to make their leagues more competitive, it allows these teams that re forced up in the regular season to play at a more competitive level in the play-offs and removes any incentives for a team to stay in a lower division based on benefiting from playing in a less competitive division come play-off time. I think if a B or C team has shown themselves worthy based other season results they should be in the division that would be most appropriate from a competitive standpoint.

I do think the one issue that needs to be addressed and clarified is how forfeits are managed. I see three type of forfeits occurring.

I think if a team cancels a game they should be ineligible for the play-offs that year.

1. The first is something that various programs have struggled with recently where they find themselves with lower numbers and struggle to field a team for the year. Santa Cruz forfeited 4 of their more challenging games so they could have enough players to play the other 6. Mills and a few other teams also had forfeits of similar nature. The penalty listed above would not matter to these teams as they are only seeking to get as many games in during the season as possible and not aspiring to the play-offs.

2. There were a couple of odd cases this year where Kings Academy cancelled a game vs Wilcox and Live Oak cancelled a scheduled game vs Los Gatos. Wilcox and then scheduled a games vs Edison of Huntington Beach and Los Gatos played Grant. The CCS should have a clear rule on what happens here. In the case of Kings Academy they claimed to not have enough players due to suspensions form a fight the prior week. If that is the case the CCS should stagger suspensions over 2-3 games (with the players selected on a random basis for each game that are suspended) so the team can honor their schedule. If a team cancels because of a perceived mismatch (my understanding of the Live Oak situation) they should not be able to play in the play-offs. The CCS should also clarify how this situation should be handled for both the forfeiting team nd the team rescheduling a game vis-a-vis the point system if the CCS is going to keep its current section point system in place,

3. Teams have past results forfeited for having an ineligible player. This has occurred frequently over the years and happened to Palma this year. In this case I think the forfeits of results are appropriate and should be counted as such to determine if a team qualifies for the play-offs or not. However if a team does qualify, I think their seeding should be based on the results on the field and any forfeited wins counted toward their seeding only. This would prevent a team like Palma going down a division and playing lesser opponents based on having an ineligible player.. They would play at the level dictated by their on field results.

Always interesting to see what comes out of the meetings and proposed changes for next year. I think a lot of great thought has gone into this process and the results have been a much more equitable and fairer play-off system.

Official schedule for the Inaugural Norcal Ultimate Challenge


Event Preview: https://simplybasketballhq.com/inaugural-norcal-ultimate-challenge/

Get ready for an exciting day of Norcal Basketball!

D1: San Ramon Valley over Pittsburg. This is one of the games that I hoped we would see in the postseason. Pitt can pose some issues for SRV, but I think this Wolves team is one of the best non-DLS teams we have seen in the NCS in recent memory.

D2: Windsor over El Cerrito. Should be an even matchup, but I'll go with the passing game of Windsor to pull out a close win.

D3: Marin Catholic over Cardinal Newman. I don't think MC is trending up right now, but I think they generally have CN's number so will go with Marin Catholic until the Cardinals get them.

D4: Acalanes over San Marin. These teams look pretty even, but I'll go with the idea that it is hard to beat a team twice and Acalanes gets revenge in the section finals.

D5: St. Bernard's over Miramonte. Pretty even matchup but I think St. Bernard's is better team despite coming from a worse league. Wyatt Simoni is a super do-everything player for St. Bernard's

D6: St. Vincent over Salesian. St. Vincent's two losses have been by a combined six pionts. I'll go with the Mustangs.

Scores from the first round yesterday.
Monte Vista 62 River Valley 38
Del Oro 84 Chico 43
Bella Vista 75 Washington (Fremont) 71
West Park 90 Rio Linda 30

Today's matchups:
River Valley vs Chico - 4pm
Washington vs Rio Linda - 5:30
Del Oro vs Monte Vista - 7pm
West Park vs Bella Vista - 8:30 pm

I am really looking forward to the matchup between MV and DO. Should be a good one!

I saw somewhere that they went with the Veer offense vs. Clovis North.

I didn't see DLS' previous game... Did they use it at all during any previous week, or did they completely reintroduce the Veer just for Clovis North?

Per the Davis Enterprise newspaper Sports section yesterday:
The Davis High School's 50th annual Dorothy Speck tournament is LOADED this year with a combined record last season of 165-72 (a 69.6 winning percentage). Three of the (Sac-Joaquin) section's Final Four -- Folsom, McClatchy and Antelope -- are in attendance.

Today's schedule with last season's records.
Nevada Union (4-16) vs. Folsom (26-3) at 3:30 p.m.
Vista Del Lago (24-8) vs Pleasant Valley of Chico (30-4) at 5 p.m.
Lincoln of Stockton (18-11) vs. McClatchy (25-7) at 6:30 p.m.
Davis (12-18) vs. Antelope (26-5) at 8 p.m.