That was a great atmosphere and it's more centrally located in the state than Sacramento, allowing more fans to make the trip as well as providing a larger local market of fans to see what top level high school basketball is all about.

It's cool for kids to play in an NBA arena, but too often the arena is so empty that it has an odd feel to it. Haas filled up and was electric.

Also, Mike Montgomery should be pushing hard to make this happen every year because it's such a great showcase for Cal's facilities and program - makes them more relevant for all the top players and coaches. That's the kind of program visibility that you can't put a price on.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/varsity-times/la-sp-vi-basketball-new-proposal-to-place-playoff-teams-based-on-ability-instead-of-enrollment-20150327-story.html

I completely disagree with the concept of the open but this proposal makes sense.

Clay,

Before you set your final rankings consider this. Top three teams are SMS, Blackman and Nuemann-Goretti.

If you look at the real competition these 3 play (meaning top 500 teams) here is how they stack up.

Neumann:

Played 8 teams in the top 500, 2 of which were ranked in the top 100 and 1 in the top 25.
They did go undefeated which Blackmun and SMS did not.
The top 25 win was week 1 of the season, both teams just getting started.
Beat #86 by 5 and #406 by 3.

Blackman, SMS, Mater Dei, Chaminade all would have gone undefeated with this schedule.


Blackman:

Played 14 teams in the top 500, 3 in the top 100 and 2 in the top 25.
1 and 1 against top 25 and 2 and 1 against top 100.
They did beat SMS but have 2 losses, better that day but on the season?


SMS:

18 top 500 teams, 4 in the top 100 and 7 in the top 25. Yes 7
A 6-1 record against the top 25
6 teams that SMS played won state championships.



You talk about body of work and SMS has by far the best resume. Nuemann may have a very good team but they did not really ever put themselves in harms way. Blackmans victory over SMS is a fair argument but going to the round robin here, SMS beat Mater Dei, Mater Dei beat Blackman and Blackman beat SMS. Any given day. I also think most would agree those are without a doubt the best 3 in the country. What SMS has done in 2015 has been most impressive of any team in the country.

My vote is SMS #1

This post was edited on 3/30 12:02 PM by cvhl

Elk Grove wins the opener and will face Bellarmine at 1:00 PM today. Both teams are Top 10 in NorCal.

Yuba City faces Turlock in the losers bracket.

In the opener at the Boras Classic, Bellarmine beat Turlock 4-3. Sid Iyer thew a complete game with 10 strikeouts.

Bells get winner of Elk Grove-Yuba CIty at 1:00 PM. Turlock gets the loser.

There will be a Unsigned Senior Showcase on Sunday, March 29th, 2015 at Chabot College, Hayward Ca From 11 AM- 2PM. This is for Senior who do not have a college offer. College Coaches will be in attendance to scout
and identify players for their programs that may have been overlooked or
they didn't have information on. More info on Passthaball.com

http://passthaball.com/unsigned-seniors/

Interesting article.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/high-school/mick-mccabe/2015/02/12/underwear-olympics-recruiting/23325505/

This post was edited on 3/7 2:05 PM by Bubba3000

Hi! Could anyone share some predictions or link me to predictions for the state games this Friday?
Thanks

Need I say more about the SF Bay Area & NCS dominance in Basketball.

Open- O'Dowd (NCS)
D1- San Ramon (NCS)
D3- Campo (NCS)
D5- University (NCS)

D2- Mitty (CCS)

Sac Area- Capital Christian (SJS)

First boys game is at 12:00 PM with the Division IV game. Capital Christian vs. Crespi.

The CIF decide on Sunday the top 8 Norcal teams and put them in the open


CIF CLAY
3/8/15 3/10/15

1) SMS 1) SMS
2) MM 2) MM
3) SALESIAN 3) SALESIAN
4) SHC 4) SMB
5) SMB 5) DUBLIN
6) SI 6) SHC
7) PINEWOOD 7) PINEWOOD
8) MC 8) CARONDELET

How do does a person justify putting Dublin and Carondelet in the top 8 and the CIF Committee didn't ? The ranking in seeding order came out on 3/8 and gave a writer time to think if this is right or wrong. But if a writer is loyal to some team they will always put them up high. Just because a team beat another team doesn't make right to ranking the high so one teams stay ranked according to the writer. According to the CIF MC( 14 Norcalprep) and SI(11 Norcalprep) are the better teams then the writers teams. I understand there should be a difference but not that much of a difference. I guess their is biased to help some teams more the other and this telling the story in black and white.

Starting at 10:00 will be the Division IV game between Sierra Canyon and Brookside Christian.

Will be posting updates today. Starts at 12:00 PM with University vs. Sierra Canyon.

Nor Cal HS players who have made NBA as rookies in 2014. (getting PT in regular season games, not pre season)

Aaron Gordon, Mitty, Arizona, lotto pick for Orlando
Will Cherry, Mack, Montana, undrafted, but played a few games for Cavs, released and signed overseas
Tyler Johnson, St Francis, UNLV, undrafted, signed 10 day with Heat
Jabari Brown, Oakland, Mizzou, signed 2 10 days and then full contract once 2nd 10 day ran out, Lakers
Drew Gordon, Mitty, New Mexico, signed 10 day with Sixers



This post was edited on 4/20 1:26 PM by 1runtmc1

College Park beat Farragut of Tennessee (3-1) behind a complete game from Joe DeMers. This was Farragut's first loss this year after winning a state title in 2014.

With Friday's game being the last prior to Serra baseball's two-week respite from West Catholic Athletic League play, it was important to go out on a good note.

Mission accomplished. With Serra set to play in the prestigious Boras Baseball Classic of California tournament next week, Gianinno is optimistic about the return of two of his mainstay pitchers in junior John Besse and Vinnie Venturi.
Expected to anchor the pitching staff at the outset of the season, the two have been limited by minor arm fatigue. Venturi pitched two nonleague games at the start of the season, but has not pitched since March 7. Gianinno said Venturi was cleared to pitch Friday. Besse made his 2015 debut Tuesday with four innings of relief to earn the win against Riordan.

Padres

Nm

Set up at Haas Pavilion. First game is at 10:00 AM with Eastside Prep and La Jolla Country Day.

This post was edited on 3/27 9:28 AM by Streak One

I talked with link. Thanks for watching.

John Baker interview

I am a big Cal Bears woman's basketball supporter. That said, I still have to acknowledge over achievement because that's what I like to do.

The score was all tied 27 to 27 at half time. Texas stormed out in front to a 39 to 27 lead before Cal put on a strong surging come back pulling to within 3 points. Cal clearly had taken back the momentum before freshman sensational guard Brooke McCarty stole the ball and raced down to score, pushing the lead back to 5 points. Brooke's steal turned the momentum back in Texas favor for good. That was the turning point of the game in my opinion but added with Brooke's 16 points off the bench, and her savvy ball control, it earned her my Win Anyway game award.

Freshman standing only about 5'3…. it didn't cause Brooke to look to make an excuse, it motivated her to rise up and produce.

Hat's off to the coach for putting trust in the young player. And…….


Congratulations to Brooke McCarty !



Paytc

Arroyo High is looking for two D2 teams (preferably) for Dec. 17, 18, 19
Frosh, JV and Varsity
2 games each
t shirts, trophies, plaques
$250 each level, or all 3 levels for $700
Teams in: Arroyo (D2), Acalanes (D2 next year) and Mission San Jose (D1)
We need ONE more school.

Please email Coach Budge
mbudge@slzusd.org
This post was edited on 3/27 10:09 AM by aveli

Foundations game: We will travel to your gym first.


email:
Coach Budge
mbudge@slzusd.org
This post was edited on 3/27 10:08 AM by aveli

Serra won their first game of WCAL beating the Crusaders prevailing 12 to 3. Serra's Nick Von Tobel got the Win on the bump with 2INN of work.

John Beese relieved in his first piching appearance of the season and pitched 4.2 innings. Scott Ota went five for five on the day,

Padres are 1-3 and 6-4 overall

Well this one certainly brings back memories from last year but a one Stanley Johnson is long gone thank god because he was in a different class and wrecked havoc on norcal for 4 straight years. More I think about MD the more I worry. They've played a better schedule than BOD although that takes nothing away from ODOWD because they played a loaded preseason as well. They have a cast of size, talent, and athletes than can match BOD. (Pflueger, Cage, Parker, Smith, Stout). Going through SOCAL likes of fairfax, etiwanda, bishop monty, and westchester is a tad more daunting than Folsom, St Francis, and Modesto Christian. Latly, that monkey that has plagued ODOWD at state forever. Can they get it off there back?

I can't stand MD but I do respect what there kids do on the court. They are better than the teams years ago because assistants and stronger influences away from Mcknight.

Thoughts? Can ODOWD get it done. MD game plan was very effective last year. Cage at 6'10-6"11 is no stiff.

I'm thinking a score in the high 40's. These games usually turn out to be slug fest.

The Sonoma County Cagers are hosting their 4th Annual "Spring Opener" Tournament in Santa Rosa on April 11th. Division 2 and 3 Boys in grades 3 thru 9. We still have some spots available.

$225
3 games guaranteed
Montgomery High and Maria Carrillo High Gyms
Certified Officials
Full Snack bar and BBQ

Call Jeff Peterich at (707) 481-5704 for more information..... Thank You

Sonoma County Cagers