News Bits
Jakob Arnarsson with a wonderful article on LPC Coach James Giacomazzi. Love it when a reporter goes beyond the surface and provides depth to the subject of his focus.
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Clovis North Boys Basketball: "Congratulations to 2026 McKae Amundsen for surpassing a Clovis North record for steals in 1 game vs Redwood by recording 10 steals! Former record was held by his brother Connor Amundsen and Domenic Reyes with 9 steals!"
Amundsen is heading to Idaho State.
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Former UC Merced Coach Kevin Pham, who operated both the men's and women's programs (not simultaneously) at that college, is now running the boys basketball program at Inderkum High (in Sacramento). He succeeds Fred Wilson.
Pham enjoyed a 139-106 overall record and an 87-49 mark in California Pacific Conference play during his tenure. He was named the 2024-25 Cal Pac Conference Coach of the Year and the 2023 Asian Coaches Association Men's Coach of the Year.
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Judah "Juju" Van Ewijk: "Blessed to have received my first D1 offer from the University of San Francisco!! Thank you to Coach Plank for believing in me."
#3 is a 6-foot-2 2029 guard attending Archbishop Riordan.
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He and his brother Jarron played for and graduated from Stanford.
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Garry Hill-Thomas: "GJ Hill-Thomas scored 30 points with 5 assists in the championship game to help Bishop O’Dowd beat Bishop Gorman in the Wild West Shootout in Reno, NV. He was named Tournament MVP after averaging 18p, 4reb, 5ast, 3stl"
Hill-Thomas is a 6-foot 2027 talent.
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Lucas Lau: "66th Crusader Classic highlights. Finished the week off 2-1 losing to Riordan. Averaged 20 ppg & 4.3 apg on 61.7% -(21/34) from the floor, 42.8% - (6/14) from 3’s. 12/13 from the line 1.6 spg. Thankful to receive all tourney honors."
The University High young man isn't big (6-foot-1, 160) but plays big and can shoot with the best. See a fit for him in the Ivies if he has the necessary academics.
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College of Marin's 6-foot-8, 220 Olivier Borgol is averaging a double-double with 22.4 points per game and 10.8 rebounds a contest. His shooting is remarkable at 59%, 50% and 79%. If the German-born frontcourter hasn't already, he should be getting some play in recruiting circles.
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- SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week
- Name: Joey Kennedy
- School: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
- Year: Junior
- Position/Number: Forward / #20
- Hometown/High School: San Francisco, Calif. / University
Kennedy averaged 10.5 rebounds to go with two steals and a block in two double-digit victories for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, which opened SCIAC play 2-0 against the University of La Verne and Whittier College. The junior recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds along with five assists and a steal at Whittier while allowing just 10 points in the paint.
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"Career-High Effort Nets UC Santa Barbara’s Aidan Mahaney Player of the Week Honor"
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Verbal Commits: "2026 ELEV8 Academy (CA) C Iker Martinez has received an offer from Sacramento State."
He's a 7-footer with three other low D1 offers at this point.
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Granite Bay High's 5-foot-11 Keegan Ladines: "Highlights from our game against Placer High school
- 13 Points
- 7 Rebounds
- 7 Assists
- 2 steals
- 2 Blocks"
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"Did Suns Find Another Gem in 2-Way Player?"
Jamaree (Palma High/USF) Bouyea article.
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Mora is out of Palo Alto High.
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"San Diego City, Cosumnes River, San Bernardino Valley Cause Shake Up in CCCMBCA Poll"
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- "Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
- Boys Basketball Player of the Week
- Mason Adimora (RodrÃguez, Fairfield) Sr.
The search for the Cal-Hi Sports NorCal player of the week to us to far western area of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section to Fairfield, and we land a little over a mile south of where I-80 and I-680 intersect, and smack dab between the two interstates at Amelia Rodriguez High, and it’s the high-scoring 6-foot-5 senior named Adimora from Amelia that snags the weekly honors.
Last week, in the 37th Annual Chris Vonture Spartan Classic at De La Salle in Concord, Adimora helped Rodriguez to a pair of wins in three games and Mason put up averages of 29.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, four steals and two blocks.
Those stats in in itself are pretty impressive, but the single performance that gets Adimora a statewide honor to go with local kudos came in an 89-34 victory over Vallejo when he went for a double-double 46 points and 15 rebounds, plus five assists, seven steals and two blocked shots. He followed that up next day with another-double 26 points with 13 rebounds plus four steals and three blocks in a win against Ygnacio Valley of Concord.
So far this season for 4-1 Rodriguez, Adimora, who carries a 4.02 GPA and was named All-Tournament for the Vonture Classic, is averaging 27.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.2 blocks."
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West Coast Preps Sacramento: "There’s another superstar freshman rising the ranks at Monterey Trail. Juleeyan Williams is gifted. And then some. Five Division 1 offers."
He stands 6-foot-5 with Sac State, Pacific, UNLV, Northern Arizona and Weber State offers.
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"Before he choked his coach, Warriors' star threatened to shoot his teammate"
Whew and wow!
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In eight games/starts and 21.5 minutes a contest, 6-foot-10, 200 freshman Malachi (Inderkum High) Johnson is averaging 9.5 points (shooting 48%, 38% and 92%) and 6.4 rebounds for Stanislaus State.
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"Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, Nov 25: Quinn Denker, Northern Colorado (G, Gr., San Jose, Calif.)
Following a trio of impressive performances at the Portland Invitational, Northern Colorado’s Quinn Denker has been named Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. Denker averaged 21.0 points per game, 6.5 assists per game and 3.3 rebounds per game across the three contests. Against the Portland Pilots, he forced overtime and dropped 29 in the contest. Denter was named to the Portland Invitational All-Tournament Team. The graduate student is in his second season with Northern Colorado after transferring to Greeley by way of Idaho. This marks his first weekly award from the Big Sky."
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"Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, Dec 2: Quinn Denker, Northern Colorado (G, Gr., San Jose, Calif.)
For the second-consecutive week, Northern Colorado’s Quinn Denker has been named Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. Denker was instrumental for the Bears in their victory over in-state rival Air Force, scoring 23 points in the contest. He also generated a ton of offense for his squad, dishing out eight assists. For the week as a whole, he had 13 assists and shot 70 percent from the field. This is his second career weekly award from the Big Sky."
Denker is out of Bellarmine College Prep and West Valley College.
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"NCAA: Ex-San Francisco player shared info with bettor"
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D1 Scores
Up in the Land of Great Potatoes, 9-1 St. Mary's squared off with 7-3 Boise State and the Gaels went almost five minutes on empty from the opening jump ball before Joshua Dent buried a bucket to make the score 13-2. St. Mary's caught up at 15 apiece, went ahead by two and was down 37-32 at the half. St. Mary's made it verrrry close but fell just short at 68-67. A turnover with one second left prevented the Gaels from getting a winning shot up. Sophomore guard Mikey Lewis played just nine minutes and failed to score and Andrew McKeever was off his game with just five points on 2-10 shooting. As a team, the Gaels shot 37% overall, 26% on treys. BSU shot 48%.
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California was down 31-28 after 20 minutes at home versus nearby Dominican University but came back strong in the second half to win 93-71. The Bears were out-shot 47% to 41% but connected on 16 more free throws than DU (27-30 to 11-16). Justin Pippen went 9-9 at the foul line on his way to a team high of 14 points and also led with four steals. 5-foot-11 senior Nick (St. Patrick-St. Vincent High/Sonoma State) Medeiros' 16 points paced the Penguins and he also contributed nine assists and six boards. Write For California game report
California handled Northwestern State at home 79-70 with John Camden shooting 6-9 on three-pointes on his way to 25 points. The Bears shot 12-21 on threes, 17-21 on free throws. Write For California game report.
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San Jose State University hosted Long Beach State and required an overtime period before downing the 49ers 89-83. The Beach 6-foot-4 frosh guard Gavin (Modesto Christian High) Sykes once again loomed large with 26 points in 41 minutes on 11-23 overall shooting, 4-9 from long distance. Guard Colby Garland led the Spartans with 27 points in 41 minutes. He connected on six straight free throws in the last 2:15 of overtime. Teammate Jermaine Washington enjoyed a solid outing with 14 points on 4-6 from three-point range plus a team best six assists. The Spear SJSU game report.
Stanford came south for an afternoon soiree and nabbed an 86-82 victory versus San Jose State University. The Cardinal shot 61% overall, including 9-18 from three-point distance and were led by 20 points apiece from AJ (Marin Catholic High) Rohosy and Chisom Okpara. Stanford also won the battle of the boards 34-19 but did commit 20 turnovers. Season-leading scorer freshman guard Ebuka Okorie did not play for Coach Kyle Smith's crew. Big Yaphet Moundi paced SJSU with 26 points and, per usual, guard Colby Garland finished with 20 points and also nine assists. Vic Aquino game report.
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Pacific more than doubled up on visiting Simpson University 104-50 as Tiger Isaac Jack scored 20 points on perfect 10-10 shooting and added 10 boards (seven offensive) to post a double-double. TJ Wainwright actually led in scoring with 22 points in 26 minutes. Timothy Parker's 19 points paced Simpson. Overall, Pacific was 'en fuego' all game, shooting 61% come the finish.
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In Henderson, NV, Santa Clara fell just short versus Arizona State 82-79 despite possessing a 55-38 halftime lead. Bronco Christian Hammond enjoyed a solid 22 points with teammate Elijah (West Valley College) Mahi totaling 17 plus a team best six rebounds. In the last four seconds, SC missed a pair of shots but grabbed offensive rebounds only to have a third attempt blocked at the buzzer.
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In Seattle's 115-60 defeat of Warner Pacific, Former Chico State star JoJo (Piedmont High) Murphy stuffed the stats sheet via 15 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.
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Andrej (Jesuit High/Stanford/California) Stojakovic posted a 19 point, 10 rebound double-double but Illinois still fell to Nebraska 83-80 on a last second trey.
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Oziyah (Modesto Christian High/Stanford) Sellers totaled 19 points in the St. John's 91-64 thrashing of Iona. He shot 4-7 on three-point attempts and went for 16 of his total in the second half.
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Oregon bopped UC Davis 104-62 at home as freshman guard Jalen (Dougherty Valley High) Stokes scored nine points in 19 minutes for the Aggies. He shot 2-2, 1-1, 4-4.
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BYU whupped UC Riverside 100-53 while Highlander De'Undrae (Salesian Prep) Perteete Jr. tallied 10 points, five rebounds and four assists--UCR's lone bright spot. He shot 4-5, 2-3 and 0-1.
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6-foot-3 sophomore Aaron (Salesian Prep) Hunkin-Claytor totaled 11 points plus a tied-for-team-best five assists alongside zero turnovers and two steals in Hawai'i's 98-46 rout of Hawai'i Hilo. in 23 minutes as a starter, he shot 4-5, 2-3 and 1-1.
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Non-D1 scores
Chico State took care of Pacific Union 68-43 at home with a sold effort by guard Chris (Jesuit High/Sacramento State/Santa Rosa JC/Sonoma State) Holley leading the way. He scored 14 points, shooting 4-9 overall, 5-8 at the foul line. Chico State athletics game report.
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Host Cal State East Bay eked out a thriller 57-54 with Ramsey Huff 's 13 points leading his squad and teammate Amare Campbell contributing 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. CSEB school game report.
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In a 74-70 loss to Point Loma, Biola's 6-foot-3 senior Cameron Brown provided 28 points plus eight rebounds. In the previous game for Biola, they defeated William Jessup in overtime 84-81 with Brown tallied 21 point plus 10 boards. He is out of Bishop O'Dowd and a transfer from UC Merced, departing when the Merced coach (Kevin Pham) departed.
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UC Santa Cruz nabbed its fourth win in a row by defeating Lewis & Clark 95-85 behind 24 points plus six rebounds via 6-foot-8 Joseph (Pleasant Grove High) Espy, 6-foot-5 Leo (West Campus High/Sacramento CC) Wagner's 20 points and 6-foot-5 Caden Miramonte High) Breznikar's 19 point, 15 board double-double. The entire Slug team grabbed 24 rebounds minus Brezniker's total.
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Las Positas College defeated host West Valley College 65-62 as 6-foot-3 Jaden (Sheldon High) Woodard scored 18 points on nine shots taken, aided by finished 10-12 at the foul line. Teammate Kodey (Weston Ranch High) Weary contributed 16 boards in addition to his 11 points scored.
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6-foot-7 sophomore Will (San Ramon High) Ambidge buried 28 points (7-10, 1-2 13-15 shooting), pulled down 11 rebounds, passed out four assists and blocked three shots in the Foothill College homecourt 86-77 defeat of Ohlone College.
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Behind the strength of 6-foot-7 sophomore Travis (Justin-Sienna High/Chico State) Hightower's 21 points, nine boards and two assists (8-12, 3-3, 2-2 shooting), Santa Rosa Junior College topped Skyline College 86-70 in San Bruno. Teammate 6-foot-1 sophomore Spencer (Granada High) Langowski provided a team high six assists alongside 18 points on 7-11 overall shooting, 4-6 from long distance. For Skyline, 6-foot-4 freshman Isiah (Vanden High) Dixon enjoy a solid game with 13 points, nine rebounds plus four assists. He shot 6-7 overall.
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Whittier College got by UC Santa Cruz (the Poets topping the Slugs) 75-73 despite Slug Joseph (Pleasant Grove High) Espy providing 17 points plus 14 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. The primary reason for the defeat was the shooting of 6-foot-2 Poet Jonathan (Del Oro High/Menlo College) Duley who scored 25 points on 10-18, 3-5, 2-2 shooting.
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