News Bits
West Valley College got by CCSF 66-58 up in the Delta tournament in mid-December. The WVC losses to date are close games: 59-53 in the opening season game to host Fullerton, 58-55 to host CCSF, 65-62 at home to Las Positas College, 72-69 at home to Feather River College and a not so tight 81-68 to host City College San Jose.
But add another one, article courtesy of Ben Seimas/Santa Cruz Sentinel:
"Redshirt freshman forward Ben Dotten had a career outing on offense, and the Cabrillo College men’s basketball team reaped the benefits in its upset of West Valley on Friday night.
Dotten scored a season-high 19 points and the No 27 state-ranked Seahawks stunned the No. 12 Vikings 72-66 in their Coast Conference South Division game.
It was the Seahawks’ first win over the Vikings since Jan. 30, 2019, and snapped an 11-game skid against their foe.
“Huge bounce-back win for us,” Seahawks coach James Page said. “After letting one get away on Wednesday, we showed a lot of grit in playing the way we did tonight.”
Dotten, co-MVP of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League with Aptos’ Isaiah Ackerman as a Santa Cruz senior in 2023-24, entered the game averaging 7.6 points per game.
He made a pair of 3-pointers and scored 16 points by halftime to set the tone for the Seahawks (15-6 overall, 4-1 division).
“Ben is one of our most talented players and I recruited him so hard versus some of the best JUCOs and D-II schools in California,” Page said. “He is going to be an all-conference, conference MVP caliber player by the time he leaves. Tonight was a glimpse of what he’s capable of. He’s battled some knee injuries that forced him to redshirt last year and slowed his start to this year, but he’s going to be a guy who takes us over the top as the season goes on.”
Cabrillo rebounded from its loss to No. 16 San Jose City (16-5, 5-0) on Wednesday in grand fashion.
West Valley (14-6, 3-2), the South Division champ the past two seasons, has more conference losses this season than it did the past two seasons combined.
Cabrillo trailed 18-8 early, but rallied to take a 28-27 lead by the half. The Seahawks found another gear in the second half, when they outscored their opponent 44-39.
Sophomore forward Mike Carson scored 15 points for the Seahawks, who made 18 of their 22 free throws in the second half. They finished 22-of-32 shooting from the line.
Sophomore forward Skylarr Redwood returned from injury after sitting out Wednesday’s loss, and scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Freshman guard Damani Wilkerson added 10 points, eight coming in the second half.
Cabrillo’s Charlie Kosta (eye) and Carson (hand) exited the game in the second half with injuries.
Freshman guard Antonio Kellogg Jr. and freshman forward David Manea each scored 10 points to pace the Vikings. Sophomore forward William Amoah scored nine points. Ackerman, a freshman guard, scored all seven of his points in the second half."
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Randal Bessolo: "Thanks SFUHSorg, Anthony, Jim, our basketball program coaches and most importantly, our players! “Players win games.”
It is an honor to know and, of course, to play for Coach Bessolo, one of the finest human beings to ever grace this earth.
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"The Warriors' problems are downstream from a major decision over a decade ago"
A fascinating feature with lots of background on trades the Golden State front office looked at as well as draft possibilities and picks.
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Britt Wright: "MLK Day dlshsbasketball:
- Game 7 Final Score: Salesian College Prep 74, Modesto Christian 62
- POG: Stanford Commit: Elias Obenyah 6’5 Guard 26pts, 9rebs, Carlton Perrilliat Jr. 6’5 unsigned Sr. 21pts
- Modesto Christian: Trevor Dickson 6’6 2027 SG, 19pts, Seve Archuleta 2027 12"
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Kort Jensen: "Congrats Zander Jensen for winning the MVP Award at the MLK event. Still lots of work and improvement to get done."
- Hanford HS 6’4” C/O 27"
It will be fascinating where Jensen ends up considering his family's hoops pedigree as well as his size for the backcourt plus his skills.
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Frank Knight: "Congrats to Moreau Catholic 2028 Forward/Center Brendan Williams on his offer from University of San Francisco!"
The 6-foot-10 frontcourter also sports a 4.2 grade point average.
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Juan Jimenez: "ZanderJimenez season high 28 pts in 28 min, 85.7% fg with 17 pts in 2nd half to help Swarthmore basketball with comeback win."
12-14 fg | 2-4 3fg | 2-3 ft | 8 reb | 3 ass | 1 steal"
The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Jimenez is out of Salesian College Prep.
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"Riding their star, Hawks beat Chabot in four-game conference win streak"
6p-foot-3 Jaden (Sheldon High) Woodard of Las Positas College featured here.
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6-foot-8, 265 redshirt senior Robert (Archbishop Riordan/Fresno State) Vaihola transferred from San Jose State University to Minnesota and earted a solid NIL payday. As a starter in the first five games and at 21.5 minutes a contest, Vaihola averaged 5.0 points and 7.6 rebounds (an average that still leads his team) but then he suffered a knee injury on November 18 and underwent season-ending surgery in early January. Maybe he will be granted a redshirt season. Vaihola has already earned a degree in Communications from SJSU.
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JUCO Recruiting: "6’6 guard Yohandry Ortiz from South Plains has been offered by San Jose St. 25-26 Stats: 13.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 47% FG, 39% 3FG."
Out of the Dominican Republic, he also has offers from NC State, UMass, Southern Utah, Arkansas State, High Point, FAMU, Weber State, FAU, Cleveland State and Cal State Fullerton.
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Travis Branham: "2026 stockrising SF Boyuan Zhang out of Chino Hills (CA) Veritashoops, is currently on campus for an official visit to California, a source tells 247Sports."
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6-foot-5 guard Jaden (Modesto Christian High/LasPositas College) Phillips is in his senior season at Bellevue College (Nebraska) and averaging 15.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists this season while shooting 44%, 34% and 80%.
Teammate 6-foot-8, 265 RJ (Oak Ridge High/Yuba College) Smith is also a Bellevue senior and averaging 12.4 points, 7.7 boards and 1.9 assists. He is shooting 76% overall, 63% at the foul line.
Former Chico State assistant coach/Fresno City College assistant coach Lucas Gabriel heads the Bellevue program. He has held that position since the 2019-20 season.
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"Jock Landale talks best year of his career, free agency, and more"
The 6-foot-11, 255 pound Landale is a St. Mary's product.
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"2026 100 Most Impactful: Men's Mid Major Assistants/GM’s"
NorCal-ers listed:
- Brandon Cole, Pacific assistant
- Brandon Laird, Idaho associate head coach
- Chris Cobb, Montana associate head coach and recruiting coordinator
- Frankie Ferrari, USF assistant coach and director of player development
- Jason Ludwig, Santa Clara associate head coach
- Joe Rahon, St. Mary's associate head coach
- Josh Calbert, Pepperdine assistant coach
- Kyle Vogt, UC Davis assistant coach
- Lo Leath, Nevada assistant coach
- Mickey McConnell, St. Mary's associate head coach
- Michael Plank, USF assistant coach
- Rob Jones, Hawai'i assistant coach
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William Jessup Men's Basketball: "The Fall ‘25 results are in: 𝟑.𝟑𝟔 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐆𝐏𝐀. Proud of the discipline this group showed in the Fall semester, finishing with a 3.36 Team GPA. Setting the standard on and off the hardwood."
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"Judge Who Ruled Charles Bediako Eligible Is Six-Figure Alabama Booster"
Shall we say, it never hurts to have friends in high places?
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Here's a 2023 feature on Terrell (Moreau Catholic High) Brown, a former San Jose State University 6-foot-1 guard who was dismissed from the team due to robbery charges, went on to play at New Mexico State and ended up getting an opportunity to play professionally. Most recently, he was taking to the court down in Mexico and has also played in Australia, Kosovo, Norway and the United States.
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"John Bryant’s stint with the Wolves comes to an end as the two sides part ways"
Don't know what is going on here. The 6-foot-11 Bryant is a Santa Clara U graduate and started out at Pinole Valley High.
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"Freshman Gavin Sykes Named Big West Player Of The Week"
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Mason Adimora: "Had a good time at UC Davis! Thank you Coach Tom Abatemarco for the invite! It was exciting to meet the coaching staff‼️ | C/O 26 | 6’5 Wing | 205 lbs | 4.02 GPA | Rodriguez High."
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Chico State's men's basketball players performed well in the classroom during the Fall semester with the following players finishing at or above a 3.0 grade point average
"Men's Basketball (8): Amon Andrews, Jeremiah Dargan, Jacob Gilchrist, Braddock Kjellesvig, Xan Meyer-Plettner, Cortevious Taylor, Maxwell Walters, Thomas Williams."
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D1 Scores
Oregon State came to Moraga in what seemingly should have been an 'easy' matchup for St. Mary's. It was a just an OK 36-25 at the half for Coach Randy Bennett's crew but then went to 49-28 with 15 minutes remaining in the second 20 minutes. The route was on. Try 80-48 at the two minute mark before all was concluded with 81-51 on the scoreboard. 6-foot-3 sophomore point Joshua Dent played extra large in leading the Gaels with both 16 points and 11 assists. St. Mary's out-shot OSU 48% to 29%, earned 20 assists on 28 baskets and out-boarded the visitors 44-28. The Gaels are now 17-3, 6-1.
The St. Mary's headed up to The City of Roses to challenge Portland and emerged a 75-69 victor. Paulius Murauskas was back on his game with 24 points (9-9 at the foul line) and nine boards. Mikey (Prolific Prep) Lewis too with 15 points on 5-9, 3-7, 2-2 shooting and Joshua Dent provided 13 points as well as a team high seven assists. game report
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Santa Clara went to 17-5, 8-1 with an 85-73 defeat of host San Diego as center Bukky Oboye enjoyed 16 points plus eight boards while teammate Allen Graves also tallied 16 points. The Broncos shot a scintillating 33-52 (63%) overall while holding the Toreros to 39%, including a dismal 3-23 from long distance. However, SC did commit 21 turnovers and that won't cut it when matched up with Gonzaga and St. Mary's. game report
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Pacific grabbed a 33-18 lead after 20 minutes and held on in Stockton to edge Seattle University 56-64. TJ Wainwright led the Tigers with 15 points. Seattle missed a jumper just before the buzzer and Ralph Elias oulled down the defensive rebound. The Chieftains got a three-point jumper from 28-feet out at the 0:15 mark to make the score 55-54 but couldn't score again. game report
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California came across the bay and seemed 'in control' but the matchup was never a rout as the Bears handled Stanford 78-66. John Camden led the victors with 25 points plus squad high 10 boards and teammate Justin Pippen scored 18 as well as six assists, tops on the team. Jeremy Dent-Smith paced the home team with 20 points and teammate Ebuka Okorie added 14 points although he shot 1-16 from the floor. Stanford shot 27% as a team. Do keep in mind that Cardinal senior forward 6-foot-8 Chisom Okpara is out for the season due to injury and his physical presence is both missed and not replaceable by anyone else on the roster.
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Up in Spokane, USF was generally in a deficit with the Zags (36-25 at the half) but only to fall just short at the final horn 88-86. It was a molasses start for USF with Tyrone Riley IV making the team's initial basket at the 12:40 mark. Guard Legend Smiley buried five three-pointers in scoring a team high 18 points with teammate Ryan (Dougherty Valley High) Beasley adding 14 and six assists but also five turnovers. With three seconds on the clock, the Dons missed a 25-foot jumper. game report
"USF Tied for First in Nation for NCAA Graduation Rate"
Now that is a terrific achievement.
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Host Idaho jumped out to a 53-38 lead after 20 minutes and held on to defeat Sacramento State 86-76. 6-foot-8 Hornet freshman forward Mark (Rocklin High) Lavrenov poured in 26 points and brought down 12 rebounds (six offensive), all team highs. Sacto was out-shot 49% to 39%. game report
Then, up in Cheney, WA, Sacramento State was turned away by Eastern Washington 75-67. Mark (Rocklin High) Lavrenov again paced the Hornets with 26 points, shooting 14-15 at the free throw line. Teammate Prophet Johnson played extra large via 18 points and 11 boards. game report
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Up in northern California, UC Davis fell to UC San Diego 80-74 as a 55-44 second half Triton lead erased a five-point halftime advantage for the Aggies. Marcus Wilson tallied 17 points (shooting 4-6), a tops on the team for UCD and also led with five assists. Teammate and Swiss native Nico Rocak enjoyed a solid night for Davis via 11 points, 11 boards, four assists and a pair of blocked shots. game report
Then, UC Davis liked the home cookin' a bit better in downing UC Riverside 74-66 as Nils Cooper led with both 17 points and seven boards plus tied for the team lead in assists with five. Teammate Connor (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla contributed 14 points on 4-8, 3-6, 3-4 shooting. The Aggies shot 50% overall. game report
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Cal Poly tangled with UC Santa Barbara in The Thunderdome but faced a 59-33 halftime deficit before falling 107-67. The Mustangs shot 47% overall but the Gauchos finished at 67%, 15-29 on three-point attempts. UCSB also got up 63 shots versus 49 for the visitors. It was sophomore Zion (Archbishop Riordan) Sensley doing the most damage with team highs of 21 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes for UCSB. game report
Cal State Fullerton took a 46-34 halftime lead over host Cal Poly and maintained it to the final buzzer, winning 93-78. For CP, Cayden (St. Mary's High-Stockton) Ward shot 7-14, 4-8, 2-4 to finish with 20 points and also enjoyed seven rebounds. Teammate Hamad Mousa filled the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists and freshman Jess Esso Essis, in his first game after being sidelined by an injury, knocked down four treys in the first half to finish with 12 points. game report
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Up in Reno, San Jose State University couldn't handle Nevada, losing the first half by 13, then the second 20 minutes by 20 points, culminating in an 87-54 Wolf Pack victory. The hosts shot 51% overall, 12-21 beyond the arc. Converse, the Spartans shot 33% overall, 4-24 on trey attempts. Coach Tim Miles' squad was again missing three starters, including its top big. game report
"Spartans balance grit and growing pains across three-game stretch" Vic Aquino
SJSU the rode into Laramie and were down 31-23 after 20 minutes. They inched closer but still fell 66-62. Still too many missing starters, especially so a big after being out-boarded 44-25, although Colby Garland returned, coming off the bench to lead the team with seven assists. game report
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Aidan (Campolindo High/St. Mary's) Mahaney tallied 21 points as UC Santa Barbara felled host Long Beach State in a tight one 74-71. He shot 8-13, 3-5, 2-2, added three assists plus hit a driving layup for the final score.
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In Sin City, Miles (Lincoln High-Stockton) Byrd came alive offensively with 23 points and added five assists and four steals as San Diego State grabbed an 82-71 win. Byrd shot 7-8, 5-5, 4-4.
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In Flagstaff, Montana had no trouble romping past Northern Arizona 98-72 as Money (Oakland High) Williams totaled 25 points (8-12, 2-5, 7-i shooting), six assists, four boards and just one turnover. Teammate Te'Jon (Salesian Prep) Sawyer (#32) was even more on fire with 27 points in just 26 minutes (11-13, 2-3, 3-3 shooting) plus six boards.
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In Iowa State's 87-57 romp over Central Florida, former St. Mary's power forward 6-foot-9, 240 senior Joshua Jefferson earned a triple-double with 17 points, 12 assists and the rebounds, alongside four steals.
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6-foot-7 junior Andrej (Jesuit High/Stanford/California) Stojakovic broke out of a scoring slump with 30 points (1/3 of his teams points) versus Maryland in an 89-70 victory versus the visiting Terrapins. He shot 9-18, 4-7, 8-8 and added nine boards.
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In Missoula, 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman Tyler (Vanden High) Thompson led with 21 points (7-9 on three-pointers) plus five boards and three assists in Montana's 81-65 defeat of Weber State.
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Freshman guard Gavin Sykes scored 20 points but visiting Long Beach State still fell 71-61 to Cal State Fullerton. He shot 6-12, 2-5 and 6-7 plus dished out four assists.
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Other Scores
Over in Hayward, Cal State East Bay continued to roll, this time 87-70 over Cal State San Marcos. The Pioneers shot 50.8% overall and held the visitors to 39.6% shooting. Ramsey Huff paced CSEB with 22 points. He shot 8-12, 3-7, 3-6. The Hayward-ites now stand 17-0.
Leo (De La Salle/Sac State) Ricketts scored 23 points (shooting 7-12, 5-9, 4-4) in the Citrus College 95-92 overtime victory versus West Los Angeles College.
William Jessup University tangled with Fresno Pacific down in the San Joaquin with WJU nabbing an 86-81 victory powered by 24 points and nine boards from 6-foot-7 Aussie freshman forward Tom Parsons. FPU was led in part by 6-foot-4 sophomore Brandon (Monterey Trail High) Gibson Jr. and his tied for team high 21 points. He shot 7-9, 2-2, 5-5 and added five boards.
Then, Tom Parsons and William Jessup University did it again posting a 72-67 victory versus Menlo College, this one up in Rocklin. Parsons provided 21 points (shooting 11-14 from the foul line) plus nine rebounds, just missing a double-double.
Another then, Williams Jessup University fell to Dominican University 72-60 as Darius (Cabrillo College) Best led the winners with 16 points. Varick (Monterey Trail High/Long Beach State) Lewis led Dominican also with 16 points.
Las Positas College bested visiting Ohlone College 84-78 with 6-foot-9 Aussie freshman Ted Bigg-Wither earning an 18 point, 13 rebound double-double alongside six rejections and a quartet of assists. LPC is now 18-1.
Reid (Jesuit High) Jones led with 21 points, Joey (University High) Kennedy enjoyed 21 points plus 15 rebounds and Cahal (Bishop O'Dowd) Connolly grabbed 15 boards in the Claremont/Mudd/Scripps 79-78 overtime loss to host Redlands.
Diego (Valley Christian High) Martinez shot 10-15, 4-6, 1-2 in scoring 25 points but his San Francisco State team fell 76-71 in overtime to Cal State San Marcos.
Ben (Branham High) Lim posted a 13 point, 12 rebound double-double and teammate Joseph (Pleasant Grove High) Espy paced UC Santa Cruz in scoring with 17 points as the Slugs defeated host Simpson University 78-64.
UC Santa Cruz enjoys an 11-7 overall record and are doing this minus sharp-shooting guard Andrew (West Campus High/Sacramento City College) Ferrara-Jones who leads the team with an average of 17.2 points per game but played in just five contests before being sidelined by injury.
Max (Soquel High) Walters scored 17 points and teammate Chris (Jesuit High/Sac State/Santa Rosa JC/Sonoma State) Holley contributed 16 points, five rebounds and five assists but Chico State reached the 31 point mark in each half and Cal State San Bernardino tallied 38 in both 20 minute sessions for a 76-62 win on the road. game report
Shane Lincoln post a line of 20 points and six assists with 6-foot-9 teammate Kenyon DeMuynck contributing 18 points plus six blocked shots in City College San Francisco's takedown of host Chabot College.
In the One Bright Light category, 6-foot-7 freshman Braddock (De La Salle High) Kjellesvig scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and doled out five assists for Chico State in the Wildcat 78-66 homecourt loss to Cal Poly Ponoma, A 44-23 first half proved to be too much for hosts to overcome. game report
Los Medanos College lost 79-76 to Yuba College despite 6-foot-2 sophomore Jeremiah (Pittsburg High) Collins in a zone via 25 points, 13 boards, six steals and three assists for LMC.
6-foot-5 freshman Lucas Boze finished with 28 points for College of Alameda including shooting 11-11 from the foul line and added six boards plus three assists in the Corsairs 87-72 topping of College of Marin.
Powered by 21 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots from Charles Elijah, host UC Merced edged Stanislaus State 60-59.
Sterling (Vanden High/Positas College) McClanahan totaled 20 points in UC Merced's 68-64 prevailing over Stanislaus State.
Jaden (Kennedy High-Sacto) Tengan scored 17 points in visiting Cal State Monterey Bay's 91-57 romp over San Francisco State. He shot 7-10, 3-5, 0-1.
6-foot-5 sophomore forward Damante Duhart post a 22 point, 13 rebound (10 offensive) double-double in the Feather River College 78-65 defeat of College of the Redwoods.
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