News Bits
"California star channels Michael Jordan; Double-clutch buzzer-beater sinks rival
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"Streaking Moreau Catholic boys proving coach wrong for all the right reasons"
A 17-3 so far 'rebuilding' year for Coach Frank Knight and his crew.
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"Concerns after East Bay high school plans to let go of all athletics coaches"
Hopefully, a better or more thorough explanation has been offered than what is contained in this article.
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6-foot-3 Zander (Salesian Prep) Jimenez is a sophomore at Swarthmore College (PA) and after earning multiple honors as a freshman (D3hoops.com Region V Rookie of the Year, Centennial Rookie of the Year and All-Centennial Second Team) for averaging a team high 15.1 points plus 5.5 rebounds as well as a tops on his team 37 steals, he recently enjoyed a fruitful outing on January 21 against Washington College in Maryland. Jimenez posted a line of 28 points (12-14 overall shooting) and eight boards plus three assists.
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6-foot-8 freshman power forward Mark (Rocklin High) Lavrenov has adjusted quickly to college hoops and is currently averaging 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 47%, 29% and 82% overall. 53 of his total of 133 boards have come on the offensive end. What he does is score inside and work both boards. There won't be a lot of shotblocking or deft passes coming from him but he provides what many teams desire in in 4. His numbers are a bit inflated because center Jeremiah Cherry went down after six games but that also means Lavrenov stepped up. He 'sin a good situation at Sacramento State and from the area but might one of of the other Nor Cal D1 programs pursue him come the end of this season? Will he hear them out?
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6-foot-4 sophomore Jase Butler came out of The Branson School and headed to Washington as a freshman. He decided to transfer out due to limited playing time and a lack of impact on the team—while in Seattle as a frosh, Butler appeared in 18 games and in 10.6 minutes an outing, he averaged 1.9 points, shooting 25%, 29% and 60%.
He landed at Colorado State this season where in 21 games, four starts and 22.0 minutes contest, he is averaging 7.6 points per game (shooting 47%, 41%, 77%) plus 2.6 rebounds nightly. He has dished out 25 assists versus 18 turnovers and grabbed 11 steals.
Butler originally signed with Illinois coming out of high school and his reasons for changing his mind there have never been publicly offered. Some have surmised it might have been because of concerns about the Illini coaching staff seeking veteran guard help in the transfer portal.
His agent is Drake U'u who played at Rio Americano High, then Hartford, then Cal Poly.
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Vijay Keshaav: "After a great conversation with the coaching staff, I am blessed to receive an offer from the University of California at Berkeley."
Keshaav is a 2029 6-foot-2 combo guard out of Texas.
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"Otters’ Jaden Tengan earns his first career FloCollege/CCAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week"
A guard at Cal State Monterey Bay, Tengan is out of Kennedy High in Sacramento.
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"Three no’s, one yes: How a team manager went from rejection to starring role"
Standing 6-foot-8 helped but so did a lot of hard work and persistence for Jestus Akudinobi of Ygnacio Valley.
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A recent NBA draft preview article contained this information about former St. Mary's power forward Joshua Jefferson, predicted to go mid-first-round:
"Joshua Jefferson, F, Iowa State
Jefferson has become one of the best players in the country as a senior at Iowa State. At 6’9, 240 pounds, he’s a physical forward with rare passing ability for his size. Jefferson’s 28.7 percent assist rate is a massive number, and the fact that he’s improved to a 36 percent three-point shooter on his first 53 attempts this year shows even more comfort playing on the perimeter offensively. He’s a really good defensive rebounder who can provide some paint protection defensively, too. Jefferson potentially gives a team the benefits of a double big look without cramping their spacing if his shooting improvement holds, and the value he adds as a passer should be enough to lock him in as a first rounder."
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In a recent G League game with the South Bay Lakers, rookie guard Augustas (St. Mary's) Marčiulionis scored 13 points (6-9 shooting) along with posting nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.
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Mitch Stephens: "One of fastest risers in Cali, Moreau Athletics 6-10 soph, Brendan Williams had 23 points, 18 reb, 5 blks in 70-61 win over Clovis North at crushvalley. Williams massive development coincides with Coach Frank Knight’s best 20-game start (17-3). Modest, engaging."
Hit this link for an 1:45 minute interview with Williams. Let's hope he remains in the Bay Area as the pressure will be on him to head to a much more lucrative setting.
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"Cedric Coward is learning in the defensive deep end as one of NBA’s best rookies"
Coward is out of Central High in Fresno. His colleges are: Williamette, then Eastern Washington and finally Washington State for less than 1/2 a season. It's amazing he's in the NBA but give him the credit.
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"8 years, 5 schools and a career-threatening condition: The story of Tyon Grant-Foster"
He does play for Gonzaga but we'll overlook that—it's a wonderful story.
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"District Dominance — Las Positas and Chabot Men’s Basketball Programs Thrive"
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Phoenix Suns: "When basketball becomes poetry."
Here's Jamaree (Palma High/USF) Bouyea in slow motion. Do hit the link.
Don't know what more he can do to earn a contract with the Suns for next season.
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"College Basketball Will Not Die" Will Warren
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Joe Lacob's make-or-break Warriors moment has arrived" Gabe Fernandez
Lacob has done an awful job of not leaving basketball personnel decisions to his head coach and general manager and hopefully will learn from his mistakes—not that billionaires have a tendency to do so. They don't look so good in sackcloth and ashes (and no, those are not the names of presently hot designers). The 'pieces' don't appear to be present to land Giannis Antetokounmpo but a big move is needed to get Bay Area fans believing once again. After all, Steph Curry won't be playing in the NBA once he begins collecting Social Security. Or will he?
D1 Scores
In Florida, Stanford held a 40-35 halftime lead only to fall 79-70 to Miami. Ebuka Okorie led with 19 points and teammate Benny Gealer enjoyed 17 points, shooting 5-8 from beyond the arc. The Hurricanes shot 19-31 from the foul line to 5-10 for the visitors. For the record, the Cardinal are a +56 on free throws versus opponents on the season but Miami is +113. game report.
In Tallahassee, Stanford got blanked on this road trip to the Sunshine State, falling 88-80 to Florida State. This despite getting 27 points from freshman guard Ebuka Okorie. But no other Cardinal stepped up with even a close to an outstanding performance. game report.
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In Stockton, Pacific jumped out to a 40-21 lead after 20 minutes versus Portland and eventually concluded with a 74-51 win. Tiger backcourters Justin Rochelin led the way with a 17 point, 11 rebound double-double and teammate TJ Wainright tallied 15 points. The homecourt rims had Pacific out-shooting the Pilots 51% to 31% but do credit the Pacific defensive effort here. game report.
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In Coral Gables,California took a 45-44 halftime lead, faced a deficit most of the second 20 minutes but came back and pulled it out 86-85. John Camden led the Bears with 26 points on 7-10, 4-5, 8-9 shooting and Justin Pippin provided 17 points and a team high eight assists. Cal was 'on' offensively, shooting 49% overall, 10-23 on threes plus 24-32 at the foul line. Miami shot a blistering 57% overall but attempted just 12 treys, making four. game report.
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St. Mary's led 38-34 at the half up in Spokane even though being out-shot 46% to 36%. Forward Paulius Marauskas led the Gaels with 13 points and guard Mikey (Prolific Prep) Lewis went scoreless in the first 20 minutes. But the Zags fought back, took the lead and the Moraga bunch didn't gain a second wind, losing 75-63. The last St. Mary's basket of the second half came with 4:58 on the clock before Joshua Dent scored with 26 seconds remaining. Joshua Dent led with 16 points but Marauskas surprisingly scored but two points in the second half. game report.
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Santa Clara hosted USF and held a three-point lead after 20 minutes 34-31. The Broncos began to slowly advance their lead (77-63 at the 5:00 mark) until closing the contest out 88-73 and going to 18-5, 8-1 on the season. Sophomore guard Christian Hammond again led SC, this time with 21 points and teammate Elijah (West Valley College) Mahi was close behind with 18 points. As a team, SC shot 51% overall including a more than solid 12-26 from three-point range. Guillermo Diaz Graham enjoyed the best outing for the Dons via 15 points, six boards and five assists in 28 minutes off the bench. Tyrone Riley IV shot a jarring 4-18 but did lead with eight rebounds. game report.
Down in Los Angeles, Santa Clara walloped Loyola Marymount 103-73 as point Brenton Knapper surprisingly led with 24 points and also a team best five steals. Both his scoring and steals total were career highs. He shot 10-15, 3-5, 1-3. Freshman teammate Allen Graves came off the bench for 15 points plus a team high 10 rebounds. game report.
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In The City By The Bay, USF took on challenger Pacific and the teams stayed close before the home cooking won out 87-82. For the Dons, David Fuchs tallied 30 points and pulled down nine boards. Tyrone Riley IV delivered 16 points and point Robbie (Dougherty Valley High) Beasley earned 11 assists. Ralph Elias was back at it for the Tigers with 23 points and Kajus Kublickas came off the bench to issue a team-leading seven assists in 20 minutes. Both teams shot well with Pacific actually leading 51% overall to 49% for San Francisco. game report.
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Cal Poly dusted the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners 104-79 after opening up a 21-point lead by halftime. It was 6-foot-6 freshman Troy Plumtree out of New Zealand leading the way with 31 points scored in 24 minutes as he shot 13-17, 3-4, 2-2 overall and also grabbed a tied-for-team-high six boards. The Mustangs earned 24 assists on 36 baskets, shot 39% on 31 trey attempts and finished 20-20 at the foul line. game report.
Cal Poly and host UC Riverside crossed swords with the former coming out on top 94-87 powered by Hamad Mousa's 26 points, six boards, four assists and trio of steals. Teammate Peter Bandelj concluded the night with 17 points, six assists and five boards. The Mustangs shot 53% overall but were out-boarded in the win 41-30. game report.
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In Northridge, the Matadors took down UC Davis 94-78 as Mahmoud (Santa Teresa High/West Valley College) Fofana enjoyed a 22 point, 10 rebound double-double. He shot 8-10 from the floor, 6-9 at the foul line. Four of the starting Aggies finished in double figures scoring with Adam (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla's 15 points leading as he shot a very efficient 4-7, 2-3, 5-5. However, Northridge shot 53% overall to 41% for UC Davis. game report.
In Nashvile West, aka Bakersfield, UC Davis earned a one point halftime margin, advanced that by seven points and nabbed an 80-72 victory over Cal State Bakersfield to even out the road trip. In 35 minutes, Connor (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla exploded for 27 points on 7-11, 4-7, 9-9 shooting accuracy and freshman teammate Jalen (Dougherty Valley High) Stokes provided 13 points plus five boards in 24 minutes as a starter. The Aggies shot 25-31 at the charity stripe. game report.
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Powered by 6-foot-3 senior guard Prophet Johnson 27 points, Sacramento State edged Montana State 83-80 in Hornet Pavilion. He shot 12-18 overall, 3-5 from long distance and also led the Hornets with six assists while grabbing five boards. Freshman power forward Mark (Rocklin High) Lavrenov earned another double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He shot 6-7, 2-2, 3-5. Arman Madi 'only' scored nine points in 29 minutes but he did so in a most efficient way (4-4 from the floor, with one three-pointer) and he paced Sac State with five steals while blocking two shots. game report.
Sacramento State jumped out to a 49-32 halftime score versus visiting Montana and maintained a comfortable lead before the scoreboard finally displayed an 86-79 Hornet win. Prophet Johnson was speaking in tongues stuffing the stat sheet via 26 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists and, as a team, Sacto shot 49% overall, 11-24 from beyond the arc. For the Griz, Te'Jon (Salesian Prep/CCSF) Sawyer was himself en fuego, shooting 13-16 overall, 5-7 on treys, in scoring 31 points. He grabbed seven rebounds. Teammate Money Williams scored 24 points alongside eight assists. The win came in front of 3,116 fans, the largest on-campus crowd in program history. game report.
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San Jose State University faced off with a Boise State, a team they have struggled with even when completely healthy, and kept it close, 36-33, after 20 minutes. Other than making treys on the evening, the other numbers such as overall shooting %, number of free throws attempted, number of rebounds, weren't developing in favor of the Spartans. The Broncos then began pulling away in the second half, leading 68-48 with 6:45 remaining. The final score: 89-58. BSU out-shot SJSU 59% to 38% and won the battle of the boards 39-20 but in consolation, San Jose finished marginally better from outside by 36% to 31%. game report.
Then New Mexico dipped into Silicon Valley, nabbing a 90-80 victory despite Colby Garland getting back his game legs and scoring 24 points plus six assists while Jermaine Washington enjoyed 18 points, including four treys. The Lobos outscored the Spartans first by six points and then four points in the second half. 32 of San Jose's 62 shots were three-pointers and, as a team, they shot 47% overall, 11-32 on three-point shots. New Mexico closed out the contest at 54% overall. game report.
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In a performance that has to be a Big Sky Conference Player of the Week shoo-in, 6-foot-3 Quinn (Bellarmine College Prep/Golden State Prep/West Valley College) Denker tallied 32 points, passed for 10 assists and grabbed seven rebounds as Northern Colorado topped visiting Idaho (Denker's previous team) 91-83. He shot 10-17, 3-5, 12-14.
"UNC Bears’ Quinn Denker named to men’s basketball watch list."
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In Oregon, Montana nabbed a close one, 64-60, as Money (Oakland High) Williams came through with 24 points on 8-14 overall shooting and 8-9 from the charity stripe. He did turn the ball over six times—his continuing bugaboo—but the Griz needed a big game from him and he delivered.
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Myron (VacavilleHigh/San Jose State University) Amey Jr. provided 24 points (8-14, 5-11, 3-4 shooting) in 29 minutes in Loyola Marymount's 72-69 homecourt loss to Oregon State.
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Mahmoud (Santa Teresa High/West Valley College) Fofana posted a 22 point, 10 rebound double-double in 29 minutes in carrying Cal State Northridge to an 81-64 homecourt defeat of UC San Diego.
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Other Scores
Down in Pomona, Cal State East Bay moved to 19-0 with a 79-46 pummeling of Cal Poly Pomona as 6-foot-5 senior Tyree Campbell play just 20 minutes but led with 17 points for the Pioneers.
It was tight and on the road but Cal State East Bay remained unbeaten at 20-0 with an 82-79 victory over Cal State San Bernardino. Tyree Campbell again led in scoring with 16 points.
Despite 30 points (10-18, 4-8, 6-7 shooting) and eight rebounds from guard Sterling (Vanden High/Las Positas College) McClanahan, UC Merced fell to host Cal State Monterey Bay 89-83 in overtime. The primary reason for the loss being Sea Otter Jaden (Kennedy High-Sacto) Tengan going off for 33 points (11-22, 7-12, 4-4 shooting).
Sterling (Vanden High/Las Positas College) McClanahan exploded for 34 points (12-17, 5-7, 5-6 shooting and Jaden Hubbard wasn't too far behind with 26 points as UC Merced busted Cal State San Marcos 80-66.
In La Mirada, Williams Jessup University fell 74-72 to Biola in spite of 6-foot-7 Aussie freshman Tom Parson finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds and 6-foot-3 sophomore teammate Caden McDaniel netting 18 points.
Cal State Stanislaus was just better at 83-80 versus Cal State San Marcos as Donjae (Weston Ranch High/East LA College) Lindsau led with 18 points and teammate 6-foot-3 redshirt junior Tahjae (Monterey High/Gavilan College) Ordonio, in an unusual start, provided a very solid 15 points (on just seven shots), a team best five assists plus a pair of blocked shots. He knocked down two free throws with nine second left in overtime. game report.
Dominican University topped Menlo College 83-76 powered in part by Darius (Cabrillo College) Best filling the stat sheet via 22 points, six boards, four assists and a pair of steals.
Behind 24 points and nine rebounds from 6-foot-5 senior Leo (West Campus High/Sacramento City College) Wagner plus Joseph (Pleasant Grove High) Espy's 22 points, 11 boards and three blocked shots, UC Santa Cruz bested Stanton University 82-73.
5-foot-11 guard Nick (St. Patrick-St. Vincent/Sonoma State) Medeiros scored 20 points in the Dominican University 75-68 win over Azuza Pacific down in soutern California.
Will Householter produced 23 points and Joey (University High) Kennedy 22 in the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 85-77 defeat of LaVerne. Shirley had the night off.
6-foot-7 sophomore Diego (Valley Christian High) Martinez scored 25 points in the San Francisco State 99-90 double overtime loss at Cal State San Bernardino. He shot 9-15, 3-5, 4-6.
Down is southern California, 6-foot-2 guard Chris (Jesuit High/Sac State/Santa Rosa JC/Sonoma State) Holley tallied 23 points and 6-foot-2 guard teammate Robel (Oakland Tech/West Valley College) Zemmo 22 in Chico State's 83-77 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills. game report.
Host Cal State Los Angeles edged Chico State 83-80 as Michael (Modesto Christian High) Pearson Jr. led the victors with 23 points. For the Wildcats, Chris ((Jesuit High/Sac State/Santa Rosa JC/Sonoma State) Holley provided 16 points, 10 assists (assisting on 10 of Chico's 30 baskets) and four rebounds.
6-foot-10 freshman Malachi (Inderkum High Johnson scored 27 points in powering the Cal State Stanislaus 86-81 victory over host Cal State Monterey Bay. Michael (Palo Alto High) Mora tallied 24 points for the Sea Otters.
Leo (De La Salle High/Sac State) Ricketts scored 23 points and passed out seven assists in the Citrus College 115-83 victory versus Glendale College.
West Valley College had no trouble taking down Gavilan College 96-40 as guard 6-foot-2 sophomore guard CJ (Capital Christian High) Willenborg scored 24 points on 9-16, 6-10, 0-2 shooting.
In an 82-78 Ohlone College overtime victory versus Cañada College, 6-foot-6 sophomore Anthony (Oakland High) Lacy provided 19 points, 11 boards, five blocked shots and two steals. 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman teammate Kiratraj (American High) Sanghera also stuffed the stat sheet via 18 points, 11 rebounds plus another five blocked shots.
6-foot-3 guard Jaden (Sheldon High) Woodard finished with 30 points (10-19, 0-2, 10-16 shooting) plus eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in the Las Positas College 89-60 triumph versus Cañada College.
Travis (Justin-Sienna High/Chico State) Hightower double-doubled with 17 points and 17 rebounds in Santa Rosa Junior College's 63-57 victory versus Diablo Valley College.
Just missing a double-double, 6-foot-5 sophomore Nick (Inderkum High) Fletcher paced Feather River College with 27 point and nine boards (shooting 10-2, 1-2, 6-8) in an 89-81 victory versus Butte College in Quincy.
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