BA Issue 59, Jan. 17, 2013

hit the mat: wrestling preview.

Pg. 12

vol. 4. issue 59

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January 17, 2013

MLK Hoops classic breakdown Pg. 30

Pitch PERFECT Acalanes turns into offensive juggernaut

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t e y t bes Rich Plasma 26 Platelet therapy has been in the news. But what is it and is it something right for you?

Logan wrestling had a 12 James down period. You better believe they’re back. And hungry.

Allocco gives us an inside 18 Frank look at DLS coach Bob Ladouceur. hard to quantify what Lad has 20 It’s meant, but we give it a shot.

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all know how to 27 We do a push-up.

Or do we? healthy lifestyle 29 Acan’t just be lipservice to a resolution. It has be a way of life.

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room: It’s not easy 8 locker being the guy after The Guy.

6 first pitch: It’s a New Year and it’s a new SportStars.

Check out what we have in store for you in 2013. Here’s a hint:

11 Clipboard: Turn up the volume and listen to a theory on shooters.

of the Week: 10 SportStars Natalie Romeo, Carondelet It’s Lionel Messi’s 36 IMPULSE: world and we’re lucky to live in it.

Gear up like the best there is.

Fence: Tryouts, sign-ups, 32 The fundraisers and more!

37 Advertisers Index

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Another Step Forward

It’s never fun doing the same thing over and over again, which is why 2013 is bringing a new, improved SportStars

W

ell, hello.

It’s been awhile. Or so it seems. Here’s hoping all of you loyal SportStars readers had a great holiday season. Santa was definitely good to us. We especially liked him coming through on delivering our seemingly over-the-top request of putting the 49ers back in the NFC Championship game. Well played, St. Nick!

After taking a modest break to play with our new toys and gadgets, we returned to SportStars Headquarters and began brainstorming on how we could become a better magazine in 2013.

We built a pretty big list, and I’m proud to introduce a handful of the changes we’re implementing in this issue.

First, let’s talk design. One of the changes you may have already seen on your way to this page. Our table of contents page (P. 4) has a new look now that we hope provides a better guide to what you can find inside each Chace@SportStarsOnline.com issue. We have more of our content listed and (925) 566-8503 highlighted than ever before. We’re all about presenting options, though we hope you’ll want to read it all anyway.

More design. For those of you who have enjoyed our health-related content in past issues — our health, training and fitness columns — we’re now grouping them into a new health and fitness section featuring a fun new design.

We’ve titled it “Level Up.” With Level Up we’re hoping to expand our fitness and training content, through the magazine and online. Look for us to feature more experts sharing their knowledge in the coming issues. But for now, make sure to flip to page 26 and check out the debut.

The next changes stemmed from our desire to become more interactive, and to find ways to take advantage of the gluttony of technology swallowing up the publishing world.

We were introduced to a new smart phone application called Layar. If you didn’t see it’s logo on the cover, you should notice it right here on this page and be prepared to see it a lot in the coming pages as well — . The app, which is free and available for both iPhone and Droids, is a way for us to connect the physical pages of SportStars to the the online world and all its possibilities.

Once downloading the app, you can scan any page of SportStars and Layar will offer you a number of online extras such as exclusive video content, photo slideshows, ways to connect to our writers or buy our advertisers’ products. The bottom line is that we can now pack a more significant amount of content into these pages. And in turn, that means we’ll be attempting to produce a much larger exclusive online content — all the more reason to get reacquainted with SportStarsOnline.com. We’ve got plans for giving that part of SportStars a facelift as well.

So Happy 2013! We’re excited about another year of SportStars, and we’re glad you’re along for the ride.

We’re going to call Santa now and see if we can ask for our 2013 gift about 11 months early. We’re sure he’s a fan anyway, the 49ers wear red after all. ✪

First Pitch

Chace Bryson Editor

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PHONE 925.566.8500 FAX 925.566.8507 Editorial Editor@SportStarsOnline.com Editor Chace Bryson • Chace@SportStarsOnline. com Staff Writers Erik Stordahl, Jim McCue Contributors Bill Kolb, Mitch Stephens, Matt Smith, Clay Kallam, Bryant West, Dave Kiefer, Liz Elliott, Tim Rudd, Jonathan Okanes Photography Butch Noble, Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne, James K. Leash, Norbert von der Groeben, Phillip Walton, Doug Guler Intern Ryan Arter Creative Department Art@SportStarsOnline.com Production Manager Mike DeCicco • MikeD@ SportStarsOnline.com Publisher/President Mike Calamusa • Mike@SportStarsOnline.com Advertising & Calendar/ Classified Sales Sales@SportStarsOnline.com, 925.566.8500 Account Executives Erik Stordahl • Erik@SportStarsOnline.com, Phillip Walton • PWalton@SportStarsOnline.com Sac Joaqin edition: Dave Rosales • DaveRosales64@gmail.com Reader Resources/Administration Ad Traffic, Subscription, Calendar & Classified Listings info@SportStarsOnline.com Distribution/Delivery Mags@SportStarsOnline.com Information technology John Bonilla CFO Sharon Calamusa • Sharon@SportStarsOnline.com community SportStars™ Magazine A division of Caliente! Communications, LLC 5356 Clayton Rd., Ste. 222 • Concord, CA 94521 •info@SportStarsOnline.com www.SportStarsOnline.com

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Communications, LLC, 5356 Clayton Rd, Ste. 222, Concord, CA 94521.

SportStars™© 2010 by Caliente! Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Subscription rates: 24 issues, U.S. 3rd class $42 (allow 3 weeks for delivery). 1st class $55. To receive sample issues, please send $3 to cover postage. Back issues are $4 each. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of Publisher is strictly prohibited. The staff and management, including Board of Directors, of SportStars™© does not advocate or encourage the use of any product or service advertised herein for illegal purposes. Editorial contributions, photos and letters to the editor are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor. All material should be typed, double-spaced on disk or email and will be handled with reasonable care. For materials return, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. SportStars™© and STARS!™© Clinics are registered trademarks of Caliente! Communications, LLC.

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rapidFIRE Movie character you’d like to meet

Last app you downloaded

Shooter McGavin

Ninja, robot or wizard

Coke or Pepsi

Nike, adidas or other

Sport you wish you could play better

Wizard

Golf

Ninja

Baseball

(Happy Gilmore)

Brett Stephens, Campolindo baseball

Iron Man Mike Protheroe, Clayton Valley football

say WHAT

“We’re a pretty deep team, and we’re able to wear some teams down in the second half. As long as we’re down by a reasonable amount of points we feel OK because we always tend to have big second halfs. I think it’s just because we’ve got so many guys and they are all in really good condition — that’s why they dislike their coach at times.”

Campolindo-Moraga boys basketball coach Matt Watson following his team’s 66-54 win over rival Miramonte-Orinda on Jan. 11.The Cougars opened the second half on a 13-0 run.They outscored Miramonte 40-24 in the second half.

GIRLS HOOPS: St. Mary’s-Stockton MLK Showcase, Jan. 19, all day — There will be 12 varsity games over two days but seven happen on 1/19, including a state power tilt between the host Rams and La Jolla Country Day, plus an interstate battle between St. Mary’s-Berkeley and South Medford (OR.). Find out more on pg. 32.

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BOYS WRESTLING: Mission San Jose Inviational, Feb. 1-2, all day — A stacked field tends to provide last true tune-up before postseason.

GIRLS SOCCER: Bishop O’Dowd at Castro Valley, Jan. 30, 6 p.m. — A match sure to affect the crowded WACC-Foothill race.

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it’s thenew guy It’s never easy to follow a legend, but here’s a closer look at the guy replacing Bob Ladouceur as football coach at De La Salle High School.

■ NAME: Justin Alumbaugh

Top 5 Tougher Jobs to Take Over Than Head De La Salle Football Coach

■ AGE: 33 ■ COACHING EXPERIENCE: 14 seasons as a member of the DLS coaching staff; Primary duties in recent year has been the offensive line and inside linebackers coach, as well as running the strength and conditioning program.

So. After 34 years, 399 wins, 25 losses, 3 ties, 20 unbeaten seasons, a national-record 151-game winning streak spanning over a decade, 28 North Coast Section titles and a smattering of No. 1 national rankings, Bob Ladouceur stepped down as the De La Salle High School football coach. That means you’re up, Justin Alumbaugh. Um. Good luck with that. No pressure or anything.

Not as if you have, like, gargantuan shoes to fill or anything. Hey brother. Take a deep breath. Be cool. Relax. It’s high school football. So. There are totally more rigorous jobs, right? Here are the top five positions for which we think it would be tougher to be the successor than Alumbaugh taking over for Lad. 1. President of the United States of America.

Incumbent: Barack Obama. We think that just about the most self-defeating, dumb, demoralizing thing you can possibly do to yourself is run for president. Next up after that? Run for a second term. No matter what you do, roughly 50 percent of the people think you’re an idiot. And possibly a crook. And a liar. And maybe the devil. So. Anyone who steps into those shoes is a) kind of a glutton for punishment and b) waaaaay more idealistic than we have ever been. Bon chance, friendo!

2. National Baseball Hall of Fame Voter.

Incumbents: A bunch of gibbering knuckleheads and a handful of thoughtful baseball writers. Nevermind the steroid nonsense surrounding Bonds, Clemens, et. al. But. Really? It woulda been soooo hard to write down Biggio, Schilling and Piazza? Come ON you guys. You let Bert Freakin Blyleven in. Pay attention.

3. Master of the Pan Flute. Incumbent: Zamfir. That thing just looks really, really hard to play.

4. Universal Creator. Incumbent: God. Lad is good.

We mean, really, really good. Nobody runs a veer running attack like that guy. Still. The whole world-in-seven-days thing is pretty compelling. And have you taken a look at the human autonomic nervous system lately? That stuff is complicated. A little trickier than drawing up ways to beat a two-deep zone.

5. Top Five Writer. Incumbent: Us. You think you could do this, issue in and issue out? Man. We make this look easy because we’re just that good.

— Bill ‘You think you’re better than me?’ Kolb

■ AN ORIGINAL SPARTAN: Alumbaugh is a 1998 De La Salle graduate who played three varsity seasons under Ladouceur. The Spartans set the national record for consecutive victories during his senior season (1997).

■ ULTIMATE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: “I’m his biggest fan,” Ladouceur said of Alumbaugh on Jan. 4. “I felt I owed it to him (to finally step aside). I want him to do it and succeed, and I know he will.”

ONLINE exclusive: Watch our interview with Alumbaugh at SportStarsOnline.com.

Or use the Layar App to scan the page now.

by the numbers

7

GIRLS HOOPS: Campolindo Shootout, Jan. 26, Bentley High, Lafayette, all day — Mitty-San Jose vs.

Miramonte-Orinda highlights strong day of matchups.

BOYS HOOPS: Deer Valley-Antioch at SheldonSac., Jan. 19, 7 p.m. — Division-I talent galore in this nonleague showdown.

BOYS SOCCER: De La Salle at Monte Vista-Danville, Jan. 24, 6 p.m. — Can MV hold off the four-time NCS champs to win the EBAL?

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Number of goals the Acalanes-Lafayette boys soccer team — with goalkeepers Eric Sirott, right, and Eric Rogstad — has allowed over its first 16 matches this season. Not surprisingly, the Dons were unbeaten through Jan. 12.

BOYS HOOPS: De La Salle’s MLK Classic, Jan. 21, Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, all day — 16th MLK event hosted by De La Salle with six games, the first beginning at 10:30 a.m. The biggest matchup features the host Spartans against defending Div. IV state champ Salesian-Richmond. Full schedule on P. 30

GIRLS HOOPS: Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove at Oak Ridge-ED Hills, Jan. 29, 7 p.m. — Title implications loom in the Delta River League showdown.

BOYS HOOPS: Bellarmine-San Jose vs. MittySan Jose, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. — First WCAL title between teams went to Mitty 65-63.

BOYS SOCCER: Alhambra-Martinez at Dublin, Jan. 30, 6 p.m. — This DFAL matchup may have a playoff berth on the line.

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The Cougars ran the gauntlet in nonleague play competing in the Nike Tournament of Champions and West Coast JamboreePlatinum Division. They compiled a 5-2 record in those tournaments and garnered even more national attention along the way. Leading the charge is Romeo who averaged 23 points in the WCJ, including 32 points in the semis against Sacramento. Carondelet will take on Berkeley as part of a Martin Luther King showcase on Jan. 21.

SportStars Magazine: You guys did well in these high-profile games. Why was that?

Natalie Romeo: I think it’s because we ran as much as we could. … We scrimmage a lot in practice which gets us in shape.

SSM: Favorite highlight from the West Coast Jamboree?

NR: My favorite game was when we played against Sacramento.

Our team played so well together.

SSM: What colleges are you looking at right now?

NR: I haven’t thought about it yet. … Sometimes it gets overwhelming because I have school and basketball. I don’t mind it, but sometimes it gets a little much.

NATALIE’S QUICK HITS Favorite hobby: Drawing Favorite starbucks item: Chocolate Vanilla Frappuccino Favorite subject: Algebra 2 New Year’s Resolution: Eating healthier

January 17, 2013

honorable mention

natalie romeo

casie cathrea

carondelet . basketball . junior

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The Livermore senior won her third San Diego Junior Amateur with a final round score of 2-under 70.

Elliott pitts The De La Salle senior forward did it all against Foothill in a 6134 win on Jan. 2 as he put up 10 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and four blocks.

He also had 27 points in a win over Amador Valley on Jan. 4.

matt nerland The Las Lomas junior put up 33 points in a loss to Dublin on Jan. 9 and 21 points in a win against Clayton Valley Charter on Jan. 5.

Phillip Walton

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Being called a volume shooter isn’t necessarily a bad thing So what does it mean to create a shot?

At the most basic level, it means having the ability to get a good look at the basket without any outside help.

The great players can all create a shot.

My coach called me a “volume shooter” but I didn’t know what it meant. It was hard to tell if she meant it as a good thing or a bad thing, and I was afraid to ask. So what does it mean?

—K.L., Hayward

O

n the most basic level, a volume shooter is a player who shoots a lot — but there’s more to it than that. First though, it’s important to realize that the basketball team that wins the game is the one that scores the most points. And, as the saying goes, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, so it’s very important to shoot the ball.

In girls basketball, where ballhandling is more of an issue than on the boys side, shooting the ball before a team has time to turn it over is even more important. A very patient offense, with lots of screens away from the ball and several passes, can work very well, but only if the team handles the ball extremely well, or the defense is very passive.

On the boys side, patience is more often rewarded. But even so, the ability to create a shot is one of the most important in the game — and it’s a hallmark of volume shooters.

So what does it mean to create a shot? At the most basic level, it means having the ability to

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get a good look at the basket without any outside help. The great players can all create a shot, but it must be noted that it’s a lot harder for a center like Dwight Howard to create his own shot because he has to get the ball first — which means someone must pass it to him.

Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, touches the ball almost every possession, so he can make the decision himself on whether to take a shot or work the ball around.

Another way to create a shot is to penetrate and pass the ball to someone else for an open look. Steve Nash, for example, is very good at that, so even though Nash is far from a volume shooter, he definitely creates shots — just not for himself.

There’s also a distinction between a “shooter” and a “scorer.” Some players are great shooters, but because they can’t create a shot on their own, they are dependent on their teammates

Behind the Clipboard Clay Kallam

or the offensive system to get them the looks they need. Scorers, on the other hand, might be shooters or they might not, but they find a way to produce points, at the free-throw line, in the paint or wherever.

A volume shooter, then, is a scorer who takes a lot of shots, but there’s more to measuring his or her effectiveness than just shooting percentage. Getting fouled is very important, for a variety of reasons, and making three-pointers is more valuable than making two-pointers. An advanced stat called True Shooting Percentage (Pts/(2*(FGA + (.44*FTA))) is the best measure of shooting efficiency, and a volume shooter with a good True Shooting Percentage should just keep on shooting.

So back to your original question: When your coach told you that you were a volume shooter, was that a good thing or a bad thing?

It depends on your True Shooting Percentage relative to the other players on your team. ✪ Clay Kallam is an assistant athletic director and girls varsity basketball coach at Bentley High in Lafayette. To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email Coach Kallam at clayk@ fullcourt.com” clayk@fullcourt.com

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After a significant two-year swoon, the NCS’s most storied wrestling program is ready to pick itself up off the mat

J

By bill kolb | Contributor

ames Logan High School’s wrestling team is the most dominant program in the history of the sport in the North Coast Section.

This is not an overstatement. This is not hyperbole. It is, quite simply, the truth.

From at least as far back as 1991, all the way through 2010, the Colts put at minimum one — often more than one — grappler into a section title match, a run of team-related individual greatness spanning 20 years, and one to which no other program in the section can hold a singlet.

And, though the NCS records are incomplete the deeper into antiquity one wanders, it is likely that the streak stretches back further.

The list of legendary Colts’ wrestlers reads like a who’swho of NCS wrestling. From three-time state champ and four time medalist Stephen Abas (who won his first two medals with Canyon Springs before coming north to win the second and third of his championships representing Union City) to Jesse Reta — the first wrestler to ever win four straight NCS crowns — Logan boasts some of the most storied wrestlers the section has ever seen.

From a team standpoint, the section’s record books also bleed black and red. The Colts won a staggering eight of nine possible team titles from 1992 to 2000 — a run interrupted only by Liberty’s 1997 221-195 victory over, guess who?

James Logan.

We know what you’re thinking. De La Salle is a jugger-

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January 17, 2013

naut. The Spartans are clearly the top program in the section right now. They’ve won four straight team titles, and have topped their own record for total team points the past two seasons.

That said, De La Salle would need to keep rattling off titles until the 2017 season in order to simply tie the Colts’ mark of nine NCS crowns.

But — and this is a fairly significant but — things have not gone quite so well for the Colts of late.

It’s been two seasons (2011 and 2012) since any James Logan wrestler reached an NCS final.

The best finish for a Colt last season was sophomore Jacob Macalolooy, who placed third at 113, then went on to go 2-2 at state.

Joining him on the long drive down Highway 99 to Bakersfield were his co-captains, sophomore Jacob Donato (fourth at 120, 0-2 at state) and Artemio Flores (fourth at 126, 3-2 at state), as well as junior 195-pounder Clayton Hartwell (fourth, 0-2 at state) and senior Chumkaur Dhaliwal (fourth at 220, 0-2 at state).

It’s been seven long seasons since Jonathan Ronny’s 2005 fifth-place finish in the state at 135 pounds notched the last state medal for the Colts.

And it’s been even longer — since Kirk Fitzpatrick’s 2002 second-place finish at 140 — since they’ve seen one of their guys in a state final.

While the Spartans’ green wave has washed over the section, the Colts have struggled as a team, at least by their lofty

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MAT MASTERS

Following is a break down of the most prolific NCS wrestling programs of the modern era (1972-present) School................... Titles (last title) James Logan.......................9 (2004) Liberty..................................5 (2008) De La Salle..........................4 (2012) Antioch.................................3 (2005) Arcata ..................................3 (1987) Clayton Valley......................3 (1978) Dean Coppola photos

Jacob Donato, left, and Jacob Macalolooy are two of James Logan’s four state qualifiers from 2012.

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January 17, 2013

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standards. Their best team finish since 2009 is third — which they accomplished in 2009 and 2010. The past two seasons, they were a distant fourth.

“We’ve always been known as a team at the top in the North Coast Section,” Donato, now a junior but still tipping the scales at 120, said. “We’ve kind of fallen off a bit.”

“Being in the finals and winning at NCS is always one of our goals,” Donato said. “As well as placing at state. We should have a couple of finalists at NCS this year.”

Another goal?

“Beat De La Salle,” Donato said.

When asked if the runaway train that is the Spartans program is beatable at the section level, Donato responded quickly and emphatically, “Definitely. We always want to beat them. They knocked us out of the NCS Team Duals the last two years. We made it a goal not to lose to De La Salle three years in a row. They’re a great team. A solid team. But they’re definitely beatable. And we’re coming for them this year.”

TURNING IT AROUND The three horsemen — Donato, Macalolooy and Flores — who have been wrestling together for five years — appear poised to lead the once-distinguished program back into the limelight.

“We came up together a couple of years ago,” Donato said.

“We were a young team. But now we’re older and, thanks to the fact that Macalolooy and Flores are going up (in weight), we have room for a lot of tough guys at the lower weights. We should be pretty good this year.”

Macalolooy hit a growth spurt and has jumped up to 138 pounds. Flores is slotted in at 132. That means that there’s room down low for guys like junior Ray Monela, who could make some waves at 106, according to Donato.

Hartwell is holding steady at 195, and Donato said that he’s getting a good push in the mat room from his 220-pound sparring partner Brian Vigil.

“He’s a monster,” Donato said of Vigil. “That’s helping us a lot, because Hartwell has a better drilling partner.”

That overall sense of guys pushing guys — what coaches and wrestlers call a ‘tough room’ — is what has Donato most excited about the 2013 season.

“Before, it was just Macalolooy, Flores and me,” he said. “It was us three, making each other better. Now, it’s a whole team.

We really emphasized the off-season big time. We’ve been going to tournaments, and a lot of kids are doing well.

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CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE Colts first-year assistant coach Luke Santos, left, jokes with Donato and Macalolooy at a Jan. 9 match. Donato credits Santos with bringing new energy to the program.

“We have so many good guys now,” he said. “We’re battling every day in the lighter weights. Every day, we’re trying to take each other’s heads off.”

The latest release of state rankings from thecaliforniawrestler. com has James Logan and De La Salle off the top 35, but in honorable mention. It also shows Flores at No. 9 in the state, Hartwell at No. 11, Macalolooy at No. 12, and Donato at No. 22. Monela, junior Zack Wally (170), senior Shoaib Rasooli (182) Vigil and Joe Lacomba (285) also garnered mention in the rankings for strong showings early in the season.

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Donato said that the addition of assistant coach Luke Santos, who joined head coach Eli Bagaoisan’s staff this year, has made a significant difference in the intensity and energy in the room.

Santos comes to Union City from North Torrance, where he coached Johnson Mai to a state title at 106 in 2011 and a second-place finish in 2012.

“It has changed a lot,” Donato said. “Kids are excited. Wrestling just feels more fun, more enjoyable. He gives us a different viewpoint. It’s brand new, and it helps a lot. He works with us every day, and the whole room is elevating its level.”

That elevated level might have the Colts poised to reclaim their rightful place atop the North Coast Section wrestling world. “We want to be back. We’ve had a good off-season, going to a lot of tournaments as a team and doing a lot of lifting,” Donato said.

“When we come out at NCS and the state meet, James Logan is going to make some noise.” ✪

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Bay Area’s Top 10

Wrestlers to Watch ISAIAH LOCSIN

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Live Oak-Morgan Hill/ Junior

PJ KLEE

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa/Junior

››› ■ Wt. class: 120

■ Why he’s here: Locsin won a state title at 113 in 2012 after placing second in the state at 103 in 2011. He’s won the Central Coast Section the past two seasons, and is ranked No. 2 in the state.

NIKKO VILLAREAL

■ Wt. class: 132

■ Why he’s here: Klee is ranked No. 3 in the state, and won National High School Coaches Association national titles in 2012 and 2011.

JACOB MACALOLOOY

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: James Logan-Union City ■ Wt. class: 138

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Gilroy/Junior ■ Wt. class: 145

■ Why he’s here: Villareal won state at 132 in 2012, was third in the state at 125 in 2011, won CCS titles both years, and is ranked No. 2 in the state.

PAUL FOX

■ Why he’s here: Macalolooy jumped up in weight after placing No. 3 in the NCS at 113 pounds in 2012, and took second at the Curt Mettler Invitational and third at the Zinkin Classic.

He’s ranked No. 12 state.

ZACH HANSON

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Liberty-Brentwood/Senior

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Gilroy/Junior

■ Wt. class: 182

■ Wt. class: 132

■ Why he’s here: Fox was second in the state at 126 in 2012. He’s a two-time CCS champ, and is ranked No. 4 in the state.

TYLER RARDON

■ Why he’s here: Hanson placed second in the NCS in 2012 and went 1-2 at state at 170.

He’s ranked No. 7 in the state.

CLAYTON HARTWELL

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Livermore/Senior

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: James Logan/Junior

■ Why he’s here: Rardon won the North Coast Section title in 2012 and went 1-2 at state.

He’s ranked No. 7 overall.

■ Why he’s here: Hartwell placed fourth in the NCS in 2012. He’s ranked No. 11 in the state

■ Wt. class: 195

■ Wt. class: 160

ELIJAH DAVIS

PaYTON RUSSUM

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: Riordan-S.F./Senior

■ SCHOOL/GRADE: De La Salle-Concord/ Senior

■ Why he’s here: Davis won the Oakland Section title at 132 and went 4-2 at state in 2012 before transferring across the Bay. He is ranked no. 3 in the state.

■ Why he’s here: Russum was seventh in the NCS in 2012. He won the Curt Mettler Invitational, went 2-2 at the Reno TOC and at the Doc Buchanan. He’s ranked No. 11 in the state.

■ Wt. class: 138

■ Wt. class: 152

ALSO ON THE RADAR Perez Perez (Windsor), Jr., 106

Tommy Yozzo (Amador Valley-Pleasanton), Jr., 126 Austin Solari (Liberty), Sr., 132

Artemio Flores (James Logan), Sr., 132 Zac Contreras (Riordan), Sr., 145

Taryn Christiansen (El Molino-Forestville), Sr., 182

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Jonathan Hawthorne

January 17, 2013

Jason Price (McKinleyville), Sr., 195 Graham Grant (Saratoga), Jr, 220 Dylan Walsh (Las Lomas), Sr., 285 *Wrestlers from throughout the Central Coast, North Coast, Oakland and San Francisco Sections were considered for these lists.

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Top: Nikko Villareal, Gilroy.

Middle: Payton Rossum, De La Salle.

Bottom: Tyler Rardon, Livermore (front)

Jonathan Hawthorne

Dean Coppola

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A MANfor all

seasons There’s always been more to Bob Ladouceur than coaching, and few know better than De La Salle basketball coach Frank Allocco

By frank allocco | Special to SportStars

C

oach Bob Ladouceur, the legendary football coach and my great friend, has retired as head coach at De La Salle.

Writing the above words seems a bit strange despite the fact that Coach Lad had confided in me a year ago that this would probably be his last season.

A trip we took to Chicago started with him complaining at the gate about his seat on the plane and asking me to switch so he could have the window seat. Then at the hotel room he required the bed closest to the window.

And then there were the meal decisions, which found him ruminating about where and when we should eat. Coach Lad is an amazing coach but he is not a great traveling companion!

Despite the challenges, each day ended with us in deep discussion about a wide variety of topics. Although our good-natured bantering and kidding never stops, our conversations are never trivial. They are always about our lives, our pasts, coaching, developing kids, teaching methods and the blessing that we share — coaching and the chance to make a difference. Its constant communication that has occurred in a number of different settings: travel, phone calls, during workouts and at DLS. It is these moments that I have always treasured in my friendship with Bob Ladouceur.

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Frank Allocco When I first came to De La Salle I did not know Ladouceur. I obviously knew all about him and his amazing accomplishments, but like many public school coaches, I was a bit skeptical. Our first conversation was a daytime phone call when he asked me about my position on kids playing two sports. I told him that I had played two sports in college so I was very receptive, provided they would share the same commitment level to each sport.

He went on to tell me about a great two sport athlete at De La Salle named D.J. Williams. He said D.J. wanted to play both sports and he thought it would be a great idea for both of us to sit down with D.J. and tell him our philosophies.

When we got together in a classroom a couple of days later, Bob introduced me to D.J. and said the following: “D.J., we know that you will hear rumors about what each of us believes about multi-sport athletes, but we wanted you to hear directly from us that we are both on board with you playing football and basketball at DLS.” Bob then said; “Coach Allocco, why don’t you speak first?”

“D.J., I don’t know you,” I said. “But you are obviously a

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Bob Ladouceur

Allocco family photo

EDITOR’S NOTE: Spend enough time covering football and basketball at De La Salle and it doesn’t take long to witness the strong friendship between the school’s two most successful coaches. Frank Allocco and Bob Ladouceur have 989 combined wins as Spartans coaches (as of 1/10). And since Allocco’s arrival in 1997, they’ve become very close friends. Thus, we asked Allocco to write a tribute to Ladouceur to include in our coverage of his decision to step down as head football coach.

great athlete, and I think if you are willing to come to open gym and lift weights a couple of days a week in the summer with our team, I think you might be able to play varsity as a sophomore.”

Coach Ladouceur thanked me for my words, and then said; “D.J., we have had great success with our teams here and have several players in the NFL. I think that if you will work hard you can be the best player to ever play here at DLS.” My mouth dropped as D.J. actually turned his back to me, his body language clearly expressing “I think I like the other guy a little better.” (For his own reasons, Williams chose not to play basketball beyond his freshman year. In 1999, he would prove Ladouceur correct by cementing his Spartan legacy by being named Mr. State Football.)

I walked out of the room and told my long time assistant coach Brian Sullivan; “I just learned my first lesson at DLS, never go first with Bob Ladouceur.”

I have so many amazing memories of my friendship with Coach Lad. I will never forget my first halftime in the football team’s locker room during their classic 1998 match up Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.com

with Mater Dei-Santa Ana. I couldn’t wait for halftime, so I could watch the legend in action and hear a fire and brimstone motivational speech. As the players assembled at the half, I heard him softly asking the lineman what plays they thought would work. He then grabbed a black marker and spent the entire half diagramming the blocking on a quick trap play.

I left the locker room disappointed that he had spent the entire half diagramming one play. I had expected a lot more than that. But then in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line and the Spartans facing a 3rd-and-32 situation, he called that quick trap. The blocking was perfect and the play went for 58 yards, a first down, and an upset over Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei. It was then that I learned there was a little bit of magic in this guy.

I will always treasure our pre-game runs together. We would run long distances, sprints, combo walk and jog. He always determined the workout. We were constantly teasing and challenging each other. I remember beating him in a 440 yard sprint and afterwards he said, “well, you might have won, but you are starting to look really old when you run.”

After each workout, we would lay on the grass, gaze at the clouds and talk about the challenges of coaching. The time would fly by as we shared stories of success and disappointments, but always zeroing in on how to improve and better serve kids.

Coach Lad is so much more than a football coach — he is truly a man for all seasons. He is a respected teacher and motivator who has served as a team leader on our school’s outstanding Kairos Retreats. These retreats are held in Healdsburg and bring together approximately 50 of our students for three days of sharing, reflection and prayer. I was proud to

serve on his team as an adult leader, and was amazed to see his skill in a whole new environment.

In just three days, he brought out the best in our kids and their leadership team. He had the perfect touch in serving as an understanding and compassionate mentor to these young men navigating through the difficult adolescent years. But each night, after they were asleep, the guitars came out and we laughed and shared memories of our past as we sang our favorite 60s oldies with our beloved (and now deceased) school chaplain, Father Coz, a man we both reverently and respectfully called “grandfather.”

Coach Ladouceur’s record as a coach is amazing and needs no restatement here. In a game defined by statistics and numbers, his are unparalleled. He has the greatest high school coaching record in history (in terms of win percentage). Many will look at the irony of him retiring when he did, just one win short of 400. When I heard Bob was retiring with 399 wins, I called him and asked if that number was on the pro side of the potential retirement decision list. He laughed and said it was, that the number of wins meant nothing to him. The only numbers that truly matter are the numbers of lives he touched in the classroom, on retreats, in the community and on the 100-yard classroom on Winton Drive.

I love Coach Lad and consider him one of my closest friends. I am grateful that since that first meeting we have made a special connection, and I am truly blessed to have had him as a friend, mentor, and role model. I will miss seeing those deep, dark eyes penetrating the action on the field, but I am excited to see the unfolding of this new chapter in his life — one that I am sure will make an even more profound statement than the past 34 years. ✪

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After each workout, we would lay on the grass, gaze at the clouds and talk about the challenges of coaching. The time would fly by as we shared stories of success and disappointments, but always zeroing in on how to improve and better serve kids.

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Acalanes is no stranger to success, but a posteason hiccup in 2012 may have given rise to its best team yet

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By matt Smith | Contributor

ntering the 2012-2013 season, the Acalanes High boys soccer team had been on a four-year stretch that would make any soccer program proud.

In addition to a North Coast Section Division II title, and two appearances in the title game, the Dons have piled up 65 wins against just 14 losses, to go along with 22 draws. They’ve won nearly five times more than they’ve lost, and three times more than they’ve drawn.

However, despite all that recent success, this season’s version of the Acalanes Dons might just be the best the school has fielded over these last five years of dominance.

After back-to-back games on Jan. 11 and 12 against two of the better teams in the East Bay, Campolindo and Ygnacio Valley, Acalanes is 14-0-2 and opened the season with 14 straight wins.

“The chemistry of this team is very good,” Acalanes coach Paul Curtis said. “Captains Eric Rogstad and Dan Glascock are doing a fine job of leading the 23 students. This team has remarkable depth and is laden with a significant number of highly skilled players. Many of the players are being asked to play in a position different than they have in the past. Their readiness to make these changes speaks to their character and that they have a clear understanding of the notion of teamwork.”

There may also be another driving force behind this team’s white-hot start as well, and it isn’t a positive memory. In fact, it’s probably one of the few bad memories this program has experienced in recent years.

After earning the top seed in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, the Dons were a heavy favorite over 16th-seeded St. Mary’s-Berkeley. It was the first time the bracket had expanded to 16 teams, which allowed the team that tied for third in the then-existent Bay Shore Athletic League, to qualify for the playoffs.

The Panthers shocked the Dons 1-0. Soccer is a game that is more prone to upsets than any other, but Acalanes rarely ever loses a game in which it’s expected to win.

The players and coaches don’t dwell on the past, but it’d be foolish to think that this memory isn’t providing fuel for at least a few Dons.

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Jonathan Hawthorne photos

Acalanes’ Marko Helfrich drives the ball up field despite the better efforts of College Park’s Cameron Peterson during a 5-0 Dons win on Jan. 5.

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“As a group there is no significant conversation about the past,” Curtis said. “Individually no doubt there are some players who vividly recall that match. The boys were well prepared, but the execution did not develop well. That is one of the beauties of the game. In the end, execution will win out.”

Seniors like Glascock, Ben Croze, Luc Van Oss and Nick Warren are among those who probably remember that game well. Not coincidentally they are also players who are helping lead the Dons run this year.

The first three have combined for 14 of the team’s 41 goals through 13 games, while Warren, along with keepers Rogstad and Eric Sirott, leads a defense that had only allowed five goals. That’s right, the Dons outscored opponents 41-5 over their first 13 games.

What also helps is the return of junior Marko Helfrich. He spent most of the last two seasons either injured or with the Academy program, and provides yet another scoring threat.

“Marko is a fine player who is well skilled and has some superb weapons,” Curtis said. “He is continuing to develop as a young man and an athlete. He brings enthusiasm, talent and fun to the training, performances and other activities.”

What that means is Acalanes can score in bunches. This is somewhat of a departure from previous defensive Dons teams.

In the past, it’s been normal for them to get the first goal and then completely lock the other team down, winning 1-0, or maybe adding a late goal on a counterattack.

But this year’s team is different.

“While the tradition of being stingy on defense continues, the ability of the team to attack more aggressively is directly related to the boys understanding of how best to capitalize on each other’s strengths within the system,” Curtis said. “There were some highly talented players who were held back some last season both on varsity and on the junior varsity team.”

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Dons senior midfielder Ben Croze.

The reason for this is that last season’s varsity team had 14 seniors. To accommodate that, some players that would normally have played varsity, stayed down on JV to improve.

If there are two words that Curtis uses more than any when talking about his soccer team, they are “character” and “teamwork.” They are words that are often used to define the Acalanes program, as it is known for being one of the most well-run, disciplined and organized programs in the East Bay. “Having expectations that are reasonable, achievable and consistent has proven to be a good way to help develop character in young people,” Curtis said. “There is one team rule in the program, it is rather simple and helps drive home the philosophy of the program on a daily basis. From that rule all behavior and activity is measured and that includes both players and coaches.”

The one team rule is directly correlated with the overall goals of the program, which aims at helping the boys grow as individuals.

“The goals are pretty simple,” Curtis said. “Be the best players, best individuals, best sons, best students, best team that they can be. The Acalanes program stresses the importance of being a balanced individual who is, with confidence and maturity, able to handle whatever situation shows up in life.

There is no emphasis on individual accomplishments, records, or attainments until the season is completed.”

A byproduct of running a program focused on helping kids grow, mature and progress is that it usually ends up paying off in wins, thanks to lessons of discipline and camaraderie.

It has evolved into three Diablo Foothill Athletic League titles in the last four years, with the only year they didn’t win it, 2009-2010, seeing the Dons edged out by only a point by a Dublin side that won the Division II title.

What will come of the Dons goals in this season?

An unblemished record? More titles? Redemption?

Don’t be surprised if it’s all of the above. ✪ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.com

Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy

Truth Behind The Hype With nearly a whole football season behind us and the basketball season just hitting its stride, injuries in professional athletes are a common source of discussion in the media. It has become increasingly common to hear athletes receiving Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections to recover from injury.

Athletes such as Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu and Alex Rodriguez have all undergone PRP treatment.

But what exactly is PRP? In order to understand PRP therapy, you have to first understand the composition of blood. The majority of blood is a liquid called plasma. Within the plasma are several solid components: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Usually, the function of platelets is to help clot blood, but they also contain proteins called growth factors which can help to heal injury.

PRP is actually plasma that is more highly concentrated with platelets (and its potential growth factors) than regular blood. In order to make PRP which is suitable for treatment, a patient’s blood is drawn. A special centrifuge then “spins down” the blood so that the platelets are separated from the rest of the blood, creating the PRP preparation that is ready for treatment.

This PRP is then injected into the injured area and/or is injected into an area that has just been surgically repaired. The thought is that by injecting PRP into an injured area, an increased concentration of growth factors is then available to heal whatever damage is present. Since the procedure involves taking your own blood and immediately injecting it back into your own body, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and the World Anti-Doping Agency have all stated that PRP treatment is allowed.

Now before you run out to your local doctor and ask him to inject that nagging injury with some PRP, it’s important to understand our limited knowledge about PRP treatment (which is the reason why many insurance companies do not cover the treatment).

First, we are not exactly sure how PRP actually works to speed up injury healing. Although we have a theoretical explanation (putting more growth factors into an injured area), it is unclear what, if anything, is actually occurring on a more microscopic level. In addition, there is no standard PRP injection. Different methods of preparation, protocols, and even the PRP obtained from the same patient (due to diet, time of day, exercise, medications, etc.) can vary greatly.

The most important limitation to understand is that PRP therapy has really only shown to be effective in research studies which look at the treatment of chronic tendon injuries (tendons connect muscles to bone) such as tennis elbow (irritation of tendons about the elbow). Unfortunately, the media concentrates on PRP in the treatment of acute muscle injuries such as hamstring strains in professional athletes; something which has not been consistently proven in research studies.

Therapies such as PRP may potentially hold promise in the future, but further research is necessary to determine what injuries PRP is best suited for, standard protocols for preparation, and the long term risks and benefits. It’s always important to remember that even though professional athletes are portrayed as making “miraculous” recoveries after receiving PRP injections; you can’t forget that they have an entire team of people working with them 24/7 getting them ready for the next game with an integrated program of exercise, rehab, and nutrition. Remember, the best injury treatment is always prevention.

Health Watch Nirav K. Pandya

Dr. Nirav K. Pandya is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon specializing in pediatric sports injuries at the Children’s Hospital in Oakland. He sees patients and operates in Oakland and at our facility at Walnut Creek. If you have any questions or comments regarding the “Health Watch” column, write the Sports Medicine for Young Athletes staff at Health@SportsStarsOnline.com.

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PUSH-UPS: Importance of technique

Push-up variations are excellent for core and upper body strength as well as shoulder and elbow health when done correctly. Unfortunately, it’s a movement that seems to be taught and performed incorrectly — resulting in poor movement quality through the core and shoulder complex.

The biggest issue I see with push-up performance is an issue with scapular (shoulder blade) retraction and protraction through the entire movement. Most athletes will drop into a push-up without retracting their scapular into adduction (toward spine of upper back) resulting in impingement in the shoulder joint, resulting in humeral anterior (forward) glide which causes stress to the tendons of the shoulder and elbow joint as shown at right.

Here are three tips to cueing and correcting an athlete’s push-up performance:

Training Time Tim Rudd for IYCA

1 2 3

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The athlete should be in the top position of a push-up.

Then place a dowel on your athletes’ back ensuring that the head, upper back and butt are in contact with the dowel, cueing core stiffness.

As the athlete starts to drop down into the pushup cue them to lead with their scapula (shoulder blades) without shrugging of the shoulders.

You should see the shoulder blades retracting toward the spine without any tilting forward of the scapula, which will result in shrugging of the shoulders and poor scapula function.

Once an athlete reaches end range of motion toward the bottom of the push-up and the scapula reaches it’s end point of retraction, the elbows and the push-up should stop at the side of the athletes’ body not beyond!

Then cue the athlete to push the ground away from them while retracting their scapula back to neutral at the start point of the pushup. Properly cueing the push-up movement will ensure that the scapula moves freely along the rib cage, which will maintain the congruency of the ball socket of the shoulder joint, eliminating stress to the tendons of the shoulder and elbow joint of your athletes.

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powered by trucks: anthony trucks

Have resolve, not a resolution

Welcome to the New Year. If you are anything like the MILLIONS of people across the world you have started this New Year with a resolution to exercise more, lift more weights, get stronger, lose weight, etc. The problem with this process is that the major gyms across the country bank on signing people up and locking them into long contracts KNOWING they will not continue working out consistently past the month of February. How do they know this? Simple, people over-train their bodies early on and never come back.

The reason this takes place is because new gym goers are so adamant about gearing up and tackling this obstacle with the fervor of a starving lion eyeballing a fresh piece of meat, that they do too much work too early and kill their bodies.

The most important part about starting a new regimen is to think about the process as a marathon and not a sprint. If you haven’t worked out for months, then you need to realize that the harder you train, the longer you need to recover. Overtraining is a very real problem and does considerable damage to muscles, bodily chemicals, your emotional state, and your ability to train safely. So if you train right out of the gates at full speed, and don’t take adequate time in between workouts to recover your muscles, you will end up over training your body and counteracting your entire purpose of starting a new regimen.

When someone experiences over training they physically and emotionally no longer want to train, which stops the process in it tracks and leaves the person back at square one. Moral of the story: Realize that as long as it took you to get out shape, its going to take double that time to get back into the shape of your dreams. So put on your big boy/girl pants and dig in for the long haul, not the short sprint.

Levelup tips

● Don’t work out more than three days a week to begin with, allowing you four days to recover ● Set a goal and create a workout plan to track your progress towards that goal ● Drink more water and less coffee, sugar filled drinks, energy drinks; and sleep!

get mental: erika carlson

Know what YOU can control

Tryouts are often met with fear regarding outcome (“Will I make the team?”), politics (“This coach hates me.”) and performance (“Can I play my best in front of these coaches?”). How can you better manage the pressure of tryouts and earn that spot on the team?

The answer is surprisingly simple: Control the controllables.

Learning to control the controllables is not only a skill that helps you perform well in tryouts, it helps you perform well in all aspects of life. A common mistake athletes make is focusing only on making the team (outcome). This creates anxiety and worry, which manifests in your body as tension, hesitation and overly conservative play. Coaches see you thinking rather than dominating. Let’s see if you know what’s controllable during a tryout session. In the box below, circle what you believe is controllable.

Why is this important information for you? Because it gives clues on how to prepare and perform during tryouts.

1. Knowing skills/tests Wasting time on things are not controllable is just that 2. Decision by coaches/scouts — a waste of time. Being fit, practicing drills, showing up 3. Fitness recovered and well-fueled gives you an advantage over 4. Rest/Recovery those who aren’t. Being mentally prepared (knowing you 5. Preparation have done “the work”) and focused on your personal 6. Nutrition/Diet strengths will create better performance and therefore in7. How you compare to others crease the odds of making the team. This is what mental 8. How well you perform during toughness is all about. tryouts 9. Attitude 10. How coaches see you 11. Focus 12. How precisely you demonstrate sport skills 13. Grouping for testing/ scrimmaging 14. Making the team 15. “Politics” (favoritism)

ANSWER KEY: Controllables = 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, Uncontrollables = 2, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15

Levelup feedback ● Have a comment or question for our panel? Email us at editor@SportStarsOnline.com.

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Records through Jan. 12 (source: MaxPreps.com) Rank, Prev. Team

Record

1. (1)

Salesian-Richmond

12-3

2. (2)

Archbishop Mitty-San Jose

11-3

3. (3)

Sheldon-Sacramento

12-4

4. (4)

Modesto Christian

12-2

5. (6)

Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland

11-3

6. (7)

Deer Valley-Antioch

12-3

7. (5)

De La Salle-Concord

12-2

8. (9)

Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove

15-3

9. (12)

Sacramento

11-4

10. (8)

Serra-San Mateo

12-3

11. (14)

Capital Christian-Sacramento

14-2

12. (NR)

Monte Vista-Danville

12-3

13. (13)

Newark Memorial

8-6

14. (15)

Dublin

12-4

15. (NR)

Sacred Heart Cathedral-SF

11-4

16. (19)

El Cerrito

12-5

17. (16)

San Leandro

12-3

18. (17)

Bellarmine Prep-San Jose

12-3

19. (NR)

St. Ignatius-SF

12-3

20. (20)

Heritage-Brentwood

13-3

DROPPED OUT: No. 10 Palma-Salinas, No. 11 Antelope, No. 18 Freedom-Oakley BIGGEST MOVER: Monte Vista, which had fallen out of the Top 20 just two weeks prior vaults back in to the No. 12 slot after an impressive Jan. 8 win at then-No. 5 De La Salle. Among teams which were already ranked, Sacramento continues to show that it’s young core is growing up quickly. The Dragons have won 5 of 6 and are back inside the Top 10 after jumping three spots.

TEAMS STILL RANKED FROM PRESEASON TOP 20: 14 TEAM TO WATCH: Berkeley didn’t jump into the rankings this week, but few teams have had a better January. The Yellowjackets have gone 4-1 in the month, including wins over three NorCal Top 20 opponents — No. 16 San Leandro, No. 18 Freedom-Oakley and No. 20 Heritage. Their only loss was a 76-73 defeat against No. 6 Bishop O’Dowd on Jan. 11.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Enterprise-Redding (143), Oakland Tech (13-4), Freedom-Oakley (10-6), Antelope (11-6), Campolindo-Moraga (11-4), McClymondsOakland (11-6), Montgomery-Santa Rosa (11-3), Mt. Eden-Hayward (12-3), Archbishop Riordan-S.F. (10-5), Piedmont Hills-San Jose (13-2), West-Tracy (14-5), Weston Ranch-Stockton (10-5), Berkeley (7-8).

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Can or Canty Bruins will go as star Jalen Canty goes

By erik stordahl | SportStars The roller coaster season for the St. Patrick/St. Vincent boys basketball team is in full effect after a 74-58 loss to El Cerrito on Jan. 11.

Like most Bay Area teams, the Bruins faced stiff competition in the early going, losing their first three games to quality opponents – Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove, Justin Siena-Napa and Serra-San Mateo – before winning eight of their next nine and then recently losing their first two league games.

The ride gets bumpier when they take on Palma-Salinas in De La Salle’s 16th Annual Martin Luther King Classic at CalBerkeley on Jan. 21.

After the El Cerrito loss, St. Patrick — which has made the regional playoffs the past three seasons — sat in the visitor’s locker room for an extended period of time.

“We gotta get on the same page,” Bruins head coach Derek Walker said the following day. “We gotta let this game go and refocus on Monday. In this league, we can’t sulk about a loss because you got another (game) coming up really fast.”

Walker’s not joking.

The Tri-Counties Athletic League-Rock Division might be the toughest league in Northern California. In its first year of competition, the league is stacked with defending CIF Div. IV state champ Salesian, 2012 Div. V state runner-up St. Joseph Notre Dame, and teams like El Cerrito and St. Mary’s-Berkeley that are both built for deep postseason runs.

“If you can win our league, you can pretty much compete for state,” said Walker. “For the kids, there’s no breaks.”

The Bruins need only to look at their junior big man, Jalen Canty, to get them back on track. The 6-foot-7, 230 pound power forward has a refined post game and a soft touch around the basket. Despite being double- and triple-teamed by El Cerrito, Canty found a way to score 14 points, making five of six field goals and corralling nine rebounds. But a player like Canty needs to get more than six shots, and his coach knows that.

“It is difficult,” Walker said. “Teams pay a lot of special attention to him. He was effective but I give credit to El Cerrito.

(Marcellus) Pippins, Tyrell (Alcorn) and (Rae) Jackson might be one of the best backcourts in the Bay Area.”

Every game, teams know they have to contain Canty if they want to beat St. Patrick, but it’s turned out to be easier said than done. He put up 25 points against Pleasant Grove on Nov. 24, 17 against Salesian on Jan. 9, and a near doubledouble against El Cerrito.

“It wasn’t really frustrating,” Canty said of the constant pressure he faced. “The El Cerrito guards are very aggressive.

They did what most other teams do.”

Walker also wants his guys to clamp down on defense, which has been the key to their success.

“It starts with defense,” Walker said. “We’ve lost seven games. Five games we’ve given up over 70 points. My goal as a coach — our number is 55 or less. We feel like we have enough firepower to win. We gotta get the big fella the ball.”

Seems like a good strategy, considering good things usually happen when he has the rock. Canty’s cool with the pressure, too.

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st. patrick/st. vincent-vallejo “I do look forward to it,” Canty said of the recognition and the pressure that mounts each game. “I’m mostly used to it now. My game’s a lot more polished this year now that I have post moves and I’m able to see the floor better.”

For the time being, he and his teammates are focused on getting back to the level they were at the last two years. In 2011, they fell to St. Mary’s-Berkeley in the CIF Div. IV Northern Regional semifinals, and last year they lost to Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton in the Northern Regional quarterfinals.

Shades of the team from last season have shone through already. They avenged their loss to Sacred Heart Prep by beating them 73-54 on Dec. 22. Walker hopes they’re bracing for the opportunity to get back to top form.

“As a high school athlete, you wanna play the best night in and night out,” Walker said.

NOTES: There will be a number of story lines to watch at the MLK Classic on Jan. 21.

Here are some quick notes on a few of the day’s other matchups.

■ Palo Alto vs. De Anza: The Vikings are off to a 13-1 start, but they’d still need to win four more games to equal the team’s torrid start from a season ago. Palo Alto lost just one game before February a year ago and began 17-1. This year’s Vikings team is fueled by senior Aubrey Dawson. The 6-foot-4 swingman is averaging 19 points per game. De Anza was perhaps the feel-good story of the 2011-12 season as new coach Mark DeLuca took a two-win team and turned it into a playoff team. The Dons already have 11 wins this season and feature four players averaging double figures.

■ Sacramento vs. Bishop O’Dowd: This could perhaps be the most competitive game of the day. Sacramento opened the season 2-3, but a young roster has finally come into its own — most notably freshman Devin Young.

He is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.9 to go with 5.6 rebounds. Senior guard Aaron Cameron is Sacramento’s leading scorer (12.0 ppg), and in the 2011 MLK event he had a lights-out shooting day at Haas Pavilion as he hit six 3-pointers to help lead Sacramento past Bishop O’Dowd in OT. Super sophomore Ivan Raab leads Bishop O’Dowd. Seeing as how he already has a scholarship offer from North Carolina, there’s a good bet a few college scouts will be showing up.

■ Salesian vs. De La Salle: Salesian has been our top-ranked team since Jan. 1, and has just one loss to a California team this season (Bullard-Fresno on Dec. 8). The defending Div. IV state champion will draw added interest from the Berkeley crowd this year as the Pride’s star player, Jabari Bird, will play for Cal next season. Host De La Salle is known for its defensive intensity and its goal of keeping games at a half-court pace. The Spartans will provide a real test for a Salesian team which is averaging 61.5 points through its first 16 games. ✪

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16th Annual MLK Classic Following is the lineup of boys games for the Jan. 21 event at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Rankings included are from the SSM NorCal Top 20, and records are as of Jan. 12.

10:30 a.m. — Palo Alto (13-1) vs. De Anza-Richmond (11-6) 12:15 p.m. — Analy-Sebastopol (11-6) vs. Campolindo-Moraga (11-4) 2 p.m. — Palma-Salinas (10-2) vs. St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo (10-7) 3:45 p.m. — No. 9 Sacramento (11-4) vs. No. 5 Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (11-3) 5:45 p.m. — No. 1 Salesian-Richmond (12-3) vs. No. 7 De La Salle-Concord (12-2) 7:30 p.m. — No. 13 Newark Memorial (8-6) vs. No. 6 Deer Valley-Antioch (12-3)

Records through Jan. 12 (source: MaxPreps.com)

Rank, Prev.

Team

2. (2)

St Mary’s-Stockton

14-1

3. (3)

St. Mary’s-Berkeley

10-3

4. (6)

Miramonte-Orinda

14-1

5. (8)

Archbishop Mitty-San Jose

11-3

6. (9)

Salesian-Richmond

13-4

7. (4)

Carondelet-Concord

11-3

8. (7)

Sacramento

13-2

9. (10)

McNair-Stockton

17-0

10. (11)

Oak Ridge-El Dorardo Hills

14-2

11. (12)

Brookside Christian-Stockton

13-2

12. (15)

Kennedy-Sacramento

12-3

13. (5)

St. Ignatius-SF

12-3

14. (13)

Heritage-Brentwood

11-4

15. (NR)

Sacred Heart Cathedral-SF

11-3

16. (19)

Lynbrook-San Jose

13-2

17. (20)

Eastside Coll. Prep-E. Palo Alto

9-5

18. (NR)

Oakland Tech

12-3

19. (18)

Monte Vista-Danville

13-3

20. (NR)

Enterprise-Redding

15-1

1. (1)

Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland

Record 10-3

DROPPED OUT: No. 14 Wilcox-Santa Clara, No. 16 Branham-San Jose, No. 17 Alameda WHO’S NO. 1?: A case could certainly be made that St. Mary’s-Stockton should be No. 1 and Bishop O’Dowd No. 2, but the complexities of ranking systems mean that a game in Florida impacts the order in Northern California. Dillard of Florida is the only team to have beaten St. Mary’s, but Dillard just lost to American Heritage on the other side of the country, which hurts the Rams. Of course, the two teams will settle on the floor Feb. 9 at O’Dowd, so there will be no doubt after that.

BIGGEST MOVER: St. Ignatius dropped eight spots after losing to Sacred Heart Cathedral, which made its debut at No. 15 — the biggest positive mover TEAMS STILL RANKED FROM PRESEASON TOP 20: 15

Phillip Walton

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Wilcox (14-1), Campolindo-Moraga (12-3), Burlingame (13-1), Bear River-Stockton (16-1), McClymonds-Oakland (16-2), Placer-Auburn (17-2),Alameda (12-4), Pinewood-Los Altos Hills (12-3), Christian Brothers-Sacramento (10-6), St. Francis-Mountain View (8-6), Soquel (13-2), Florin-Sacramento (10-4).

St. Patrick/St. Vincent-Vallejo big man Jalen Canty.

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The Girls Play Too

MLK Madness means showcase events at several sites featuring plenty of the state’s top girls basketball teams By clay kallum | Contributor It’s a long weekend, right? That means the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday is time to kick back and recover from actually having to do things like go to school and go to work after the Christmas break, right?

Not if you’re a basketball player, though.

The MLK weekend has become home to a variety of shootouts, classics and other gatherings of teams for daylong sessions involving multiple teams.

This year’s fun begins on Jan. 19 at several sites, most notably St. Mary’s-Stockton, and concludes Jan. 26 at the Campolindo Shootout, which just to confuse things, is at Bentley School in Lafayette.

But before worrying about why one school’s event is being played at another campus, a better plan is to Google the location of St. Mary’s, because Saturday’s lineup is pretty special.

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Among the many highlights is the presence of South Medford of Oregon, which will play St. Mary’s-Berkeley at 7:30 p.m. (Well, sometime after 7:30 p.m. is more likely, as it’s the seventh game of the day, and the odds of all of them fitting into the 90-minute time frame allotted for game play and warmups are pretty low.) South Medford is one of several very strong Oregon teams this year, and owns a win over MaxPreps’ No. 21 in the nation, Riverdale Baptist of Maryland.

St. Mary’s-Berkeley, though, has a signature win of its own, knocking off Long Beach Poly 47-45 to win its bracket at the Nike TOC in Phoenix. The Panthers are led by elite junior wings Gabby Green and Mikayla Cowling, but if you happen to see a tall young woman wearing Stanford colors wandering around the gym, it’s very likely 6-4 Tess Picknell. The Stanford freshman helped lead South Medford to the Oregon 6A title last year.

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Jonathan Hawthorne

Bishop O’Dowd’s Asha Thomas

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›››

Scan this page with your Layar app to view game lineups for the showcase events featured in this article.

There’s also a great rematch scheduled at 1 p.m., as Sacramento and Hanford will go at it again. They met at the West Coast Jamboree Dec. 28, with Sacramento winning 70-68, and round two promises to be just as entertaining.

The 4:30 p.m. game between McNair-Stockton and Dougherty Valley-San Ramon features two of the top posts in Northern California: 6-4 Mandy Coleman of McNair and 6-2 Jasmine Jenkins of Dougherty Valley.

Because we’ve got so much else to cover, we’ll slide quickly past two other very good games — Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove vs. Deer Valley-Antioch and Clovis West-Fresno against Miramonte-Orinda (which has lost only to national No. 8 Windward-L.A.) — to touch on a couple other events.

At Pittsburg High, NorCal’s top-rated team, Bishop O’DowdOakland, will take on small but mighty Brookside Christian-Stockton, the defending Division V champion that pretty much plays everyone.

That game is at 5:30 p.m., and is preceded by two good teams whose records reflect the very tough schedules they’ve played.

Both Christian Brothers-Sacramento and Oakland Tech have tested themselves against the top teams in the area, and this should be a very good matchup.

The nightcap at 7 p.m. matches two resurgent programs that are going to be relevant in the postseason: Kennedy-Richmond and Pittsburg. Both schools have struggled a bit in recent years, but are definitely back on track.

Also on Jan. 19, three strong teams will make their way to Modesto Christian, including the host. Bradshaw Christian and Vanden-Fairfield also have excellent records, but none of the trio will

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play each other.

Unlike years past, there will be no girls’ game at Haas Pavilion on the actual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but Tom Gonsalves has stepped in and will bring back many of the teams that played on Saturday.

For example, St. Mary’s-Stockton will take on South Medford at 1 p.m., while Bishop O’Dowd will arrive to play Kelsey Plum and La Jolla Country Day at 2:30. Archbishop Mitty, the defending Division II champion, will meet Sacramento at 6 in the fourth of five games that day.

The venerable Campolindo Shootout, which has undergone several name and location changes, will be played at Bentley School in Lafayette, but will still offer some excellent matchups on Jan. 26.

Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and Miramonte will play at 3:30 p.m., followed by Carondelet and Berkeley at 5 p.m. and St. Mary’s-Berkeley against Brookside Christian at 6:30 p.m. (These games are more likely to start on time as an extra 30 minutes is added onto the time frame after the 1:30 p.m. game between Division I powers Heritage-Brentwood and Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills.)

There are other games at that site, and other games at all the other events, but there’s only so much room — and so much time.

And speaking of time, did we mention that all these teams have at least two leagues in the weeks before and after? And that some of them take finals too?

It may be a holiday, but it’s definitely not a vacation. ✪ Jonathan Hawthorne

Breanna Grigsby and Brookside Christian will take on two of the top three programs in the SportStars NorCal Top 20 over the next two weeks. They take on No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd on Jan. 19 and No. 3 St. Mary’s-Berkeley on Jan. 26.

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Welcome to Impulse, your one-stop shop for gadgets, gizmos and gear.

Compiled by staff writer Erik Stordahl, Impulse provides you with the latest and greatest and what’s currently hot on the market. Since high school soccer is in full swing, we offer up a smorgasbord of items.

soccer shoes

We all know Lionel Messi is the world’s best soccer, er football, player. But what you didn’t know is that it’s all in the cleats. Come on, you seriously didn’t think he was that good — taking on five defenders at once and putting that crazy spin on the ball just because “he’s talented.”

Messi wears Adidas AdiZero F50 cleats and he gets ’em for free. You on the other hand will have to pony up a couple hundred bucks but we think it’s worth it. If that’s too rich for your blood, fine, choose from these less expensive alternatives:

Messi jersey

• Nike Air Legend Women’s

Hey, even if you can’t play like him or dress like him, you can still pretend to be him!

Don this jersey and your friends will be none the wiser.

• Nike Mercurial Miracle III (alliteration award) • Diadora Macarana RTX 12

• Adidas Predator Absolion LZ TRX (best name award)

• Puma evoSPEED 5

SJ Earthquakes gear

These guys played out of their minds last year and it’s time to hop on the bandwagon. Pick up a jersey, t-shirt or shorts and go crazy cheering on the Quakes as they go for another MLS Cup. Remember: Goonies never say die.

(Quakes fans get it)

Gameface

You might be a big sports fan, but are you hardcore enough to endure the frozen tundra of Candlestick, shirtless and lathered up in red and gold for four hours?

If not, may we suggest Gameface? It’s temporary face paint. It’s comfortable, doesn’t sweat or rub off, doesn’t itch and you won’t break out in hives, etc. Go to www. thegamefacecompany.com, find your colors and have at it.

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Advertiser Index ❒❒ All- Star Academy Baseball Media Day.......................35 ❒❒ Antioch’s Great Family Entertainment Centers............37 ❒❒ Army National Guard Recruiter.....................................5 ❒❒ Baseball Mentoring Program.....................................34 ❒❒ Bay Area Festivals Inc.................................................35 ❒❒ Big O Tires Northern California/ Nevada.......................2 ❒❒ Championship Athletic Fundraising...........................11 ❒❒ Cheergyms.Com.........................................................36 ❒❒ Children’s Hospital And Research Center.....................28 ❒❒ Club Sport..................................................................28 ❒❒ Community Youth Center..................................... 17, 24 ❒❒ Core Volleyball Club....................................................32 ❒❒ Diablo Futbol Club......................................................37 ❒❒ Diablo Rock Gym........................................................37 ❒❒ Diablo Trophies & Awards...........................................37 ❒❒ E J Sports Elite Baseball Services................................32 ❒❒ East Bay Bulldogs Basketball......................................34 ❒❒ East Bay Panthers Basketball................................ 32, 34 ❒❒ East Bay Sports Academy..................................... 14, 33 ❒❒ East Bay Youth Sports Camps.....................................38 ❒❒ Excellence In Sport Performance................................29 ❒❒ Fit 2 The Core..............................................................29 ❒❒ Halo Headband..........................................................24 ❒❒ Heritage Soccer Club..................................................25 ❒❒ Hillside Karate Kai......................................................35 ❒❒ Home Team Sports Photography................................35 ❒❒ Image Imprint............................................................24 ❒❒ Jump Highway...........................................................35 ❒❒ Kali Ball Training........................................................34 ❒❒ Kinders B B Q................................................................3 ❒❒ Mike Allen Sports L L C...............................................39 ❒❒ Mountain Mike’s Pizza..................................................7 ❒❒ National Scouting Report...........................................32 ❒❒ Pro Hammer Bat.........................................................34 ❒❒ Rocco’s Pizza...............................................................37 ❒❒ Rockin Jump...............................................................40 ❒❒ Sky High Sports..........................................................37 ❒❒ Sport Clips..................................................................19 ❒❒ State Farm Jimmy Harrington Agent..........................23 ❒❒ Stevens Creek Toyota..................................................15 ❒❒ Sutter Delta................................................................27 ❒❒ The First Tee Of Contra Costa.......................................24 ❒❒ U S K S Martial Arts....................................................33 ❒❒ Velocity Sports Performance......................................37 ❒❒ Velocity Sports Volleyball...........................................33 ❒❒ West Coast Soccer Club...............................................33

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