Event Recap

The 3rd Annual All NorCal Games took place on April 7th, 2019 at Las Positas College in Livermore, CA.  With 6 All-Star Games, 8 total events, over 150 participants spanning over 400 miles from as far south as Bakersfield, we were proud to call it the Largest All-Star Event for High School Boys & Girls Basketball on the West Coast!  An exciting day with competitive games, including a buzzer beater, we feel this event was unique and memorable for all those involved.  Each game has it's own homepage, but here is a recap of the 2019 event!

Our 2nd year featuring a boys Middle School All-Star Game kicked off the 2019 All NorCal Games. Featuring 20 players from Northern California we were excited to give this group of youngsters a platform to showcase the future of NorCal Basketball.

The Middle Schoolers battled it out with many lead changes throughout the game.   After the Bay Area took a 4 point lead into the 2nd quarter, the Sac-Joaquin youngsters would jump out strong in the 2nd to take a 4 point lead of their own into halftime.  After the break the Bay Area would blitz their Valley counterparts with a 32-13 3rd quarter!   Not backing down the Sac-Joaquin would outscore the Bay Area by 11 in the 4th quarter, but it proved too late as they ran out of time to complete the comeback.  In the end the Bay Area squad was victorious over Sac-Joaquin by a score of 88-82.   

King-Jhsanni Wilhite, an eighth-grader from Aptos Middle School in San Francisco, earned his 2nd consecutive Player of the Game honor after a game-high 27 point and 14 rebound performance.

Kodey Weary earned Defensive Player of the Game with an impressive double-double of his own.  The 6'4" eighth-grader from Sierra added 16 rebounds and 17 points for Sac-Joaquin. 

The Bay Area had three other players in double figures with Ahmaree McCullough (18), Quentin Kennedy (12) and Marcus Washington Jr. (11). 

Sac-Joaquin was lead by Darius Smith Jr. of Modesto Christian with 20 points on an efficient 10-16 shooting.   Bryant Davis also was a major contributor adding 10 points. 

In its first two years, this game has an average margin of victory of only 6.5 points!

In its 2nd year as part of the All NorCal Games, this battle of Central Valley regions didn't disappoint.   After 2 competitive quarters, the ladies representing the Stanislaus and San Joaquin County area (aka Team 209) would have a 3 point lead at half.  The 3rd quarter was decisive as they would increase that lead to 9 before the final 10 minutes.   Both teams would score 19 apiece in the 4th quarter, ending with a final score of 92-81 in favor of Stan-Joaquin.  

Mary Cotton lead all scorers with 22 points on an efficient 8-11 shooting, while also dishing out a game leading 4 assists in 25 minutes of action.  She showed she is a threat from deep by dropping a game-high 4 three-pointers on 6 attempts.  Her multiple game-high numbers and all-around performance earned her Str8 Sports Player of the Game Honors.

Jada Moss, a St. Mary's product and future Grand Canyon University Antelope chipped in 17 points and 4 rebounds in the win.   Other notable performers included Annie Winton with 13 points, and Jaydon Williams who grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds to go along with 9 points and 3 assists. 

Clovis North product and CSU Stanislaus commit Taylor Pilot  earned Defensive Player of the Game honors with her relentless defensive throughout the game.  She eventually would foul out to the relief of her opposition who appeared frustrated at moments throughout the game at Pilot's aggressiveness on the defensive end.  

Fresno State-bound Aunjona James from San Joaquin Memorial led the Central Section squad with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  State leading scorer Jayleen Solorzano-Diaz dropped in 15 points on 6-9 shooting , including 3-5 from behind the arc.  Menlo College-bound Kiara Brown of Tulare Union added 14 points and 9 rebounds. 

Other notes:  Central Section won the rebound battle 54-43, but Stan-Joaquin would win the battle behind the arc making six more 3-pointers on 11-29 shooting compared to 5-24.

Stan-Joaquin aka 'Team 209' now leads the series 2-0

On paper the Bay Area class of 2019 looked to have way too much size to handle for the ladies from Sacramento.    With only one girl over 6' tall compared to six players of that stature for the Bay Area, Sacramento All-Star coach Michele Massari implemented a relentless switching defense.  This defense held the Bay Area to a FG% of only 40% after two quarters, and a respectable margin of only 5 points (42-37).   However, the ladies from the Bay Area would regroup and score 60 points over the next 20 minutes.  This effort was led behind an impressive 27 point and 9 rebound performance from the nation's #1 prospect and Stanford-bound Haley Jones.   Four other players would score in double-figures with Mele Finau (14), Tatyana Modawar (12), Nyah Willis (10) and Mia Grizelj (10) all making major contributions for the Bay Area.   The Bay Area not only dominated on the glass (62 - 43), but dished out 21 assists, led by Bishop O'Dowd product and Grand Canyon commit Jada Holland who dropped 7 assists and 9 points. 

For Sacramento it was New Mexico-bound Andriana Avent of Sacramento High who helped keep Sac in the game with her team leading 20 points, including 4-8 from beyond the arc and 5 steals.   Texas Tech-bound Nailah Dillard of Inderkum added 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.     RyAnne Walters and Nia Lowery both scored in double-digits with 11 and 10 respectively.  San Francisco State-bound Rebekah Brown of Sacramento High earned Defensive Player of the Game honors.

Other notes:  the rebounding margin was equal to the scoring margin as the Bay would outscore and outrebound Sacramento by 19 apiece.   Each team committed 21 turnovers, but it was the assist margin that was most notable.  The Bay Area dished out 21 assists to only 6 for Sacramento.

With the win, the Bay Area leads the series 2-0 over Sacramento.

Arguably the most exciting game of the day, this game between Central Valley foes went down to the final possession!   

Determined to take the all-time series lead the Central Section All-Stars came out strong to take a 51-39 halftime lead over the boys representing the Stanislaus and San Joaquin county regions.   Stan-Joaquin (aka Team 209) would start chipping away by outscoring the Central Section 25-23 in the 3rd quarter.   But it would take a huge 4th quarter to pullout the win, and that is exactly what the Stan-Joaquin boys coached by Chris Teevan had in store.   After outscoring their rivals from the South by nine in the first 9 minutes in 50 seconds in the 4th, Domonick Victor would hit a contested 17 footer to give the boys from the 209 the lead.   With ten seconds remaining Kadar Waller would push the ball the length of the court but his final attempt was contested by multiple defenders and time would run out for the Central Section.  When the dust settled, Stan-Joaquin would escape with a 96-95 victory!

UC Davis-bound Aaron Murphy of Modesto Christian earned Str8 Sports Player of the Game honors with 17 points and 9 rebounds for Stan-Joaquin.   Jaylin Reed, who missed most of his senior year at Lodi High due to injury, came back to form and added 15 points.   USF-bound Isaiah Hawthorne of Tracy High added a solid 13 point and 8 rebounds.  Dailen Victor also added 10 to a team that had nine players score 7 or more. 

UTSA-bound Makani Whiteside of Liberty High in Madera earned Defensive Player of the Game honors, as his energy and competitiveness was unmatched.  Whiteside also added 14 points and got to the free-throw line 11 times.   Leading all scorers was Tulsa-bound Isaiah Hill of Liberty High in Bakersfield who added 29 on 10-15 shooting.  Kadar Waller was the third player in double-figures for the Central Section with 10 points.  

Other notes:  Stan-Joaquin shot a dismal 4-24 from beyond the arc, compared to 9-32 from the Central Valley.  The rebound margin, including 23 offensive boards gave the Stan-Joaquin All-Stars 9 more shot attempts on the night, which was crucial in a 1 point victory. 

Stan-Joaquin has won in consecutive years to bring the all-time series to 2-1 in their favor. 

Year one of this matchup ended with Sacramento taking home a 2 point victory.  Year two ended with the Bay Area coming from behind to win at the buzzer by two to even the series at 1-1.   Year three the Bay Area boys decided to make a statement.   

At the 7:30 mark of the 1st quarter it was 11-7 in the Bay Area's favor.  It would never get closer than this.  When the McClanahan twins, Brett Thompson, Jay Allen-Tovar and Zyon Pullin checked in at the 6:15 mark, the score was 19-9.  From there the defensive intensity picked up to the point we saw our first technical foul in ANG history.   Thompson was called for a foul after playing on-ball defense that made you think he was still competing in the state championship game.  His enthusiastic reaction led to the T.    The tone was set and the end of the first 10 minute quarter, the score was 41-16! 

Although the boys from Sacramento kept up the fight with an even 2nd quarter, the first quarter deficit would be too much to overcome as the Bay Area ended with a historic 156 - 104 victory. 

Jay Allen-Tovar and Chance McMillian earned Co-Players of the Game sponsored by Str8 Sports.   Allen-Tovar finished with a double-double that led to a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds.   McMillian finished 23 points on 10-13 shooting.  Five more players would score in double-figures for the Bay Area!  UC Davis-bound Ezra Manjon of Heritage finished with 19 points and 5 assists.  Cal Poly-bound William Chavarin of Bishop O'Dowd finished with 18 points, 4 assists on an impressive 8-13 shooting.   Brett Thompson of James Logan added 17 points on 4-5 from behind the arc.  San Diego State-bound Keshad Johnson of San Leandro added 16 points and 5 rebounds.  Stanford-bound Neal Begovich of St. Ignatius also added 15 on an efficient 6-7 shooting.  JoVon McClanahan led all players with 7 assists while also picking up 2 steals and 6 rebounds for the Bay. 

Bryce Fitzgerald of Monterey Trail game out hot for Sacramento and finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds for Sacramento.  Izayah Talmadge of Sacramento High, David Jones of Grant and Drake Middleton of Oak Ridge added 12 apiece.  Also scoring in double-figures was Steven Richardson of Grant High with 11 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

Other notes:  The Bay Area shot 64% from the field, including a remarkable 50% from behind the arc (15-30).   Sacramento only committed 6 fouls over the entire 40 minutes, to Bay Area's 17 on the night.  The Bay Area dropped a historic 28 assists on the night, while Sacramento dished out a respectable 12 assists.  The turnover margin may have been even more brutal as Sacramento committed 23 turnovers as the Bay Area showed no mercy with continuous defensive pressure.

The series is now in the Bay Area's favor 2-1 and we can only look forward to what 2020 brings!

The California Community College Junior College All-Star Game ended up being one of the best games of the day.    Featuring 20 of the top sophomores in Northern California, these players battled it out during the nightcap in a game that went down to the final minute!

Teams were split amongst conferences, with the 3 northern most conferences (Bay Valley, Big 8 and Golden Valley Conferences) representing JC North.  The 3 southernmost conferences (Coast-North, Coast-South, and Central Valley) represented the JC South.  

The game featured many lead changes, with JC South winning after the first quarter 20-19.  At halftime it was JC North who was winning 51-45.   JC North came out firing in the 3rd quarter to take a commanding 83-69 lead into the final 10 minutes.    The JC South showed their resilience as they put together a 38-20 run in the final quarter to take home the win 107-103!

Niamey Harris out of CCSF lead all scorers with 21 points while dishing out 4 assists, to earn Str8 Sports Player of the Game honors.   Daylon Potts of Gavilan College earned Defensive Player of the Game honors with 13 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.  For JC South, all nine players scored 6 points or more, with six scoring in double-figures.  Ruben Parks of Reedley College contributed 15 points.  Abdurrahman Zaid of Gavilan added 13 points, while Maurice Woods of Columbia and Anthony Dennis of Monterey added 12 and 11 respectively.

Raazhel Watkins of Los Medanos led the North with 19 points and 7 rebounds.  Theo Howard II of Lassen College added 18 points.  Steve James of Yuba and Jalen Valverde of Delta both added 12 apiece.  

Other notes:  JC South out-rebounded the North 53-46, but it was the offensive margin 23-11 that allowed the South 13 more field goal attempts on the night giving them the edge.  The North shot the ball well from deep, landing 41% on 13-32 shooting from deep.   The aggressiveness of the South showed not only on the glass, but at the Free Throw line.   The South shot 27 FTs on the night, while the North got to the line only 8 times.

JC South now leads the series 2-0 (after winning by 1 point in 2017)