For a complete run down of all the scores and match ups go to SF Gate.com

Purvis sisters breeze through Top 8 at James Logan

In what turned into a day of survival, Julian and Ashton Purvis beat strong field and a very windy day to claim wins in the 100m hurdles and 100m dash at the 2008 Top 8 in Union City.

The Top 8, which puts the East Bay's best eight track and field athlete's on the same track for the first time in the season.

First it was Julian's turn to shine. Faced with a great field that included defending state champion Vashti Thomas (Mt. Pleastsent, Sn Jose) and Briana Stweart (James Logan) Julian got out fast from the start and never let anybody back into the race.

Purvis won the race in 13.88. Not bad when you consider she ran into a strong cross wind. Vashti was second (14.13) with Stewart a close third (14.15).

The Skyline high girls 4x100m relay squad showed they could be a force this year by winning the race in 49.47 beating the always strong James Logan team.

Ashton Purvis, the national leader in the 100m dash, ran away with that race at the Top 8, winning in a time of 11.73. She was held of the of 200m dash because of the clod windy conditins by her coach, Fred Sims.

"it is too cold and windy and the lay off between islong enough for her to get tight and there is still a lot of track to go this season." said Sims before watching his prized sophomore win the 100m dash.

Mack, Castlemont close out the OAL Basketball season

As they have done all year, the McClymonds boys and Castlemont girls basketball squads capped off perfect OAL regular seasons with victories in th first game of the OAL Basketball Championships held at Laney College in Oakland.

On the girls side Castlemont shook off a sluggish first half to beat Skyline 63-33. Castlemont led just 28-22 at the half, outscored Skyline 21-2 in the third quarter to take command of the game and lock down a berth in the CIF state playoffs set to start next week.

Skyline was just 1 of 11 from the field in the 3rd quarter as any hope of a city title went by the way side with each brick that they were able to get off.

Ebony Richards led the way with 15pts while Jeanine Manley added 13pts in the victory.

The McClymonds men ran their record to a perfect 28-0 with their 70-53 pasting of a game Oakland High team. The Warriors have been pushed by the OAL in the past couple of weeks, winning close games one after another as the regular season wound down.

O-High was one of those teams that gave Mack fits down the stretch, losing in OT just two weeks ago. Mack was also pushed by Fremont and Skyline, but in the OAL Championships Mack was all business.

Frank Otis scored 18pts and William Cherry chipped in with 14pts as Mack never really let Oakland High get into their offense. Mack led 38-38 at the half and they never looked back.

All everything guard Damon Lillard was held to 16pts, but he and his team are looking to make a run in the D1 NorCal playoffs if they get an at large bid, hoping to see Mack once again in a week or two.

Bubble burst for James Logan

Dec 15th. 2007 Home Depot Center Carson, Ca.

High school football playoff get under way

The chase for a place at state is on. There were not many surprises, De La Salle continued to pound teams, this time Berkeley High got a taste what of it is like to play the Spartans.

Berkeley High did not do themselves any favors by botching two early punt attempts that led to 14 De La Salle points.

The Spartans D never let Berkeley in the game and De LA won 59-0. They will host Monte Vista, a 35-13 winner over San Leandro. The other 4A match up this weekend will be a game between league champs.

Logan dominated the MVAL and they are ranked second in the East Bay behind De La Salle. They will host Cal High, EBAL Champions who advanced by knocking off Pittsburg 21-7 last week. 

Las Lomas hooked up with Piedmont and their A-11 offense. Piedmont stayed close, trailing 21-14 in the 3rd quarter before Las Lomas ran away with it, winning 56-21.

Las Lomas running back Danny Ward rushed for 226-yards and two TD's. Las Lomas is the top seeded 2A squad and they played like it in the second half.

Cream rises to the top in Prep football

How can something that went by so quick, so fast be so long at the same time. Just ask anybody who plays for Berkeley or Ygnacio Valley High school's football teams.

Their season's could not have been any more different then ho they played out.

YV started out 2007 by pounding Castlemont 51-0 on their way to a 6-0 record. A 12-0 loss to Deer Valley started a four game, season ending losing streak.

A close loss to 6-3 Heritage was followed by poundings at the hands of Pittsburg and De La Salle. The combined record of the six schools they beat was 17 - 36.

The record of the fours teams to beat them. 25 - 10.

Berkeley High began 2007 losing three in a row. A fumble on the season opening kick off cost Berkeley High in a 14-8 loss to Deer Valley. Foothill wore them down in the second have of a 30-7 loss in game two before James Logan dominated them 27-0.

They headed off to Pinole facing a Spartan team that has ruled the ACCAL the past couple of years. They came to Berkeley with a 6-6 tie in their pockets and they have not looked back since. They were 0-3-1.

Berkeley, now 6-3-1, survived a hungry El Cerrito team 27-26 to clinch the ACCAL crown and the spot in the 4A playoffs that comes with it. Jamar Smith dropped that season opening kick off against Deer Valley inside the 10.

The first time he touched the ball against El Cerrito Smith went 72-yards for a touchdown. This was a great game, going back and forth the whole time. El Cerrito never had the lead, but they tried to steal the game at the end.

E.C. responded to Berkeley taking a 27-20 4th quarter lead by driving 72-yards in ten plays, scoring with 39-seconds left. What do you do. El Cerrito went for two, but Jequerie Proctor (28-yards, two TD's) was stopped short of the goal line.

That proved to be a league title clinching play by Berkeley's defense.

Later that night Encinal's Jeff Owens was sprinting past Alameda in a 25-8 Jets win. Owens had touchdown runs of 4, 81 and 96-yards (197-yards rushing) in the first half.

The Jets played up to their name in the 53rd edition of the Island Bowl. Alameda could not keep up with Encinal, now 8-2, 6-1 in the ACCAL. Alameda had their chances, but could never finish off any drives.

Up 19-0 at the half, Encinal's only score of the second half came on a 89-yard interception return by Dominique Sashington on the games final play. The Jets got a three seed and a home game against Acalanes in the first round of the 2A playoffs. More click here

Crunch time

It was an interesting weekend of high school football last week. Several teams showed they want to go to the playoffs in 2007. Picture's got a lot clearer setting up the next biggest game of a few teams season's.

In San Francisco Lowell (6-0) plays at Lincoln (5-3)Nov 2nd at 3pm. Both teams are undefeated in the AAA and this will be for the regular season SF City title.

Bismark Navarro rushed for 235 yards and five touchdowns in Lowell's 42-14 win over Balboa while Lincoln's David Henderson took the opening kickoff back 92-yards for a touchdown in Lincoln's 28-26 win over Washington High.

Henderson added 202-yards rushing and four more TD's in the game. Berkeley High bounced back from a slow start to all but wrap up the ACCAL title with a 33-22 win over Alameda in front of a packed home coming crowd.

Jamar Smith put the Yellow Jackets on his back gaining 333-yards of total offense while scoring two TD's in the entertaining game. Smith opened the game with a 83-yard touchdown return of his own.

He put Alameda away with a 79-yard TD to put Berkeley up 27-22 with eight minutes left in the game. The Yellowjackets D would do the rest. A win against last place Richmond High next week is all that stands in the way of Berkeley High and the regular season title.

Pinole Valley had their homecoming ruined by Encinal 28-15. The loss all but ended Pinole's title hopes. It was their first loss of the year and it dropped them a game and a half behind Berkeley High.

Dominique Washington got Encinal on the board when he took an interception to the house f0r a 35-yard TD in the first quarter. The Jets have the ACCAL's best scoring defense, giving up just 9.7 a game and they held Pinole 13pts under their season average.

McClymonds threw their hat into the ring of contenders for the OAL regular season title with a 15-14 win over Castlemont. Mack's win created a four way tie for first place in the OAL.

Castlemont, Skyline, Mack and Oakland Tech are all 2-1. Teach beat Skyline, who beat Mack who beat Castlemont.

Castlemont and Skyline play Saturday at Skyline and the winner of that game will have a leg up on the rest of the league.

Mack got a two point conversion for the winning points after Castlemont used two third quarter touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. Mack stopped Castlemont on 4th and 2 from the Warriors 33 with eight minutes left in the game.

After a scoreless first quarter, De La Salle rolled up Pittsburg High 49-14. The Spartans got on the board when running back Kylan Butler scored from 29-yards out. Up just 14-0 at the half, De La blew it open with a 28pt third quarter. More click here

De La Salle handles Mission down south

There were a couple of first for the undefeated De La Salle Spartan football team. Their first team defense gave up their first points of the season. The team trailed 7-0 and it was the first time they had been behind all season.

Mission Viejo took the opening kick off and drove 80-yards for a score. The touchdown came on 4th and 1 from the Spartans 35. A play fake shook Corbin Davis free for the TD catch.

De La did as De La does. They answered right back. Tito Pica took a harmless looking pitch to the left for a 71-yard gain. Kylan Butler would score from a yard out two plays later. The Spartans would dominate the rest of the game.

Nobody had a bigger game then De La Salle wide receiver Michael Czyz. He caught touchdown passes of 54 and 85 yards in the win. Czyz has 13-catches in 2007, 10 of them have gone for TD's. That's production. More click here

Old friends, new year, same drama

Every team has been given a chance to see where they are at. Four games into the season and teams have played all around the bay in intersectional games where they made new friends.

Last weekend it was family time, ie league seasons. This is where the real glory is won and lost. It is nice to win a big game against some team from another area, but unless you win your league it can be very hard to make the playoffs at the end of the season.

There will be some feelings hurt in the WCAL. Every team seems playoff worthy, but it is rare that an entire league makes the playoffs. Serra, ranked third and Valley Christian, ranked second failed to win their opening league games Friday.

Serra was upended by St. Francis 13-10. St. Francis did everything they could to give the game away, but they won despite themselves. The Lancers turned the ball over three times inside Serra's red zone.

The game was not over until Ryan Van Amburg intercepted Cody Jackson on 4th-and-9 from the Lancers 20 with 1:20 left in the game. SI was able salvage a 21-all tie against visiting Valley Christian.

SI QB Abe Waziri hit Roy Lang from 17-yards out with 24-seconds left in the game. Valley Christian won the overtime played for playoff seeding reason's 28-21. Playoffs should be in both these teams future in 2007. More click here.

De La Salle continues to impress in shutout of Palma

Barring what looks to be impossible, a De La loss to a Northern Cali squad in 2007, the Spartans appeared to have clinched a spot in the CIF D1 football state finals. Yeah it's early, but with a road game next week down in LA against Mission Viejo last remaining tough game before the playoffs start it looks like you can pencil them in.

De LA blasted Palma 55-0 at home Saturday.

Their was no long touchdown runs against De La's second string defense in this one.

The shutout will do just fine. After all the Spartans have to look out for the rankings and shutting out a decent Palma team will not hurt one bit.

James Logan (Union City) looks like they might have what it takes to challenge De La Salle in the NCS playoffs this year after another impressive win, this time over Berkeley High 27-0.

Logan has moved up the ranks in football this year and they sport one of the fastest teams in the state and their new quarterback Rashard Evans is the fastest of them all. He has made a nice transition to being the signal caller.

Evans rarely comes off the field. He returns kicks and plays defensive back on defense. Next up for the Colts is a date with Pittsburg next week before starting their league season. More click here

Early games could mean a lot at the end of the season

It seemed like it took forever. Football has the longest off season to me. The season kicks off Friday August 31st in California.

Many teams open the season up with big match ups in the same division. There will be no easing into the season for Serra, Berkeley High or James Logan, three teams looking to make an impact this year.

Serra heads out to Concord to play a De La Salle team Sept. 7th (7:30pm) looking to stay on top in Northern Cali. De LA beat Serra last year in San Mateo, but the Padres felt like they had a chance to win.

Serra returns several players from 2006 and they are coached by former De La Salle star Patrick Walsh. Walsh, in his seventh year coaching Serra has a 40-26 record, is looking to take that next step and win the rugged WCAL in 2007.

Cardinal Newman made the D3 state finals in 2006, losing a overtime heartbreaker to Oaks Christian. They open up on the road at Central Catholic in a match up of D3 powers.

Cardinal Newman snapped Central's 63 game winning streak last year and it was a big reason why Newman went to state in 2006. Riordan is coming off a 4-6 record, 2-4 in the WCAL, but things are looking up for Riordan. WR/DB Daniel Cannon, QB Darius Bell and senior running back Osa Aigbuza will lead what could be a potent offensive attack.

Monta Vista will travel and play James Logan in Union City in an early D1 match up. Logan plays in the MVAL, a vastly improved league over the last couple of years.

Irvington made the D2 NCS final game a couple of years ago and in last year's D1 NCS playoff game Logan lost to favorite Foothill 32-29. The score was a lot closer then people thought it would be.

Monta Vista will be led by USC bound Drew McAllister at QB, but he will play safety at USC, go figure. He is a great athlete and he will be trouble for Logan and the rest of the teams on their schedule.

More click here

Fab Five dominate CIF track and field championships

The 2007 finals will go down in history as one of the best in history. Meet records were broken left and right Saturday as athlete from all over the state left their mark on the finals.

Long Beach Poly rode the back of sprinter Bryshon Nellum to a state team title. Nellum , on his way to USC next year, ran a leg in the teams 4x400 relay (3:10.92) 4x100 relay (40.81) wins while claiming titles in both the 400m dash (45.54) and 200m dash (20.43) to have a hand in 40 of the schools 46pts.

J.W. North (Riverside) failed to win any events, but they claimed second place in the team race with four second place finishes in the 400m dash (Nevin Guttierez - 47.86), 300m hurdles (Reggie Wyatt - 35.90), 400m relay (41.13) and 4x400m relay (3:16.94).

Rancho Cucamonga squeezed out 20pts for a third place finish , tying Diamond Ranch who got two first place finishes from Terry Prentice in the long jump (23'8.5") and the 110hurdles (13.53).

Mt. Pleasant, Hercules, Bishop O'Dowd, Holy Names, St. Elizabeth. That was the pecking order at the end of the day in the race for the girls team title. Powerful Long Beach Poly could only manage a tie for sixth place with Davis High.

Mt. Pleasant and St. Liz had only two girls score points for them while Holy Names had just one athlete, KeNyia Richardson. That's five girls, Jeneba Tarmoh and Vasti Thomas (Mt. Pleasant), Ashton and Julian Purvis (St. Liz) and Richardson (Holy Names).

Tarmoh defended her state title in the 100m dash (11.27) and 200m dash (23.20) holding off Purvis both times. It was quite a coming out party for Ashton. She was fast, 11.41 100m dash and 23.24 in the deuce, but not fast enough to catch Tarmoh.

Mt. Pleasant was also blessed with Vashti Thomas, the new state meet record holder in the 100m hurdles. Thomas dusted off the track with a 13.03 to beat defending state champ Julian Purvis (St. Elizabeth) and Ke'Nyia Richardson (Holy Names).

Thomas did not stop there. She was second in the triple jump (42'3") and third in the long jump (20'1.5"). Thomas and Tarmoh, Mt. Pleasant placed in the 4x100m relay but was disqualified, was all the San Jose school needed to claim their first state title in track and field.

Few people will ever forget the show Ke'Nyia Richardson put on in her final triple jump competition in high school. She was the national leader in the event coming in to the state meet and she showed why.

The UCLA bound senior put together a string of five jumps in a row over 44'. Her final jump was 45'4" and a gust of wind away from a national record. Her jump was ruled wind aided, but by the sound of the crowd after she made her jump, nobody cared. They new they had just witnessed history.

Richardson was second in the long jump with a mark of 20'10" and third in the 100m hurdles (13.32). Three personal bests in her last state meet is the way to go out like a champ.

The story does not end there. Jamesha Youngblood (Hercules) and Toni Anthony (Castilleja-Palo Alto) left their mark on the finals as well. They both set national best and Anthony mark, she cleared 14'1" in the pole vault, was a national outdoor record.

Youngblood was all over the track. Her 41.08 in the 300m hurdles tops the nation in 2007. She won the long jump with a leap of 20'11". Youngblood had enough energy to finish third in the triple jump (42'1.75").

The men did their thing as well. Taft's Jeshua Anderson lit up the track in the 300m hurdles. His blazing 35.53 set a new national outdoor record. Los Gatos pole vaulter Nico Weiler did not set a national record but he did impress, clearing 17'2" to win the event.

Bishop O'Dowd got a great effort from discus and shot putter Miranda Wilson. She placed second in both events. Miranda started off her day when she tossed the shot 44'11". Wilson came back to throw a discus 159'1" for her second silver medal of the day.

O'Dowd's girls 4x400m relay squad caught a break after Long Brach Poly appeared to have won the race. It was ruled that Poly had a baton exchange out of the zone, a disqualification. O'Dowd ran 3:47.42 moved up from second behind Poly to state champs.

Bay area ladies doing it big in track and field

Jamesha Youngblood showed Saturday at the 2007 Meet of Champions that she will try to win no less then three state titles at next weeks CIF state meet in Sacramento.

Youngblood came into the meet leading the state in the long jump, which she won with a leap of 20'9" breaking the meet record in the process.

That's a national leading time in the300m hurdles and a meet record in the long jump are nice, but Youngblood knows that it is what you do at the state meet that really matters.

"Everybody down in LA ran last week and I knew that I could come out here and make a statement. I feel like I can do better then I did today. My training has been great and I am peaking at the right time for state." said Youngblood.

So is defending 100m hurdles champion Julian Purvis. She has had a season to forget, hitting hurdle after hurdle, even falling in two races as she struggled through the season.

Purvis dropped a season best 13.76 to hold off Ke'Nyia Richardson who ran 13.91 to finish second. Richardson, the national leader in the triple jump, won that event with a jump of 42'8". Richardson also qualified for state in the long jump with a mark of 19'.

This has been somewhat of a lonely season for Salesian's (Richmond) Javid Best. He has been running by himself since the Arcadia Invitational two months ago. Sure sprinters like Deer Valley's Taiwan Jones have pushed him, but Javid's moment of truth comes next Saturday in the finals of the 200m dash.

Best broke off a 10.44 in the finals of the 100m dash to win the Meet of Champions pulling along Jones who finished second in 10.64. Javid, Salesian's only track athlete, lit up the track with a 20.92 to win the 200 going away.

That is the third fastest time in the nation right now. Long Beach Poly's Brysum Nellum sports the fastest time in the nation 20.80 and the two should meet in Saturday's final.

"It is amazing how fast time goes by. I can remember training with Wopamo Osaisai a couple of years ago. He showed me a lot about running and being ready every time I step on the track. It is going to be fun going up against Bryson at State." said Javid after his last Meet of Champions.

Shot putter Chris Krychev (Monte Vista) will be a busy man during the CIF state championships. To go along with his shot put title at the Meet of Champions (62'2.5") he also won the discus with a throw of 172'11".

"It feels great to make it to state in both events. I have worked so hard for this. I am going to go up to Sacramento and give it by best shot and see what I can do." said Krychev after finishing the day with his shot put title.

Asthon Purvis continued to shine with a double win in the 100 (11.64) and 200m dashes (24.03).

That's faster then the 11.77 and 24.05 that defending state champion in those two events, Mt Pleasant's (San Jose) Jeneba Tarmoh ran in the CCS Finals the same day.

The girls 1,600m run result was some what of a surprise when Sophomore Diana George won in 4:52.83, holding off two freshmen. Carondelet's Nicole Hood (4:53.25) was second and Casa Grande's Jacque Taylor (4:57.14) placed third.

Pinole Valley's Rashard Smith continued to roll this year with a sweep of the 110 and 300m hurdles. He won the 110 in 14.03 and the 300 in 37.58. Look for him to contend for a medal at state.

The Bishop O'Dowd pulled a bit of an upset when they won the 4x400m relay in 3:45.95, just ahead of defending champ James Logan who was second in 3:47.53.

Over at the CCS finals at Gilroy High, Archbishop Mitty's Renisha Robinson won the 800m run in a very swift 2:09.08. Mitty also got a strong performance from Drew Gordon who place second in both the shot put (58'3") and discus throw (162'5").

Pole vaulter Tori Anthony (Castilleja, Palo Alto) set a meet record clearing 13'8". Saratoga's Kiersten Dolbec won the high jump, with a jump of 5'6".

The James Logan Boys and Girls won NCS track and field titles. In San Francisco the AAA titles went to Lowell who also swept both titles.

Ladies steal the show at the 2007 Top 8

It was cold, windy with rain coming down but the meet went on featuring some of the best hurdlers and sprinters in the state, including defending 100m dash state champion Jeneba Tarmoh and 2006 100m hurdles champ Julian Purvis.

They were both upstaged by a freshmen. Ashton Purvis, Julian's little sister gutted out the 100 and 200m dashes in the wet conditions. She beat Tarmoh and Cherrelle Garrett in the 100 with a winning time of  11.82. The youngest Purvis has stood up to the best the state has had to offer and came away with first and second places.

Tarmoh dusted off the track with a 11.24 in the prelims. She could not keep it up in the finals clocking a 11.98 to place third. That 11.24 she ran is the fastest in the state to date.

The 100m hurdles line up included the defending state champ (Julian Purvis), 2006 state runner up and state triple jumper champ (Ke'Nyia Richardson) along with current state leader (Vashti Thomas).

Purvis hit the fifth hurdle and fell over the sixth while Thomas came away with the victory, crossing the line in 13.66, just ahead of Richardson. Dublin's James Attarian broke his schools record in the 1,600m with a winning time of 4:19.93. That was an improvement over his time run the day before of 4:31.00.

Champions were crowned as CIF playoff basketball gets serious

High school teams all over the state competed for section championships this past weekend. Some teams, like Richmond High, won their first section championship (NCS D2) while the Berkeley High girls won their 15th section championship, all under the guidance of Gene Nakamura who is coaching his 24th and last season.

Losing a section championship game sucks. Everybody wants to be a champion. Just making the section championship gets you into the NorCal playoffs, but you will have to hit the road and play in somebody else's gym in front of their fans. More click here

The Skyline Invitational, Saturday March 3rd all day

Skyline High in Oakland will host an Invitational Saturday, March 3rd with the field events starting at 8 am and the running events starting at 10:30am.

The meet will have some of the best preps track and field athletes in the area who will get an early season look at some of their competition will be at the end of the season.

Track season is just heating up and these invitational's are an important gauge on one's ability. Athletes can see where they are at and know what they need to work on for an end of the season push to make the CIF State meet. Meet info click here

Hoop playoff get real as top team start to lose

The high school basketball playoff got serious Friday night as top seeds go into action all over the bay. The first round always has some feel good stories, team with losing records get in just to fill out the bracket, but the second round has league champions putting their record on the line.

Champs like defending CIF D1 state champion De La Salle who was put to the test by San Leandro before ending the Pirates season with a 65-61 win at home.

Berkeley High were rude host to the girls and boys teams from Foothill High. The Yellowjackets swept the twin bill in Berkeley. The Girls had no problem with Foothill in the opener, pasting Foothill 78-42.

The Berkeley High boys got 21-points, 13-rebounds and six blocks from Jr. forward Matt Simpkins in their 68-60 win over Foothill. Simpkins came alive in the second half scoring 17-points after half time.

The Hayward Area Athletic League had a rough week in the NCS playoffs. they went just 1-3 on the boys side. Bishop O'Dowd was the only team to survive, beating De Anza 61-53 in a D3 playoff game.

San Leandro lost 65-61 at De La Salle in D1, Tennyson fell to Montgomery 56-53 and Hayward High got beat at home by Richmond High 64-56 in D2 games.

Richmond High's on again off again boys season is still on after winning at Hayward 64-59 Friday night. The Oliers got a last second boost when forward Wendell McKines was allowed to play a day after getting kicked off the team by a assistant coach.

On the ladies side the Piedmont girls team is showing that they are still a force to be reckoned with. The Lady Highlanders scored a bit of an upset, knocking off Moreau Catholic in barnburner 47-45.

BSAL regular season champ St. Mary's got bounced from the playoffs with a 69-67 overtime loss to McKinleyville. St. Mary's ends their season 21-7.

Several high school football stars inked their name on the proverbial dotted line last week making their selection as to where they were going to play college football official.

Bay area colleges were some of the biggest winners in the annual precutting derby. Cal, San Jose St. and San Diego St. had great classes this year.

The Spartans continued their recent success in the high school ranks by signing several talented preps to scholarships. In comes the speedy Kyler O'Neal from McClymonds High in Oakland. The Spartans reached up highway 680 to nab running back Brandon Rutley from Alhambra High in Martinez.

Cal came up fast, as in Javid Best, the very fast record setting running back from Salesian High in Richmond. Few enjoyed better prep careers in California then Best who came into his own his senior year.

Cal also came up on St. Ignatius's huge lineman Matt Summers-Gavin, a 6-4, 280-pound tackle to help led the way for Best. 6'2" Mike Calvin is an athlete that will play wide receiver for the Bears next year as will 6'3" Alex Lagermann from Saratoga High.

De La Salle gets beat in hoop

It has been 46-games and a state title since the Spartans lost a basketball game. The streak came to an end at the hands of nearby Antioch who posted a 60-56 overtime win at home. Antioch improved to 14-5, 8-2 in the BVAL. Da Le fell to 19-1, 9-1 in the BVAL.

The Spartans went on a 10-0 run to close out the game, neither team scored in the last minute of regulation, but they could not finish off the comeback.

Eddie Miller led the way for Antioch with an all around 15-points, 15-rebounds and six assists. Miller most of his points in the first half. Antioch rode the hot hand of Tim Williams in the second half. Williams scored 14 of his 18-points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Berkeley High stays perfect in the ACCAL with win over EC

The Yellowjackets continue to roll with a huge 79-74 victory over rival El Cerrito. The win gives Berkeley High a 7-0 league record, they are 14-4 overall and it puts two full games between them and a trio of teams in second place.

EC, Pinole Valley and De Anza are all 5-2 in league play. Richmond High is a wild card in the league. Suspended center Eli Holman wants to return to the court after learning that he was not the target when he was shot in the shoulder two weeks ago.

The bullet grazed him and he is ready to go. Holman could help the Oliers go far in the playoffs. He got his wish and he can play the rest of the season for Richmond High.

Bishop O'Dowd takes a big step towards a league title in basketball with a home win over Castro Valley

This was a game that both teams were looking forward to. Castro Valley came into the match-up with a gaudy 15-1 record and a perfect 3-0 mark in the always tough HAAL.

O'Dowd was coming off a tough loss to Oakland High at the Martin Luther Classic that Piedmont High put on Saturday.

O'Dowd was up 16-2 against O-High in the first quarter before blowing the game.

Against Castro Valley, Bishop O'Dowd led the whole way. They put their melt down against Oakland High behind them in front t of a packed house at O'Dowd.

The Dragons are 12-5, 6-1 in the HAAL, one half game behind Castro Valley who is 7-1 in league play and 16-2 overall. Hayward comes calling on Bishop O'Dowd Friday night in a big HAAL match up.

Berkeley High is a perfect 5-0 in the ACCAL and 12-4 over all. Since dropping games to Skyline (82-77) and Fremont (81-72) the Yellowjackets have not lost.

First year head coach Brain Guiin is looking to capture the league title and get a good seed in the NCS and hopefully the NorCal playoffs. Berkeley High passed a hugh test when they got past Richmond High last week at home 84-75.

The OAL puts it's best foot forward with big wins all over the bay area

First it was Monte Vista, then Mitty from San Jose and now St. Mary's (Berkeley) has got a taste of what life is like in the OAL. All three teams are ranked in the bay area polls and all three lost to teams in the OAL this season.

Oakland High might be the biggest surprise of the league. They stand at 8-4 with a big win over St. Mary's (72-68) in the Salesian-Pinole Valley Holiday Classic at Haas Pavilion at Cal Berkeley.

Fremont was thought to be the class of the OAL when the season began, but now McClymonds has stepped up to show Fremont that it will not be that easy. Mack raised more then a few eye brows when they upended powerful Archbishop Mitty two weeks ago.

Since 1999 when Fremont won the CIF D1 state boys title, the state championship has seen a team from the OAL or De La Salle represent Northern Cali. This year appears to be no different. More click here

CIF State Football Championships

D3- Cardinal Newman v. Oaks Christian, D2- Palo Alto v. Orange Lutheran, D1- De La Salle v. Canyon Country. More click here

De La Salle handles their business in the NCS Championships

De La Salle turned a 7-7 barnburner in the first quarter into their usual rout, this time a 33-7 win over 12-1 Foothill in the NCS Championship game at the McAfee Coliseum in Oakland.

De La mistakes and good Foothill defense kept this one a close game in the first half. The Spartans used field position to get on the board first. A bad punt from deep inside their own territory was Foothill's down fall.

It set up De La at the Foothill 28. It took De La Salle seven plays, but on fourth and goal from the four running back Tim Maupin (24-carries, 73-yards and two TD's) got four and a half yards to give the Spartans a 7-0 ;bead.

This one was a blocked punt away from De La's 4th straight NCS Championship game shutout. Johnny Millard blocked a De La punt that set up Foothill at the Spartan two. Rob Andrews took in one play later and with 8-minutes left in the half it was 7-7.

The Spartans answered right back, matching 57-yards, scoring when Maupin scored his second touchdown of the game, this time a 5-yard run. Foothill QB Josh Mendonca threw an interception three plays later and De La was on their way.

Novato shuts down Miramonte in the 2A football championships

The Novato High football team came into a wet and windy McAfee Coliseum and showed Miramonte how they have shutout their last seven opponents. Miramonte did not make it eight in a row, losing 48-3.

Mike Nicolini scored two first half touchdowns and Novato's defense forced four first half turnovers that they turned into a 35-3 lead at the half. Game over.

Novato QB Travis Senhaux was 12 of 21 for 192-yards and four TD's in the win. Defense again was the name of the game for Novato. They held Miramonte to 60-yards of total offense. That's getting it done on defense.

St. Ignatius gets over the hump

The third was the charm in S.I.'s football games against Los Gatos. They had lost to them the last two years in the playoffs, but in the CCS Medium school division final SI got the win and a championship.

Led by senior running back Ryan Kirk patrick's 200-yards rushing and a touchdown, SI down the ten time CCS Champion Los Gatos 35-20. It was the first title in football for SI who has been in the CCS for 39-years.

McClymonds gets busy against Lincoln

The first ever Transbay football championship between Oakland and San Francisco schools turned into a rout as OAL champion McClymonds put up 78-points on the board and they only gave up 37. If Mack had any chance of making the state finals it was blowing out Lincoln.

Willie Griffin ran for 194-yards and four TD's in the victory. Mack state aspirations were dashed with Cardinal Newman's 35-0 pasting of Montgomery in the battle of Santa Rosa.

It seemed like everything Mack did on offense turned up roses. QB Laron Johnson was 8 of 9 for 193-yards and four TD's in what could be his last game in a Mack uniform. Wide receiver Joseph Gray caught five of those passes for 118-yards and three TD's.

Lincoln's outstanding running back, Jr. David Henderson, had a big day against McClymonds. He accounted for 327-yards (242-rushing). He took the games opening kick off and returned it 85-yards for a score. Henderson added TD runs of 63 and 65-yards in the game.

The Stars shined bright during the past weekend of high school football playoffs

St. Ignatius will play in the CCS Championship game for the first time in school history next week after rolling over a game Los Altos Hills squad 33-14 at Foothill College. SI quarterback Chris McCaffery threw three TD's and SI had 515-yards of total offense in the win.

St. Ignatius will face off against a team they know very well. Los Gatos will be waiting for them in the finals. Los Gatos has ended SI's season in the playoffs the last two years.

It did not matter what game you went to last week. If it was a high school football game then you saw some great football. If you did not go to a game then you missed out.

Down in San Jose Oak Grove continued their winning ways with a 23-22 nail biting win over Serra. Serra got on the board first when Nike Tuipulotu ran it in from 7-yards out. Oak Grove took over, scoring the next 17pts to take a 17-6 lead into the half.

Serra got tough on D and when DeLeon Eskridge broke a couple of tackles and took it in from nine yards out to make it 22-15 Serra with 7:45 left in the game.

Last week Oak Grove pounded cross town rival Bellermine Prep 77-25 and for a while in the second half it looked like Oak Grove had used up all of their points. Their QB Kevin Vye finished the game 7 of 11 for 145-yards. He had just one completion in the second half - you guessed it - a game winning touchdown pass (38-yards) to Larry Locotti with six minutes left that was the game winner.

Oak Grove moves on to play Palo Alto, who won an even wilder 41-38 four overtime game against Palma down in Salinas Friday night.

Preps strut their stuff as football playoffs begin

When you hold the bay area's third leading rusher to just 13-yards on nine carries you would think that you had a great chance of winning. That was the case in Concord High's game against the top ranked 3A team in the Bay Area, Hayward High.

Hayward did not put away Concord until this late interception by #81

Troy Evans, made up for his low rushing output by grabbing nine passes for 109-yards. None bigger then the two he caught on Hayward High's victory drive late in the fourth quarter.

The first big catch was a finger tip grab down the sidelines that went for 59-yards getting Hayward within range. The second was a seven yard catch on 4th and 6 setting up Hayward with a first and goal from the Concord three. Two plays later Donell Gaines slid his way into the end zone and Hayward was on their way to the victory.

With a perfect season on the line and a showdown with top ranked De La Salle looming in the near future, Foothill High of Pleasanton got a reminder that you have to win the game at hand. On paper, what looked like a easy win for Foothill turned into a game for survival against James Logan in the opening round of the 4A football playoffs.

A come from behind 32-29 victory is not what Foothill had in mind. Let me take that back. They did get the victory, which is all that matters in the playoffs. James Logan proved to be more then a worthy opponent.

Logan's Dejon Gomes led the way with 165-yards rushing and four TD's for the Colts who amassed 326-yards on the ground against a tough Foothill D. Logan took a 29-25 lead with 6:30 left in the game and they had a chance to salt away the game at the end, but Foothill came up with a big defensive stand.

Forcing a Logan punt with 2-minutes left to play, Foothill marched 51-yards for the winning score. Foothill QB Josh Mendonca hit Ryan Theige from eight yards out and the Bay Are's #2 team escaped with a hard fought win. Mendonca was 20 of 30 passing for 225-yards and three TD's.

Playoffs set to start in Football

It goes down for real this weekend. Playoff football will take center stage as one of the fastest season's in sports in coming to a close.

It seemed like high school football season just started and now it is about to end.

There are great games all over the bay area. A lot of good teams got left out in the cold.

Amador Valley (7-3) and Mt. Eden (8-2) were two teams that stood out not making the playoffs.

Pittsburg was able to stumble into the playoffs after losing to Antioch last Saturday in the Little Big Game 27-21 in double OT. They get a rematch with a 10-0 Deer Valley team that blasted Pittsburgh 35-14 last month.

Teams wrap up regular season in prep football

St. Ignatius wrapped up their first WCAL league title since 1967 with a 26-20 win over Bellarmine Prep Saturday. SI picked off Bell's QB Jordan Vargas three times, the last with SI up 24-20 with less then four minutes left in the game.

Salesian's Jahvid Best went out in style. The senior helped his team beat 8-1 Kings Valley of Sunnyvale 63-34 by rushing for 415-yards and eight touchdowns.

Yes folks, that was in one game. He now has 204-carries for 2,623-yards and 41-total TD's. He scored on runs of 18, 87, 4, 4, 6, 15, 28 and 46-yards showing the talent that has made coaches like USC's Pete Carroll come out to the East Bay to watch him play.

Big ups to De La Salle, Deer Valley, Foothill and Pinole Valley for making it through the regular season without a loss. De La is the top ranked team in the state and in some people's mind's, the nation.

De La Salle gives the EBAL a preview with easy win at Monte Vista

De La Salle will be heading over to the EBAL next season and they gave the sold out crowd a look at what the future will look like with a easy 35-7 win over Monta Vista.

Monta Vista got off on the wrong foot from the first play of the game. QB Drew McCAllister dropped back to pass on the first snap and completed to it to De La Salle safety John Hendershott, who returned it to the Monte Vista six yard line.

Monte Vista's D left wide receiver Zach Moranville alone out on the wing. it seemed like everybody forgot about him. Zach had to raise his hands and then yell at De La QB Mike MacGillivray before he was noticed.

MacGillivray immediately snapped the ball and tossed one of the easiest TD's he will ever throw. Two plays into the game the Spartans were up 7-0 and you could tell what kind of a night it would be.

Monte Vista put eight men in the box and MacGillivray took advantage by throwing for 218-yards (6 of 9 completions), two TD's and a 44-yard gaunt in the first quarter to give De La a 14-0 lead.

Pinole Valley ran up and down the field beating El Cerrito

Let me take that back. Jr. tailback Deante Purvis ran up and down the field to the tune of 221-yards rushing and five TD's. Senior Rashad Smith had a 82-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and it all added up to to 63-22 win over now 6-1 El Cerrito.

Pinole Valley officially put their bid in as a top team in Division three in Northern Cali. The win all but locked up the ACCAL for Pinole. Purvis now has 991-yards rushing and 15-TD's on the season.

Serra regained first place in the WCAL after beating St. Ignatius 28-16. The Padres lost to Riordan the week before, but Archbishop Mitty did them a favor by blasting Riordan 44-7 in San Francisco.

Riordan could have taken control of the WCAL with a win over Mitty, but instead they can only wonder what happened after playing so well this season.

In their win over Serra, Riordan forced seven turnovers. Against Mitty, they gave up five of their own. It all started on the opening drive of the game. Riordan marched down the field only to have running back Osa Aigbuza fumble at the one yard line.

That was as close as Riordan would get to making this a game. Mitty ended up with 431-yards of offense against the defense ranked first in yards given up per game (221) in the WCAL.