Watching another team skip, flail and rejoice on your field was borderline unbearable, but John Diatte and his Valley Christian-San Jose Warriors’ baseball team had no choice.

De La Salle-Concord had just scored six runs in the top of the seventh last June, capped by a two-out grand slam by Hank Tripaldi, to pull out one of the more emotional and unlikely comebacks imaginable to win the epic Northern California Division I championship game, 11-8, between NorCal’s two most dominating programs. 

Valley Christian’s brilliant 31-4 season, highlighted with an improbable perfect 14-0 West Catholic Athletic League crown and fifth Central Coast Section title in six years — along with a seemingly secure three-run seventh-inning lead — all came crashing down with a crushing season-ending defeat.  

“It was definitely tough to stomach,” Diatte said. 

The gut-punch was later softened somewhat when he learned that the game’s hero had lost his mother to breast cancer earlier in the spring, igniting the extra...

With The ’91 Pittsburg Football Team Going Into The Pittsburg FB Hall Of Fame This Weekend, We Dug Up Our 2011 Feature On That Famous Win •

EDITOR’S NOTE: This Article First Appeared In SportStars #37 On Dec. 8, 2011, Marking The 20th Anniversary Of Pittsburg’s 1991 Win Over De La Salle — Still The Last North Coast Section Win Over The Concord School. De La Salle’s Winning Streak Vs. NorCal/Bay Area Teams Was Snapped By St. Francis-Mountain View On Sept. 10, 2021 (Nearly 10 More Years After This Story First Ran!!). The NCS unbeaten streak is now at 265 games.

The most unforgettable moment of Chris Shipe’s memorable Pittsburg High football career was taking a knee.

This was no obligatory, run-of-the-mill, end to a football game mind you.

This was on the floor of an NFL stadium — the Oakland Coliseum — on a damp and muddy...

Dougherty Valley Do-Everything Guard, Ryan Beasley, Was The Ultimate Catalyst For The Bay Area’s Best Team •

MORE POSTSEASON HOOPS HONORS: All-NorCal Girls Basketball Team | NorCal Girls Player Of The Year – Jordan Lee | NorCal Girls Coach Of The Year – Leroy Hurt

They came from all corners of Southern California to watch senior Mikey Williams star that Tuesday night in December at the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic. 

The Memphis-bound whirlwind of a point guard and YouTube sensation for San Ysidro near San Diego had packed gyms since bursting onto the scene...

For The Second Straight Season, Modesto Christian Finishes As No. 1 In Our Expanded Final NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings •

PICTURED ABOVE: (L to R) Te’shawn Gamble, Money Williams and Jimon Campbell of No. 17 Oakland take photos during the CIF Div. III State Championship medals ceremony. (Chace Bryson photo)

The top half of these rankings were basically solidified by the end of CIF regionals. The only real change to the Top 20 was going to be determined by Oakland High’s performance in the Division III state final.

By winning, the Wildcats forced their way into the bottom half of the Top 20 and brought Oakland Tech along with them. The Bulldogs had three wins over the newest Div. III state champs. After that change, it was just a matter of figuring out Nos. 21-30. Most fell into place rather easily. Let’s take a look at each team.

Final NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings. Previous rank in parenthesis, records via MaxPreps.

1. (1) Modesto Christian (27-7)

Despite being unable to repeat as CIF NorCal Open Division champions, the Crusaders still went undefeated against NorCal...

Archbishop Mitty Girls Basketball Left To Regroup, Recommit After Battle Of National Top 10 Teams Ends In A Buzzer-Beater Defeat To Etiwanda •

PICTURED ABOVE: Mitty Star Freshman McKenna Woliczko Grabs A Rebound During The CIF Open Div. State Final. (David Gershon photos)

Sue Phillips, the legendary Archbishop Mitty girls basketball coach, said all the right things. 

She consoled her team, applauded its monumental effort and praised the Monarchs’ opponent: A gritty, well-coached, battle-tested team from the Inland Empire of Southern California, the Etiwanda Eagles. 

Winner of nearly 800 games (789) against just 137 defeats, a former McDonald’s All-American head coach, and current leader at USA Basketball, Phillips has won everything there is to win, lost all there is to lose, and been in every type of setting to offer wisdom and perspective and a big-picture view of any game, big or small.  

But make no mistake. This one stung. It burned badly. 

Because this game — the Open Division...

Regional Success Of CIF Central Section Leads To Quite A Bit Of Change For Our Penultimate NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings •

NorCal Boys Basketball Rankings

All records are through Tuesday, March 7. Previous rank in parenthesis. Records obtained through MaxPreps.com
PICTURED ABOVE: Senior guard BJ Davis of No. 1 Modesto Christian. (Berry Evans III photo).

1. (1) Modesto Christian   27-7

3. (5) De La Salle-Concord  22-9

5. (11) Granada-Livermore   26-10

7. (9) San Ramon Valley-Danville   26-8

9. (7) Inderkum-Sacramento   28-4

These Are The 27 Guys We’re Lining Up Against Any Offense Who Dares — This Is The 2022 SportStars All-NorCal Defense •

PICTURED ABOVE: Folsom Senior DB, Greco Carrillo (David Gershon photo)

There are no first-teams or second-teams when it comes to the SportStars All-NorCal Team. We build it as one 54-man roster. If you’re on the team, you’re on the team. And the following 27 players are the dudes we’re sending out for stops. Come at us! Here’s the 2022 SportStars All-NorCal Defense presented alphabetically within each position.

_______________________________

MORE SPORTSTARS 2022 ALL-NORCAL FOOTBALL:
Coaches Of The Year | NorCal Defensive Player...

NorCal Open Champ St. Francis-Mountain View Assures Itself A Wire-To-Wire No. 1 Finish In The NorCal Volleyball Rankings •

NorCal Volleyball Rankings

All records are through Saturday, Nov. 15. Previous ranking in parenthesis. Record obtained via MaxPreps.
PICTURED ABOVE: Cayman Stein and Sadie Snipes of No. 5 Branson-Ross (Chace Bryson photo)

1. (1) St. Francis-Mountain View   34-0*

3. (3) San Ramon Valley-Danville   28-8

5. (8) Branson-Ross   22-10*

7. (6) Foothill-Pleasanton   28-10

9. (9) Marin Catholic-Kentfield   26-11

11. (13) St. Mary’s-Stockton   24-8

Week 11 Was The Final Calm As Just One Top 20 Team Lost, And The NorCal Football Rankings Go Unchanged As Playoffs Reach Full Tilt •

This week’s NorCal Football Rankings were either going to get a sizable shake or stand pat based on what happened in last week’s clash between No. 4 De Le Salle-Concord and No. 11 Clayton Valley-Concord. Had Clayton Valley won, the top half of the rankings would’ve definitely seen the blender.

But, as anybody who follows these rankings regularly knows, that’s not what happened. The Old De La Salle was back and rolled to a lopsided win. And if that’s going to be what we see of the Spartans through the rest of the NCS playoffs, then giving Clayton Valley a pass seemed fine for now. The Ugly Eagles should give themselves another chance to prove their upper-half-of-the-rankings pedigree by facing either No. 5 Pittsburg or De La Salle again in the NCS Division I final in two weeks.

Thus, since we decided not to move Clayton Valley, every team kept their spot for a week. No. 10 Salinas was another team we were watching closely last week, but the Cowboys looked to be back in top form by rolling Palma-Salinas

_______________________________
CONNECT WITH...

St. Francis-Mountain View Escapes Fifth 1 vs. 2 Battle With Mitty; Top Half Of NorCal Volleyball Rankings Sees Little Change After Section Finals •

NorCal Volleyball Rankings

All records are through Saturday, Nov. 5. Previous ranking in parenthesis. Record obtained via MaxPreps.
PICTURED ABOVE: Morgan Daetz, center, and members of No. 3 San Ramon Valley-Danville celebrate a point at the Stockton Classic in early October. (Chace Bryson photo)

1. (1) St. Francis-Mountain View   31-0

3. (3) San Ramon Valley-Danville   27-7

5. (5) Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills   31-4

7. (7) Monte Vista-Danville   28-6

9. (10) Marin Catholic-Kentfield   24-10

Section Finals Weekend Arrives With New Teams At No. 3 And No. 5 Plus Two Teams Making Top 20 Debuts In NorCal Volleyball Rankings •

NorCal Volleyball Rankings

All records are through Wednesday, Nov. 2. Previous ranking in parenthesis. Record obtained via MaxPreps.
PICTURED ABOVE: Senior libero Demi Harris of No. 2 Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (Chace Bryson photo)

1. (1) St. Francis-Mountain View   30-0

3. (4) San Ramon Valley-Danville   26-7

5. (7) Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills   30-4

7. (5) Monte Vista-Danville   28-6

9. (9) Branson-Ross   17-10

Big Win For Oak Ridge Highlights A Week 10 That Left NorCal Football Rankings Shuffled But Still Intact •

The final week of Sierra Foothill League action delivered one last tremor to the NorCal Football Rankings.

The most disruptive result came in El Dorado Hills as No. 18 Oak Ridge knocked off a Del Oro-Loomis team that had just been elevated to No. 6 for Week 10. The Trojans didn’t just squeak by either, winning by two touchdowns, 35-21. Thus, Oak Ridge needed to rise and Del Oro needed to drop.

In addition to that, the Rocklin team which beat Oak Ridge in Week 9 played No. 2 Folsom to a tight 14-7 loss. It was the Bulldogs’ lowest point total in league play, and second lowest all season. No. 1 Serra held them to 12 on Aug. 26. So Rocklin needed to move up from No. 15, too. And the shuffling began.

_______________________________
CONNECT WITH US:
Follow SportStars on Twitter &...

Despite Some Small Upsets In League Tournaments, NorCal Volleyball Rankings See Little Movement As Section Playoffs Get Rolling •

NorCal Volleyball Rankings

All records are through Wednesday, Oct. 26. Previous ranking in parenthesis. Record obtained via MaxPreps.
PICTURED ABOVE: Sophomore setter Celia Tolmie of No. 9 Branson-Ross. (Chace Bryson photo)

1. (1) St. Francis-Mountain View   28-0

3. (3) Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton   23-4

5. (5) Monte Vista-Danville   27-5

7. (7) Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills   28-4

9. (12) Branson-Ross   15-10

11. (10) Marin Catholic-Kentfield   21-10

Three Top 10 Teams Suffer Losses In Week 9, Causing Quite A Facelift To The NorCal Football Rankings •

Week 9 was the closest thing we’ve had to a full chaos week so far this season. The NorCal Football Rankings get a major shuffle this week after our No. 6 and No. 10 teams lost to unranked opponents, and our No. 8 team fell in 56-49 shootout to our No. 18 squad. Chaos.

Let’s start with the highest ranked team to fall. That was previous-No. 6 Wilcox-Santa Clara. The Chargers were suffocated in another impressive effort by the Los Gatos defense. Without a win over any currently-ranked teams, Wilcox needed to exit the rankings and Los Gatos returns. The Wildcats were a preseason Top 20 team and are now back in at No. 16.

Right below Los Gatos is another team returning to the rankings. Rocklin slots in at No. 17, one spot ahead of the team they beat this past Friday: former-No. 10 Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hill. Unlike Wilcox, the Trojans had a strong enough resume to keep themselves ranked.

_______________________________
CONNECT WITH US:
...