Prep Blog

Lee Hubbard, NorCalPreps.com's hard-working basketball recruiting analyst, notes that several area boys players have improved their stock after strong performances in Southern California camps and tournaments last week.

Among those:

• Josh Richart, Forest Lake Christian - Hubbard says the 6-foot-8 post player has seen interest soar to include Cal, Washington State, Stanford, New Mexico, Northwestern and Oregon State after he made the top 30 game at Dinos Trigonis' Full Court Press camp in Hawthorne, then followed up with "solid showings" in the Cream of the Crop Showcase in Long Beach. He played well and scored 15 points in a matchup with 2011 Texas recruit Deandre Daniels, a 6-9 forward from Taft High School.

• Michael Kurtz, Woodcreek - The 6-10 post, an incoming senior, has been regarded as a project for a long time but "he started the process of removing that label with his play at the Double Pump Camp (at Cal State Dominguez Hills)," Hubbard wrote. Kurtz' strengths are his ability to run the floor well, hit the 15-foot jumper and battle in the paint despite his 200-pound frame.

• Travon Abraham, Sacramento High - He also impressed at the Double Pump camp, "knocking down jumpers, driving to the basket and making plays," Hubbard noted. The incoming 5-9 senior guard was selected to play in the Best of the Best all star game as a result.

• Charles Standifer, Capital Christian - The 17-year-old 6-5 wing, who has been reclassified for the class of 2010 and plans to attend the Bridgton Academy in Maine this fall, has picked up several college offers through his head-turning play at the Full Court Press Camp. He made Full Court's top 30 all-star game.

Recent Sheldon High School graduates Jolene Henderson and Lindsey Ziegenhirt were named to the Under Armour All-America Softball Game, to be held in Orlando, Fla., July 19-21.

Henderson, a pitcher and two-time Bee Player of the Year, and Ziegenhirt, a catcher and three-time Bee All-Metro First Team selection, will report to Berkeley next month as both will play softball on scholarship at Cal.

Sheldon and Klein Oak (Texas) are the only schools with more than one participant in the game.

The Under Armour All-America Softball game features 30 players from across the United States and is part of the ESPN RISE Games.

The Sacramento area is well represented among NorCalPreps.com's Northern California girls and boys basketball top 40 rankings for 2010 graduates.

Jesuit's James Moore, a 6-foot-8 power forward, is listed as the No. 1 boys prospect ahead of Washington recruit Desmond Simmons, a 6-6 forward from Salesian of Richmond.

Moore, who averaged 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds a game last season for a rebuilding Marauders team that went 11-16, is getting looks from a number of colleges, including Stanford and Cal.

Josh Ritchart, a 6-8 forward for Division V Forest Lake Christian, is No. 3.

Other area boys to make the rankings include 6-3 shooting guard Cody Kale of Rocklin (No. 8) and 5-10 point guard Travon Abraham (No. 9) and 6-8 power forward Will Davis (No. 19) of Sacramento.

The Dragons have three players listed among the girls top 40: 5-10 wing Brittany Shine (No. 5), 6-2 power forward Eric Barnes (No. 7) and 6-3 center Kyra Dunn (No. 18).

Oak Ridge 5-10 shooting guard Sara James, The Bee's returning Girls Player of the Year, is listed No. 3 behind Chelsea Gray and Afure Jemerigbe of nationally renowned St. Mary's of Stockton.

Others ranked include 6-2 power forward Cheyenne Williams of Bradshaw Christian (No. 14), 5-5 point guard Ariel Thomas of McClatchy (No. 15), 5-8 guard Gena Johnson of Franklin (No. 21) and 6-2 power forward Shanice Butler of Kennedy (No. 24).
Johnson recently verbally committed to play for Pacific.

State Sophomore Player of the Year Ally Carda of Pleasant Grove is one of four area players named to Cal-Hi Sports' 30-player All-State Softball First Team.

Carda, The Bee Player of the Year who already has verbally committed to UCLA, was a multi-purpose selection. She struck out 380 batters, won 25 games and batted .430 in leading the Eagles to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I title.

Also named to the team were Sheldon catcher Lindsay Zigenhirt and pitcher Jolene Henderson, both graduated seniors who will play at Cal, and Bear River junior infielder Courtney Ceo, who has verbally committed to Oregon.

Pleasant Grove junior catcher Alyssa Tiumalu, another UCLA recruit, made the second team.

Ceo, Bear River senior infielder Katie Mathis, Center junior catcher Hayley Miles, Rio Linda senior pitcher Alex Newman, Whitney senior outfielder Stephanie Nippert and Lincoln senior multi-purpose player Stephanie Tofft made the All-State Medium School Team.

Capital Christian junior multi-purprose player Kendall Gill made the All-State Small School Team.

Carda, Tiumalu, Ceo and Oak Ridge sophomore pitcher Kasey Stanchek made the All-Underclass first team and Sheldon sophomore outfielder Danielle Henderson made the second team.

For all the teams, go to Calhisports.com.

(Editor's Note: This story has been changed from an earlier version to correct the college that Jake Rodriguez has verbally commited to attending. Corrected on July 8. 2009)

State Junior Player of the Year Jake Rodriguez, an infielder for Elk Grove, was one of three area players named to Cal-Hi Sports' 30-player All-State Baseball first team.

Rodriguez, who already has verbally committed to Oregon State and is considered one of the nation's top pro prospects for 2010, batted .522 with five home runs and drove in 47 runs for the Thundering Herd this season.

Rodriguez joins Yuba City catcher Max Stassi and Jesuit catcher Andrew Susac, both seniors, on the first team.

Senior outfielders Jimmy Bosco of Jesuit and Pat Stover of Rocklin and senior multipurpose player Matt Evanoff of Ponderosa made the second team.

Placer junior pitcher Anthony Amara and San Juan senior pitcher Josh Dreier made Cal-Hi's All-State Medium School team while East Nicolaus senior catcher Andrew Rubalcava made the All-State Small School Team. Valley Christian's Brad Gunter was named Small School Coach of the Year.

Rodriguez and Granite Bay junior catcher Andrew Knapp made the All-State Underclass first team while Yuba City junior pitcher Jake Stassi and Rocklin junior multipurpose player Matt Fielding made the second team.

For all the teams, go to Calhisports.com.

After opening the USAV Junior Olympic Championships with a pair of wins on Wednesday, the Northern California Volleyball Club's 18-1 Girls 'Moxie' dropped a pair of matches on Thursday in Miami.

In the early morning match that figured to be a tough test, Moxie dropped a five-set gut-wrencher 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-6) to Wave of Encinitas, a team that has many of the same players from the Santa Fe Christian team that beat Christian Brothers, which is also coached by Jeff Deter, in the CIF D-IV championship match last December.

In its noon match Moxie was swept by Colorado Juniors of Colorado Springs 3-0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-13).

Moxie next plays Friday against Coast of San Diego, which is 3-1 so far, at 8 a.m. and then Kent Juniors of Kent, Wash., at 4 p.m. to wrap up pool play.

All times Eastern

The Northern California Volleyball Club's 18-1 girls squad won both matches on its first day of competition in the Open Division of the USAV Junior Olympic Championships in Miami.

The team, nicknamed 'Moxie', first defeated TCA (The Complete Athlete) 18-Black of Orange County, which features 6-foot-4 junior national team member Lydia Bai, 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-14, 26-24) and then went on to defeat SWI (Southwest Illiniois) 18 Smack also in four sets, 3-1 (25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17).

Moxie, based in Rocklin and ranked second in the country behind Vision (Los Gatos) 18 Gold, is now 2-0 in its pool and will next face Wave 18 Brennan Spalding (Encinitas) tomorrow at 8 a.m. in Miami. This match-up holds a special significance for Moxie coaches Jeff and Kristi Deter and middle blocker Kayla Neto as Wave's team has many of the players from the Santa Fe Christian team which beat Deter's Christian Brothers team -- led by Neto -- last December in the CIF Division IV State Championship match.