Prep basketball news, notes, rankings: Folsom blows by Jesuit; Sheldon removes top player
Home grown to the core.
That theme comes across as music to the ears of Mike Wall, the longtime Folsom High School boys basketball coach. He may get a transfer player here and there over the years, but he and top assistant Matt Mills generally craft championship teams with students who grew up through the Bulldogs youth program.
Like this season, for example. Folsom moved from No. 2 to the top spot in The Bee’s rankings after an impressive 68-47 rout of previously top-ranked Jesuit to cap the all-day-and-night Simply Showdown showcase Saturday at Sheldon.
Jesuit was without 6-foot-7 star player Andrej Stojakovic, who is out with an ankle issue but showed sportsmanship in chatting for a moment with Wall before the tip. Folsom stuck the Marauders with their first regional setback, storming to leads of 9-0, 26-4, 36-19 at the half and 54-34 after three quarters as the Bulldogs (18-1) were masterful in moving the ball, sharing the ball, finding back-door cutters, hitting shots inside and out, and playing tough defense.
“We’re all organic,” Wall said of his team. “It’s nice to see. We do not have a single transfer, and we had zero starters back from last year, but these guys have worked hard. They have great chemistry and they play hard.”
And this: As Wall closes in on his 500th career victory, a good many at Folsom, where he has strung up SFL championships and a few Sac-Joaquin Section banners, this game still boils down to basic fundamentals. Box out. Set screens. Move without the ball. Compete.
“It always comes down to that,” Wall said. “It comes down to how much talent do you have. I liken it to a chef. I’ve got great ingredients.”
Folsom is a deep team with a mixture of senior experience and youth. Micah Johnson leads the show as a 6-foot senior guard, and he can lead the way defensively, too, as he did against Jesuit. And there’s impressive freshman guard Myles Jones, son of one-time Capital Christian coach Devon Jones, who has played beyond his years.
CJ Willenborg, a 6-4 junior guard, scored 27 points against Jesuit to earn game MVP accolades. He can score inside and out. Other key cogs include 6-6 senior forward Justin Ard, 6-3 sophomore guard Chase Rawlins, 6-4 senior forward David Young, 6-7 senior forward Mitchell Rawlins, 6-3 sophomore forward Taniela Tupou and 6-4 senior forward Cade Petersen.
Folsom opened the season with a 72-34 rout of two-time defending Division II section champion Grant, later beat current Bee No. 3 Inderkum 82-60 and last week topped No. 4 Capital Christian 66-54. Folsom’s loss was to Rio Americano, ranked fifth by The Bee, 67-64.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Wall said, “but we’re playing really well.”
Tigers pounce
Inderkum has the makings of another standout team under coach Fred Wilson, who always gets his players to compete as if the next game is the last one.
That was the case last season when the Tigers went a school-record 28-3 and that theme is playing out now during a 15-2 start to the season, including a 4-0 showing in the Capital Valley Conference.
At the Sheldon event, Inderkum beat Capital Christian 78-71 as 6-2 senior guard Jermaine Haliburton scored 35 points to earn game MVP honors. Other key returners for the Tigersr include 6-5 senior guard and dunker Jalen Glenn, 6-4 senior guard Isaiah Chandavong, 6-7 post Logan Stueben and 6-1 junior energizer guard Jermaine Butler.
Sheldon star player out
Sheldon will play the rest of this season without its top player as 6-4 national recruit guard Ty Virgil was removed from the longtime powerhouse Huskies after an in-game incident with head coach Joey Rollings.
In a nonleague game against Granada of Livermore on Jan. 7 at Capital Christian, Virgil left the bench and removed his jersey. Virgil’s father, Terrell Virgil, told The Bee that he told his son to leave the jersey since the team collects them after games to wash. In a later meeting with Sheldon administration, Virgil was informed that his time at Sheldon was over. The Virgil family demanded the Elk Grove Unified School District investigate the matter, with Terrell Virgil saying he was upset that Rollings was forceful in his communication with his son, grabbing his arm on the bench.
Last week, Virgil transferred to prep school powerhouse Putnam Science Academy of Connecticut.
Sheldon was impressive in its showcase event on Saturday in a 76-69 loss to 19-2 Clovis West of Fresno, the top-ranked team in the Central Section. The Huskies have a young team, but they are a threat in the section Division I field, where they reached the finals last season for the 10th time since 2010.
Sheldon’s key players this season include guard/wings Tyler Rattler, Jaden Spears, John Tofi, Mo Singleton and Jayden Woodard.
Record scorer
Mason Mottashed scored a Union Mine-record 44 points in a 74-57 win over rival El Dorado in a Sierra Valley Conference game, one of the top efforts in the state this season.
The only reported player to have more points in a game this season locally was Jacob Olson of Oak Ridge, who had a 50-point outing in a season-opening game against Sacramento.
A 6-1 senior guard, Mottashed made 9 of 15 3-point shots and 11 of 12 free throws against El Dorado. He had 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. He is averaging 20.7 points, 6.6 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game for the Diamondbacks, who are 17-4 overall and 3-0 in league play.
Marysville on the move
Marysville entered The Bee’s rankings for the first time at No. 20 after winning its 10th consecutive game, an 80-67 effort over Twelve Bridges to move to 4-0 and alone in first place in the Pioneer Valley League.
Amrin Mann, a 5-10 senior guard, leads the Indians in scoring at 20.8 per game. He went for 32 against Twelve Bridges in eclipsing the 1,000-point career scoring mark. Mann is the man as he was mobbed by teammates after the game, a sharpshooter and smooth ball handler who didn’t even try to avoid the water bottle spray down from giddy teammates.
VDL girls on a roll
Vista del Lago soared to No. 5 in The Bee’s girls rankings this week, a spot ahead of Christian Brothers, after the Eagles of Folsom put the clamps on CB in a 34-29 win in a meeting of Capital Athletic League powers.
It was CB’s first loss of the season after a school-record 15-0 start and it gave the Eagles their first significant signature win of the season. The winning streak entering the week is five for Vista and coach Marty Benjamin, whose team came up with 15 steals and balanced scoring against CB, led by Alexa Moore’s nine points and eight from the team’s leading scorer this season in 5-8 sophomore guard Ella Skrzyniarz.
Vista’s losses were early, and to strong programs, with setbacks to Bee No. 3 McClatchy, 62-56, No. 4 Oak Ridge, 45-43, and to No. 7 Colfax, 60-54 ,during the team’s 12-4 start. Vista plays at No. 9 Monterey Trail on Thursday in a nonleague game.
Christian Brothers bounced back emphatically with a 55-32 win over rival St. Francis in the annual Holy Hoops contest in front of a packed gym. Jada Hunter led the Falcons with 21 as her team beat St. Francis for the fifth consecutive time.
CO on the rise
No. 11 Cosumnes Oaks plays at No. 8 St. Francis on Tuesday night for first place in the Delta League.
CO has won eight consecutive games and is 15-5 with losses to ranked teams in Lincoln, Kennedy, Vista del Lago and McClatchy. The Wolfpack is led in scoring by 5-4 junior guard Isable Tan at 21.6 points and 5-4 freshman guard Caitlin Subejano at 12.5.
St. Francis is led by 5-4 sophomore guard Sydney Teoh (11.6 ppg), 5-7 senior forward Jadyn Weaver (10.8) and 5-10 junior guard Bria McGahan (10.2). St. Francis is 13-4 with losses to No. 2 Antelope and McClatchy.
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Girls
1. Folsom (13-2)
2. Antelope (16-3)
3. McClatchy (14-4)
4. Oak Ridge (13-7)
5. Vista del Lago (12-4)
6. Christian Brothers (15-1)
7. Colfax (15-2)
8. St. Francis (13-4)
9. Monterey Trail (13-4)
10. Woodcreek (16-3)
11. Cosumnes Oaks (15-5)
12. Ponderosa (18-2)
13. Lincoln (17-2)
14. Liberty Ranch (15-2)
15. Grant (13-6)
16. Laguna Creek (14-5)
17. Whitney (10-6)
18. Rocklin (9-10)
19. Marysville (14-2)
20. Kennedy (9-7)
Bubble: Bear River (11-5); Foothill (10-2); Foresthill (16-4); Forest Lake Christian (10-4); Inderkum (12-7); Vacaville (10-5); Valley Christian (11-2).
THE BEE’S TOP 20
Boys
1. Folsom (18-1)
2. Jesuit (13-4)
3. Inderkum (15-2)
4. Cap Christian (13-5)
5. Rio Americano (15-4)
6. Woodcreek (13-5)
7. Sacramento (15-5)
8. Monterey Trail (8-9)
9. Laguna Creek (16-4)
10. Grant (10-5)
11. Whitney (14-5)
12. Del Oro (14-7)
13. Placer (15-3)
14. Sheldon (7-11)
15. Oak Ridge (9-10)
16. Antelope (14-5)
17. Bella Vista (13-6)
18. Ponderosa (12-8)
19. Granite Bay (10-11)
20. Marysville (15-3)
Bubble: Casa Roble (14-7); Christian Brothers (11-9); Del Campo (9-10); El Dorado (15-5); Lincoln (15-5); McClatchy (10-5); Natomas (10-9); Rocklin (11-10); Sacramento Adventist (12-5); Twelve Bridges (11-7); Union Mine (17-4); Vacaville (14-5); West Park (15-3); Yuba City (10-7).
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 5:00 AM.