Quick-hitting, behind-the-scenes news and notes from the CalHiSports.com staff, including previews of upcoming content and events.
Las Plumas softball head coach Toby Thompson guided team to 31 wins in the spring after girls basketball team he coached in the winter won 21 games. Photo: lasplumasthunderbirds.com.
State Medium Schools Baseball Coach of the Year Jerry Lewallen of Glendora also is the athletic director at the school. Photo: 210 Prep Sports / YouTube.com.
FOR MORE ON STATE COACH OF THE YEAR GARY PARCELL, CLICK HERE.
FOR THIS YEAR’S FINAL STATE BASEBALL RANKINGS ACCORDING TO FIVE DIVISIONS, CLICK HERE.
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MEDIUM SCHOOLS STATE
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jerry Lewallen (Glendora)
It certainly helps with these types of coaching honors to be someone who’s been successful coaching in another sport or has been connected to a school for many years. Lewallen is a Glendora grad who played baseball and football there and was on the 1989 football team that won a CIF Southern Section title. He’s been the head football coach of the Tartans before, serving in that role from 2012 to 2017 with a 43-25 record. Before the 2019-2020 school year, Jerry became the Glendora athletic director and picked up being head coach of the baseball program after the 2021 season.
For state coaching honors, we tend to look for those who have been in their head coaching roles for six to seven years or longer so while Lewallen has only been Glendora’s baseball coach for three seasons he’s been coaching at the school for many more years than that.
This brings us to the 2026 season. The Tartans began as the 2025 CIFSS D3 champions and their championship pedigree helped them win a series of close games en route to the CIFSS D4 title. They needed nine innings to edge St. Anthony of Long Beach, 3-2, in the title game, which was their fourth straight one-run playoff win.
That set the stage for a CIF SoCal D3 regional matchup with Culver City. The teams kept going back and forth, back and forth until it was 11-11 in the 12th inning. It had to be stopped due to darkness. The teams came back the next day with Culver City batting in the top of the 13th and the Centaurs took a 12-11 lead. Lewallen’s squad, however, walked it off for a 13-12 win with two runs in the bottom of the 13th.
After that, despite pitching being extremely spent, Glendora posted wins of 13-3 vs Westview of San Diego in the semifinals and then beat Kaiser of Fontana, 7-3, to win the team’s first regional title. Last year’s team lost in the SoCal regionals to Eastlake of Chula Vista.
Glendora principal Rod Tilton told the 210 Prep Sports (210prepsports.com) website when it named Lewallen recently as one of its coaches of the year that the school “is fortunate to have Coach Jerry Lewallen leading our baseball program.” Tilton added: “Some coaches teach athletes how to play the game and become better players. Others help student-athletes become better people. Coach Lewallen does both. Year after year, he builds championship-caliber teams while developing young men of character who will become outstanding husbands, fathers, leaders, and members of their communities.”
Lewallen also has become the first-ever Medium Schools State Coach of the Year in baseball from the the San Gabriel Valley. We have been doing the honor since the 1998 season.
Recent State Medium Schools Coaches of the Year: 2025 – Michael Kunipo-Aguirre (Carson); 2024 – Paul Martinez (Roseville Oakmont); 2023 – Matt Mowry (Lake Balboa Birmingham); 2022 – Tony Nieto (Las Flores Tesoro); 2021 – Daniel Maye (Simi Valley Royal); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Pat Fuentes (Los Banos); 2018 – Ken Arnerich (Alameda); 2017 – Rich Henning (Christian Brothers, Sacramento); 2016 – Jeff Baumback (Redondo Beach Redondo Union); 2015 – Mike Mitchell (El Cajon Christian); 2014 – Ollie Turner (Torrance); 2013 – Wilmer Aaron (Gardena Serra); 2012 – Steve Vickery (Lakeside El Capitan); 2011 – Gary Remiker (San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 2010 – Rich Sciutto (Burlingame); 2009 – Bob Anderson (Lake Shasta Central Valley).
Minarats head coach Jesse Darrah is still a young man, but may have added some gray hairs with some of the games that his team won late in the 2026 season. Photo: Sierra News Online.
Jesse Darrah (Minarets, O’Neals)
Is it safe to say that if Darrah’s team had not won but lost in one of the craziest playoff games in state history (we think the highest scoring for two teams) that he wouldn’t be getting this honor? Yes, it would. But Minarets did indeed come out on top in a 21-20 scorefest with Pacific Grove that earned the team the CIF NorCal D5 championship.
The win capped a 27-8-1 record for the Mustangs and came after they had won the CIF Central Section D5 title in an almost equally crazy 10-9 victory over Shafter. Minarets would have played Coastal Academy of Oceanside for the CIF D5 state title if the CIF had been re-starting the state finals this year instead of next year.
Darrah also became a rare person to have played as a member of the Visalia Rawhide team in the California League and then later coached a team to a section title at Rawhide Stadium in Visalia, which is where the Central Section stages all of its title games.
Following his minor league career, which ended like many others with an injury, Darrah became the head coach at small school Minarets for the 2017 season. He coached the Mustangs for five seasons (through the pandemic) and in those seasons the team posted a 71-25 record with two trips to the section finals.
Darrah returned to lead the Minarets program for the 2025 season after spending three years away from the sport in the solar industry. This year’s success followed a 12-19 record from that 2025 season.
Everything looks great for the Mustangs now. Jesse is the school’s first-ever State Small Schools Coach of the Year. He’s the third Central Section honoree in the category in the last 12 years, joining Scott Neal from Chavez of Delano for 2024 and Jay Preuss of Kerman for 2014.
Recent State Small Schools Coaches of the Year: 2025 – David Trujillo (Atherton Menlo School); 2024 – Scott Neal (Delano Chavez); 2023 – Stewart Peterson (Sutter); 2022 – Kurt Takahashi (Sacramento Bradshaw Christian); 2021 – Eric Lay (Colusa); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Greg Mugg (Sunnyvale The King’s Academy); 2018 – Mack Paciorek (Pasadena Poly); 2017 – Jim Cleveland (San Lorenzo Redwood Christian); 2016 – Troy Ghisetti (Arcata); 2015 – Nelson Randolph (Sacramento Capital Christian); 2014 – Jay Preuss (Kerman); 2013 – Gil Ruiz (Pacific Grove); 2012 – Greg Largent (Escalon); 2011 – Craig Schoof (Atherton Menlo School); 2010 – Glen Prater (Riverside Woodcrest Christian); 2009 – Brad Gunter (Roseville Valley Christian).
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.
Destiny Christian of Sacramento edges St. Francis of Mountain View in a CIF NorCal D1 softball semifinal in a matchup on Thursday that saw the visiting Lancers battle in the batter’s box against dominant pitcher Ayla Tuua with numerous full counts, foul balls and some key hits. In the end, though, Tuua got the strikeouts she needed and big help from a sophomore shortstop in a 4-3 win that pushed the Lions one win away from a perfect season.
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The St. Francis of Mountain View softball program has seen it all in the CIF NorCal D1 playoffs. The Lancers have won the overall title before, they’ve lost in the first round as a top seed and they’ve won on the road before.
Despite pulling off a triple play in the bottom of the sixth inning and getting two runners on base in the top of the seventh, St. Francis couldn’t get the late-inning hit it needed to knock off the Lions on Thursday on a hot day in Sacramento that reached into the mid-90s. Instead, it was LSU-bound standout and top candidate for Ms. Softball State Player of the Year Ayla Tuua who rang up the key strikeouts and sophomore Takiyah Henderson who had three RBI to lead the way in a 4-3 win.
Sophomore Takiyah Henderson was the player of the game for Destiny Christian in its win over St. Francis of Mountain View in the CIF NorCal D1 semifinals with a homer, double, single and three RBI. Photo: Mark Tennis.
St. Francis fell to 26-5, which includes an earlier 1-0 loss to Destiny Christian in a non-league game played in Mountain View. The Lancers had bounced back from a loss to Willow Glen of San Jose in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division semifinals with a 4-3 win on Tuesday in the CIF NorCal D1 playoffs over CIF North Coast Section D1 champion San Ramon Valley of Danville.
The St. Francis batters acted as if they’d seen Tuua before, but most of them hadn’t since Destiny Christian head coach Shannon Tuua (Ayla’s mother) went with Roxanne Sardo as the pitcher for six innings in that previous matchup. In the very first at-bat of game, sophomore Emi Yumiba set a tone with nine pitches against Tuua before drawing a walk. Jaime Oakland followed with perfectly placed bunt that went for a single, the runners then moved up on a wild pitch and the bases were loaded on a walk. Tuua was able to limit the damage to one run scored on a sacrifice fly by Marianna Liongitau, a strikeout and then a liner by Maya Meltz that was caught for the third out.
Destiny Christian has trailed in the first inning of a few games earlier this season and against the Lancers responded as it has done before. This time, K.K. Fulmer led off with a single, went to second on a fielder’s choice, went to third on a passed ball and with one out scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Ella Dossey. Junior shortstop Takiyah Henderson then came up with what turned out to be the biggest hit of the game as she launched a two-run homer that gave the Lions a 3-1 lead.
Oakland, the daughter of St. Francis head coach Mike Oakland and sister of former Ms. Softball State Player of the Year Jessica Oakland, then had an RBI grounder single up the middle in the top of the second inning that made it a 3-2 contest.
The Lions got back that run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Dossey doubled and was followed immediately with Henderson hitting a fly ball into the left field corner that also went for a double. She finished with three hits and three RBI on the day.
St. Francis pitchers Mercedes Caller and Bianka Fisher (who came on in the fifth inning) ended up not allowing any more runs for the rest of the game. The Lancers also made it a 4-3 score in the top of the fifth on a double by Peyton Tsao and a two-out RBI single by Maya Meltz.
Tuua faced constant pressure from the St. Francis offense (only one 1-2-3 inning) but posted key strikeouts when she had to have them. She had 10 on the day, including two against Oakland with runners on base. Oakland had only struck out three times previously all season and stayed alive by fouling off pitches on both at-bats before finally going down.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Destiny Christian looked to add on with a leadoff single by Aubrey Joiner and then there was a mishandled bunt. With runners at first and second with no outs, Fulmer smoked a liner but it was directly at the St. Francis first baseman and practically standing on the bag. She tapped the base for the second out and then fired to second where the runner there also didn’t get back in time. The triple play gave the Lancers plenty of momentum going into the top of the seventh.
A walk and a hit by pitch then put two runners on for the Lancers in their attempt to tie the score or go ahead. Tuua was up to the challenge. She struck out both Maya Meltz and Aryka Gunsager to end the game and set it up for Destiny Christian to win it all on Saturday.
There wasn’t much else to add from the Destiny Christian side of things. The bigger stories could be yet to come. For St. Francis, a good chunk of the lineup will be back next season, including the top two pitchers along with top hitters Liongitau and Tsao (although graduating senior Jaime Oakland will be greatly missed).
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
For those just wanting to check to see about a particular player on this year’s All-State Underclass Team for girls basketball without being a subscriber, here is a simple alphabetical list. If you want the full presentation and are not Gold Club, please check out getting a membership today.
Read more…
For those just wanting to check to see about a particular player on this year’s All-State Underclass Team for boys basketball without being a subscriber, here is a simple alphabetical list. If you want the full presentation and are not Gold Club, please check out getting a membership today.
Read more…
Zak Willson, a recent grad from Sierra High of Manteca, went a perfect 11-for-11 passing for more than 200 yards and three TDs in the 2025 Lions All-Star Football Game. Photo: Mark Tennis.
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Head coaches Andrew Beam of Escalon and Frank Marques of Hilmar will be introducing some of their football players next Saturday night during the annual Central California Lions All-Star Football Game banquet at Father O’Hare Hall, which is located at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Modesto.
Beam is leading the North team for this year’s game while Marques is leading the South as activities are gearing up for the 50th anniversary of the local Lions all-star game.
And for the first time, top girls flag football players from the same Lions Football All-Star District will be part of the evening. North players will be introduced by head coach David Rios from Kimball of Tracy while South players will be introduced by co-coaches Nathan Ramirez and Capri Abbasi of Atwater.
This year’s games will be played on Saturday, June 20, beginning at 5 pm for girls flag with boys tackle following at 7 pm at Tracy High School’s Wayne Schneider Stadium.
The event, which matches top graduated high school football players primarily from the Stockton area against those primarily from the Modesto area, is going into its fourth year after it was not held for three years due to the COVID pandemic. It has been played at Lincoln High in Stockton (2019), Tracy (2013-2018 & 2023-25), Modesto Junior College (2012) and at University of the Pacific’s Memorial Stadium.
The North team was victorious in last year’s game, 42-37, but there was controversy at the end as the South was not able to get the ball back for a possible late go-ahead score on what some felt should have been an illegal fake punt. The North QB, Sierra of Manteca grad Zak Willson, was the game’s MVP with three TD passes plus one TD run. M.J. Uili of Modesto High, who had a game-high 13 tackles for the South, was named Defensive MVP. The North won after falling in five of the previous six all-star games and took a 27-19-2 edge in the series.
Banquet Guest Speaker: George Visger
(Stagg grad & author)
The Lions All-Star Football Committee is humbled and honored that former NFL player, and member of the San Francisco 49ers’ first Super Bowl winning team, George Visger, will be at the banquet to speak to this year’s all-star players and coaches. George also played at Stagg High in Stockton on its undefeated state-ranked 1975 team, the University of Colorado and for the New York Jets. He also has become very important in the world of traumatic brain injuries and has survived several brain surgeries. George is going to be signing copies of his 2025 book, “Facing Giants: My 38-Year Battle” as another highlight to this year’s banquet.
BIG NEWS:
ALL RISE FOUNDATION TO SERVE AS PRESENTING SPONSOR
For the first time in many years, the Lions All-Star Football Game has a presenting sponsor and it will be the ALLRISE Foundation, which is the charity funded by New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. The Linden High grad was once selected to participate in the Lions game after his senior season, but respectfully declined to play via letter as he was getting ready to start playing collegiate baseball at Fresno State. Judge is still regarded as one of the best multi-sport high school athletes (football, basketball, baseball) in SJS history.
The Lions All-Star Football Committee is extremely grateful for this help. Specifically, the donation will go toward paying for all of the jerseys for all players (boys & girls) in this year’s all-star games.
Game Ticket Info
This year’s game will feature tickets that can be purchased through GoFan.com. Tickets are $15. Presale game tickets for $10 and t-shirts also will be available at the banquet.
We are a non-profit game and depend on pregame publicity from the media. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
NEW Web Site Fully Loaded
For updated roster info and for a lot more history about the 50 years of the Lions Game, go to our updated, re-formatted website at lionsallstarfootball.com.
North 11-Man Team (Alphabetical roster)
Samuel Alderman (Sonora) OL/DL
Moses Alexander (St. Mary’s, Stockton) RB/DB
Cash Byington (Sonora) RB/DB
Brayden Camara (East Union, Manteca) LB
Ruben Cornejo (Tracy) DL/OL
Channce Davis (Sonora) OL
Joel Donnell (Chavez, Stockton) RB/DB
Mason Eagal (St. Mary’s, Stockton) DB
Michael Gonzales (Stagg, Stockton) LB/RB
Jaiveer Grewal (River Islands, Lathrop) OL/DL
Hezekiah Griffin (McNair, Stockton) DT/OL
Diego Hernandez (St. Mary’s, Stockton) RB
Enrique Hernandez (Calaveras, San Andreas) RB
Logan Huebner (Escalon) QB
Andrew Juarez (Linden) RB
Jonathan Hurley (Franklin, Stockton) DL
Xyloh Kuresa (Manteca) DL
Walker Leamer (Ripon) OL
Darius McClendon (Edison, Stockton) DB
John McPartland (Amador, Sutter Creek) WR/DL
Steven Morfoot (Sonora) DB
Michael Nunes (Amador, Sutter Creek) RB/LB
Tipeti Paini (Ripon) OL/DL
Dawson Pelech (Kimball, Tracy) LB/TE
Pablo Pena (Lathrop) RB/LB
Hunter Rodriguez (Linden) DL
Makana Smith (Chavez, Stockton) WR/DB
Francis Taamu (Edison, Stockton) DL
Lorenzo Teixeira (Escalon) OL/DL
Maava Tialavea (Manteca) FB/LB
Rylan Tuuaga (Lincoln, Stockton) ATH
Alekisio Vakauta (West, Tracy) DL
Antwon Williford (Stagg, Stockton) LB
South 11-Man Team (Alphabetical Roster)
Sylas Austin (Atwater) WR
Ali Banks Jr. (Atwater) QB/WR
Conner Brantley (Modesto) OL/DL
Lincoln Brooks (Grace Davis, Modesto)
Kayden Brown (Enochs, Modesto) WR/DB
Laten Butler (Mariposa County) RB
Kaleb Caudillo (Merced) OL
Levi Cook (Turlock) DE/TE
Even Coronel (Denair) OL/DL
Vicente Cortez (Merced) QB/DB
Hayden Czirban (Merced) WR/TE
Francisco Diaz (Downey, Modesto) LB
Raul Diaz (Los Banos) DB/WR
Hayden Droogsma (Patterson) LB
Isaiah Faagata (Central Catholic, Modesto) DB
Andre Flores (Dos Palos) RB/LB
Richard Flores (Oakdale) RB
Joenamous Gago (Los Banos) DL
Jack Goodger (Los Banos) WR/DB
Mason Helwick (Pitman, Turlock) RB
John Hinchey (Downey, Modesto) DE
Gabe Ibanez (Johansen, Modesto) LB
Anthony Jones (El Capitan, Merced) WR/DB
Christopher Knight (Gregori, Modesto) WR/DB
Daniel Mataele (Patterson) OL
Isaiah Maxey (Enochs, Modesto) WR/DB
Daijon O’Neil (Stone Ridge Christian, Merced) RB
Lorenzo Peters (El Capitan, Merced) RB/LB
Andres Servin (Downey, Modesto) OL
Jaden Smith (Golden Valley, Merced) WR/DE
Alafa Tuaolo (Enochs, Modesto) RB/LB
Koy Wicker (Merced) OL
Eli Wilbanks (Hughson) RB/LB
North Girls Flag Team (Alphabetical Roster)
Reagan Baker (Escalon) RB
Jasmine Barron (Escalon) WR
Ella Choeun (Bear Creek, Stockton) RB
Emma Coronado (Kimball, Tracy) QB
Presley DaCruz (St. Mary’s, Stockton) ATH
Kameiyah DePerio (Kimball, Tracy) C/LB
Anaiya Garcia (Kimball, Tracy) WR/DB
Angelique Gonzalez (Lathrop) LB/C
Izabella Gutierrez (Tracy) RB/LB
Larissa Harries (East Union, Manteca) ATH
Sosefina Hunkin (St. Mary’s, Stockton) ATH
Kamali Leonard (Bear Creek, Stockton) WR
Caliyah Lopez (East Union, Manteca) ATH
Keira McCulley (Manteca) WR/LB
Anjulie Navarro (McNair, Stockton) WR/DB
Aubrie Prichard (Tracy) WR/DB
South Girls Flag Team (Alphabetical Roster)
Mikayla Arteaga (Hilmar) RB/WR
Brianna Barajas (Beyer, Modesto) RB
Ivy Butler (Pitman, Turlock) LB
Sovannary Carter (Ceres) WR
Madysen Dietz (El Capitan, Merced) WR/DB
Mischa Geske (Downey, Modesto) ATH
Brisa Gonzales (Hilmar) QB/RB
Saige Harcksen (Atwater) WR
Juniper Helling (Mariposa County) WR
Lizette Jimenez (Livingston) WR
Raquel Jimenez (Riverbank) RB
Savannah McGhee (Buhach Colony, Atwater) DB/WR
Natalia Melgoza (Atwater) WR/DB
Audrey Pacheco (Gregori, Modesto) QB
Ryann Perez (Merced) QB
Marian Quevedo (Orestimba, Newman) LB
Valeriia Salgado (Grace Davis, Modesto) LB
Yareli Vargas (Modesto) WR
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.
New partners of CalHiSports.com created BESTofLEGACY in 2004 to serve professional athletes. Now, high school, college and minor leaguers can play along via BriteLegacy’s premier product, “The Fold.”
VIDEO SHOWING “THE FOLD” IN ACTION, CLICK HERE.
We are pleased to announce that Cal-Hi Sports and CalHiSports.com has entered into a partnership with BriteLegacy (britelegacy.com), a company that creates one-of-a-kind memorabilia for high school athletes.
This fits perfectly with our longtime partners from BillyTees.com, who have provided all-state patches since the 2017-18 school year for the parents of those named to all-state teams in football, boys basketball, girls basketball, baseball and softball. Get a patch and now get The Fold to go with it, too.
In 2004, BestofLegacy founder and CEO Stone Melet, a former morning news TV anchor and TV news assignment reporter in four major markets over a five-year period, wanted to create “the Rolls Royce of Scrapbooks” for athletes and others in the media spotlight. One of the best sales points for that scrapbook became the idea of imbeding a video highlights screen inside the book.
BestofLegacy targeted pro athletes and they loved what was created for them. Some of of those who ordered it include Emmitt Smith to Max Scherzer to Brett Hull to Ja Morant. There’s also been Luca Doncic, Kelly Slater, three generations of Andrettis, Aaron Rodgers, Clayton Kershaw, Martin Brodeur, Charles Barkley and more. The client list for BestofLegacy also has gone beyond sports with those such as Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Martin Scorcese and Mark Cuban.
BriteLegacy just launched as a spinoff of BESTofLEGACY. The goal of “The Fold” is to take the best elements of the product those major stars are getting, but at a more affordable price point.
“The Fold,” is an XL tri-fold featuring a big video highlights screen, an accolades page, a photo/word mosaic cover and a booklet containing several of the athlete’s best newspaper/magazine clippings + photos.
Head to britelegacy.com to get started on your Fold today.
San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno head coach Brad Roznovsky shows intensity during second CIF state championship season in four years. Photo: Sal Velazquez.
For our post on each of the divisional boys basketball State Coaches of the Year, CLICK HERE.
We hope you like this free post on CalHiSports.com. Please consider becoming a member of our Gold Club so you can see all of our great basketball content, including some of our upcoming all-state boys basketball teams. For more on special offer to get signed up for $4.99 for one month that is still being offered, CLICK HERE.
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When the dust cleared after the championship game of the Michelle Carew Classic last year, Rosary of Fullerton players were the ones with the highest honors. Photo: Harold Abend.
Highly-ranked Fullerton (12-1) is ready to roll at this year’s Michelle Carew Classic and is currently ranked No. 2 in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports rankings. The Indians are 1-0 since the latest rankings that were out on March 25 with a 4-0 victory over host Long Beach Poly. In that game, junior Katelynn Mathews threw a 3-hitter with 14 strikeouts. She’s 8-0 this season with a O.17 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched.
Head coach Trevor Holton has several big bats in the line-up but the two top producers are Utah Valley-committed senior Hayley Brock and sophomore Kaylyn Yi. Brock is hitting .459 with to home runs, five doubles, 16 RBI and 17 runs scored. Yi leads the team with a .571 average with five doubles, five RBI and 13 runs scored.
Fullerton opens on Wednesday at 5:15pm against a Chino Hills (10-4) team that was No. 20 in the recent state rankings.
Fullerton has a 3-2 win over Norco at the Dave Kops tournament in Arizona but some SoCal softball analysts feel the favorite at the Carew still could be No. 3 ranked and preseason No. 1 Norco. Norco (9-2) also has a 2-0 loss to JSerra and has been idle since the last rankings. Norco was set to face Long Beach Millikan in its first tourney game.
Those two will not be the only two Cal-Hi Sports Top 25 teams to grace the Carew Classic field. Others include No. 10 Orange Lutheran, No. 13 Mater Dei of Chula Vista, and No. 19 Del Oro of Loomis will represent Northern California. Del Oro also is the team that won last year’s CIF NorCal D1 championship.
Remember admission is free and according to tournament director J.R. Bennett says the fields are in great shape despite some rain on Tuesday.
For tournament schedules and results, CLICK HERE.
Last season’s State Coach of the Year in girls basketball is going to take the plunge into college coaching as Carondelet of Concord’s Kelly Sopak (also the former head coach at Miramonte of Orinda when Sabrina Ionescu was there) is going to take over the program at the University of Nevada.
It is a bit of a homecoming for Kelly Sopak.
After leading Concord Carondelet since 2021, with previous stints at Walnut Creek Northgate from 2006-2009 and Orinda Miramonte from 2010-2020, Sopak has accepted the job as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Nevada-Reno.
During his time as a high school coach, Sopak amassed a 541-91 record and was named the 2025 Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year after his Carondelet team won the CIF Division I state championship. Over six seasons at Carondelet, Sopak also led the Cougars to three CIF North Coast Section titles, and three NorCal Championship Game appearances with the one title. At Miramonte, Sopak guided the Matadors to a CIF Open Division NorCal title, five NCS championships and seven league titles.
Carondelet of Concord head coach Kelly Sopak ponders a question during CIF D1 state final post-game press conference. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The top name among the group of players he’s coached is current New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who played both club and high school ball for Sopak before going on to a decorated collegiate career at Oregon, becoming the top pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, and winning an Olympic Gold Medal with Team USA in 2024.
When we say it a bit of a homecoming for Sopak, it is indeed.
In a bit of a strange twist, the 57-year old Sopak wasn’t even a basketball player in high school or college. He grew up just outside of Tacoma, Washington in Puyallup and attended Bethel High in nearby Spanaway. At Bethel, he starred in baseball and football before attending the University of Nevada in Reno where his baseball career was cut short due to injuries. Wolf Pack Sopak is coming full circle with his return to Reno.
“Today’s announcement marks a defining moment for Nevada Women’s Basketball and for the University of Nevada. Kelly’s return to his alma mater brings not only expertise, but an energy and vision that matches the ambition of this program,” Nevada Reno Athletic Director Stephanie Rempe said in a press release after his naming. “His unparalleled success in growing talent and building high-performing programs aligns perfectly with the trajectory we envision for Nevada Women’s Basketball. He has mentored, coached and developed some of the very best players in the world. As the landscape of college athletics continues to evolve, Kelly is the forward-thinking, purpose-driven leader who will build a championship-caliber program and elevate the Wolf Pack to new heights.”
“I am truly honored and grateful to be selected as the next head coach of Nevada Women’s Basketball. As an alum, this place has shaped me in so many ways. I am the person I am today because of my time at this University, and that makes this opportunity deeply meaningful to me,” Sopak said in the press release. “This is a community that cares, that shows up, and that takes pride in its program, and I feel that. I am excited to pour everything I have into this role. We are going to build a program that reflects the toughness, the work ethic, and the spirit of Nevada. I cannot wait to get in the gym with this group of student athletes and get to work.”
After college, Sopak began a career as a State Farm insurance broker in Reno and his career path involved travel before he married local Bay Area native and Nevada Reno fellow alumnus Beverly Sopak in Piedmont, Calif. in 1997. He moved his State Farm practice to the East Bay in 2000 where the couple settled and raised their two daughters. Lauren Sopak, the oldest, who was a classmate of Ionescu at Miramonte, and also went to Oregon, works as Vice President of Event Operations for Nike Tournament of Champions. Leah Sopak holds a graduate assistant role with TCU women’s basketball which is currently 31-5 overall and in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
“Coach Kelly Sopak has established himself as one of the winningest women’s basketball coaches and developers of basketball talent on the West Coast. He brings a championship mentality and an incredible enthusiasm to lift our Women’s Basketball program to new heights,” said University President and former Governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval ’86 in the press release. “As a graduate of our University, he understands what Wolf Pack Athletics means to our community and is the ideal person to lead this new era of Wolf Pack women’s basketball. We are excited to welcome Kelly and his family home.”
It will be interesting indeed to see how it goes for Sopak switching from the high school coaching world to college where recruiting players (especially now in the NIL era) can be so crucial to success. We’ve seen a few come back to high school coaching after the college experience, but everyone’s journey is different. All of us at Cal-Hi Sports have enjoyed all of our interactions with Kelly.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
