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WRESTLING PREVIEW. Pg. 12 Bella Vista’s Shayne Tucker is the state’s best. JANUARY 17, 2013 VOL. 4. ISSUE 59 FREE SAC-JOAQUIN

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Page 1: SJ Issue 59, Jan. 17, 2013

Wrestling PrevieW. Pg. 12

Bella Vista’s Shayne Tucker is the state’s best.

January 17, 2013vol. 4. issue 59

Freesac-Joaquin

Page 4: SJ Issue 59, Jan. 17, 2013

4 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

you

sportslikeWe

sportslike

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›››

McClatchy’s emergence as a girls basketball force makes the Metro conference even tougher.

22

IMPULSE: It’s Lionel Messi’s world and we’re lucky to live in it. Gear up like the best there is.

36

fIrSt PItch: It’s a New Year and it’s a new SportStars. Check out what we have in store for you in 2013. Here’s a hint:

6Platelet Rich Plasma therapy has been in the news. But what is it and is it something right for you?

26

We all know how to do a push-up. Or do we?

27

A healthy lifestyle can’t just be lip-service to a resolu-tion. It has be a way of life.

29The top Sac-Joaquin wrestlers to watch in 2013

16

LockEr rooM: It’s not easy being the guy after The Guy.

8

SPortStarS of thE WEEk: Avonna Lee, Pleasant Grove

10

thE fEncE: Tryouts, sign-ups, fundraisers and more!

32advErtISErS IndEx37

cLIPboard: Turn up the vol-ume and listen to a theory on shooters.

11

De La Salle football coach Bob Ladouceur defined greatness.

18

state of mindpg12

shayne tucker

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6 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013 Score Digital Content: Scan SSM With LAYAR

Well, hello. It’s been awhile. Or so it seems. Here’s hoping all of you loyal

SportStars readers had a great holiday season. Santa was definitely good to us. We especially liked him coming through on delivering our seem-ingly over-the-top request of putting the 49ers back in the NFC Champion-ship game. Well played, St. Nick!

After taking a modest break to play with our new toys and gadgets, we returned to Sport-Stars Headquarters and began brainstorming on how we could become a better magazine in 2013.

We built a pretty big list, and I’m proud to introduce a handful of the changes we’re implementing in this issue.

First, let’s talk design. One of the changes you may have already seen on your way to this page. Our table of contents page (P. 4) has a new look now that we hope provides a better guide to what you can find inside each issue. We have more of our content listed and highlighted than ever before. We’re all about presenting options, though we hope you’ll want to read it all anyway.

More design. For those of you who have enjoyed our health-related content in past issues — our health, training and fitness columns — we’re now group-ing them into a new health and fitness section featuring a fun new design. We’ve titled it “Level Up.” With Level Up we’re hoping to expand our fitness and training content, through the magazine and online. Look for us to feature more experts sharing their knowledge in the coming issues. But for now, make sure to flip to page 26 and check out the debut.

The next changes stemmed from our desire to become more interactive, and to find ways to take advantage of the gluttony of technology swallowing up the publishing world.

We were introduced to a new smart phone application called Layar. If you didn’t see it’s logo on the cover, you should notice it right here on this page and be prepared to see it a lot in the coming pages as well — . The app, which is free and available for both iPhone and Droids, is a way for us to connect the physical pages of SportStars to the the online world and all its possibilities.

Once downloading the app, you can scan any page of SportStars and Layar will offer you a number of online extras such as exclusive video content, photo slideshows, ways to connect to our writers or buy our advertisers’ products. The bottom line is that we can now pack a more significant amount of content into these pages. And in turn, that means we’ll be attempting to produce a much larger exclusive online content — all the more reason to get reacquainted with SportStarsOnline.com. We’ve got plans for giving that part of SportStars a facelift as well.

So Happy 2013! We’re excited about another year of SportStars, and we’re glad you’re along for the ride.

We’re going to call Santa now and see if we can ask for our 2013 gift about 11 months early. We’re sure he’s a fan anyway, the 49ers wear red after all. ✪

Chace Bryson EditorFirst [email protected]

(925) 566-8503

AnothEr StEP ForwArd

It’s never fun doing the same thing over and over again, which is why 2013 is bringing a new, improved SportStars

PHONE 925.566.8500 FAX 925.566.8507EditOriAl [email protected] Chace Bryson • [email protected] Writers Erik Stordahl, Jim McCue Contributors Bill Kolb, Mitch Stephens, Matt Smith, Clay Kallam, Bryant West, Dave Kiefer, Liz Elliott, Tim Rudd, Jonathan OkanesPhotography Butch Noble, Bob Larson, Jonathan Hawthorne, James K. Leash, Norbert von der Groeben, Phillip Walton, Doug Gulerintern Ryan Arter

CrEAtivE dEPArtmENt [email protected] manager Mike DeCicco • [email protected]

PubliSHEr/PrESidENtMike Calamusa • [email protected]

AdvErtiSiNg & CAlENdAr/ ClASSiFiEd [email protected], 925.566.8500Account Executives Erik Stordahl • [email protected], Phillip Walton • [email protected] Sac Joaqin edition: Dave Rosales • [email protected]

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diStributiON/dElivEry [email protected]

iNFOrmAtiON tECHNOlOgy John Bonilla

CFO Sharon Calamusa • [email protected]

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This Vol. #4, January 2013 Whole No. 59 is published by Caliente! Communications, LLC, 5356 Clayton Rd, Ste. 222, Concord, CA 94521. SportStars™© 2010 by Caliente! Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Subscription rates: 24 issues, U.S. 3rd class $42 (allow 3 weeks for delivery). 1st class $55. To receive sample issues, please send $3 to cover postage. Back issues are $4 each. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of Publisher is strictly prohibited. The staff and management, including Board of Directors, of SportStars™© does not advocate or encourage the use of any product or service advertised herein for illegal purposes. Editorial contributions, photos and letters to the editor are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor. All material should be typed, double-spaced on disk or email and will be handled with reasonable care. For materials return, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. SportStars™© and STARS!™© Clinics are registered trademarks of Caliente! Communications, LLC.

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Page 8: SJ Issue 59, Jan. 17, 2013

8 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

“We’re a pretty deep team, and we’re able to wear some teams down in the second half. As long as we’re down by a reasonable amount of points we feel OK because we always tend to have big second halfs. I think it’s

just because we’ve got so many guys and they are all in really good condi-tion — that’s why they dislike their coach at times.”

Campolindo-Moraga boys basketball coach Matt Watson following his team’s 66-54 win over rival Miramonte-Orinda on Jan. 11. The Cougars opened the second half on a 13-0 run. They outscored Miramonte 40-24 in the second half.

rapidFIREGolf

Movie character you’d like to meet Coke or Pepsi

WizardShooter McGavin (Happy Gilmore)

Iron Man Ninja Baseball

Last app you downloaded

Nike, adidas or other

Ninja, robot or wizard

Sport you wish you could play better

sayWHAT

GIRLS HOOPS: St. Mary’s-Stockton MLK Showcase, Jan. 19, all day — There will be 12 varsity games over two days but seven happen on 1/19, including a state power tilt between the host Rams and La Jolla Country Day, plus an interstate battle between St. Mary’s-Berkeley and South Medford (OR.). Find out more on pg. 32.

bOyS WrEStliNg: mission San Jose Inviational, Feb. 1-2, all day — A stacked field tends to provide last true tune-up before postseason.

GIRLS SOCCER: Bishop O’Dowd at Castro Valley, Jan. 30, 6 p.m. — A match sure to affect the crowded WACC-Foothill race.

Mike Protheroe, Clayton valley football

Brett stephens, Campolindo baseball

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9SportStars™Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ January 17, 2013

7Number of goals the Acalanes-La-fayette boys soccer team — with goal-keepers Eric Sirott, right, and Eric Rogstad — has al-lowed over its first 16 matches this season. Not sur-prisingly, the Dons were unbeaten through Jan. 12.

ToP 5 TouGHer JoBS To Take over THaN Head de La SaLLe FooTBaLL CoaCH

So. After 34 years, 399 wins, 25 losses, 3 ties, 20 unbeaten seasons, a national-record 151-game winning streak spanning over a decade, 28 North Coast Section titles and a smattering of No. 1 national rankings, Bob Ladouceur stepped down as the De La Salle High School football coach. That means you’re up, Justin Alumbaugh. Um. Good luck with that. No pressure or anything. Not as if you have, like, gargantuan shoes to fill or anything. Hey brother. Take a deep breath. Be cool. Relax. It’s high school foot-ball. So. There are totally more rigorous jobs, right? Here are the top five positions for which we think it would be tougher to be the successor than Alumbaugh taking over for Lad.

1. PRESIDEnT OF THE UnITED STATES OF AMERICA. Incumbent: Barack Obama. We think that just about the most self-defeating, dumb, demoralizing thing you can possibly do to yourself is run for president. Next up after that? Run for a second term. No matter what you do, roughly 50 percent of the people think you’re an idiot. And possibly a crook. And a liar. And maybe the devil. So. Anyone who steps into those shoes is a) kind of a glutton for punishment and b) waaaaay more idealistic than we have ever been. Bon chance, friendo!

2. nATIOnAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME VOTER. Incumbents: A bunch of gibbering knuckleheads and a handful of thoughtful baseball writers. Nevermind the steroid nonsense surrounding Bonds, Clemens, et. al. But. Really? It woulda been soooo hard to write down Biggio, Schilling and Piazza? Come ON you guys. You let Bert Freakin Blyleven in. Pay attention.

3. MASTER OF THE PAn FLUTE. Incumbent: Zamfir. That thing just looks really, really hard to play.

4. uNivErSAl CrEAtOr. Incumbent: God. Lad is good. We mean, really, really good. Nobody runs a veer running attack like that guy. Still. The whole world-in-seven-days thing is pretty compelling. And have you taken a look at the human autonomic nervous system lately? That stuff is complicated. A little trickier than drawing up ways to beat a two-deep zone.

5. tOP FivE WritEr. Incumbent: Us. You think you could do this, issue in and issue out? Man. We make this look easy because we’re just that good.

— Bill ‘You think you’re better than me?’ Kolb

it’s thenEW guY

by thenuMbERS

BOYS HOOPS: De La Salle’s MLK Classic, Jan. 21, Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, all day — 16th MLK event hosted by De La Salle with six games, the first beginning at 10:30 a.m. The biggest matchup features the host Spartans against defending Div. IV state champ Salesian-Rich-mond. Full schedule on P. 30

GIRLS HOOPS: Campolindo Shootout, Jan. 26, Bentley High, Lafayette, all day — Mitty-San Jose vs. Miramonte-Orinda highlights strong day of matchups.BOYS HOOPS: Deer Valley-Antioch at Sheldon-Sac., Jan. 19, 7 p.m. — Division-I talent galore in this nonleague showdown.BOYS SOCCER: De La Salle at Monte Vista-Dan-ville, Jan. 24, 6 p.m. — Can MV hold off the four-time NCS champs to win the EBAL?

GIRLS HOOPS: Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove at Oak Ridge-ED Hills, Jan. 29, 7 p.m. — Title impli-cations loom in the Delta River League showdown.BOYS HOOPS: Bellarmine-San Jose vs. Mitty-San Jose, Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m. — First WCAL title between teams went to Mitty 65-63.bOyS SOCCEr: Alhambra-Martinez at Dublin, Jan. 30, 6 p.m. — This DFAL matchup may have a playoff berth on the line.

It’s never easy to follow a legend, but here’s a closer look at the guy replacing Bob Ladouceur as football coach at De La Salle High School.

■ NAmE: Justin Alumbaugh

■ AgE: 33

■ COACHiNg EXPEriENCE: 14 seasons as a member of the DLS coaching staff; Primary duties in recent year has been the offensive line and inside linebackers coach, as well as running the strength and condi-tioning program.

■ AN OrigiNAl SPArtAN: Alumbaugh is a 1998 De La Salle graduate who played three varsity seasons under Ladouceur. The Spartans set the national record for con-secutive victories during his senior season (1997).

■ ultimAtE vOtE OF CONFidENCE: “I’m his biggest fan,” Ladouceur said of Alumbaugh on Jan. 4. “I felt I owed it to him (to finally step aside). I want him to do it and succeed, and I know he will.”

ONliNE EXCluSivE: Watch our interview with Alumbaugh at SportStarsOnline.com. Or use the Layar App to scan the page now.

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10 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

honorablemention

megan roberson

Del Campo’s senior center dominated the paint at the

Monterey Bay Sweet 16 tourna-ment, leading the Cougars to a 2-2 mark. Roberson almost averaged a triple-double with 9.8 points, 17 rebounds, and 10.5 blocks.

nick fiegener

The Folsom senior took second place in the 160-pound

division at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in Clovis. Fiegener was 4-1 at what is considered the top in-season tournament in the state.

avonna lee

pleasant grove . basketball . senior

The guard led the Eagles to the Platinum Division consolation title at the West Coast Jamboree over the holiday break. Lee had 28 points, 12 rebounds and had three steals in the consolation final, a 65-55 victory over local rival Mon-terey Trail. In the four games of the tournament, Avonna averaged 20.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and five assists for Pleasant Grove, who also defeated University-Irvine and Kinkaid-Houston (TX.) in the consolation bracket. Lee also scored 26 in a 76-45 road win over Ponderosa.

SportStars magazine: What was the competition and atmo-sphere like at the Jamboree?

Avonna lee: We knew the competition was going to be very good and we just wanted to use the tournament to help us prepare for league.

SSm: How have tournaments like the West Coast Jamboree prepared you and the team for the rest of your season?

Al: It was great to have every-one together playing as a team. It brought us together and we got better at picking each other up and working as a team.

SSm: How would you assess the state of the team after holiday tournaments and start of league?

Al: I am pretty happy with where we are at. We are working on playing stronger team defense to keep games like the Oak Ridge game (a 66-44 road loss) from happening again. James K. Leash

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devin moss

The Rocklin senior guard scored 30 points, including 11

consecutive points in the fourth quarter, to lead the Thunder to a 68-59 win over Del Oro in the Sierra Foothill League opener for both teams.

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11SportStars™

My coach called me a “volume shooter” but I didn’t know what it meant. It was hard to tell if she meant it as a good thing or a bad thing, and I was afraid to ask. So what does it mean?

—K.L., Hayward

On the most basic level, a volume shooter is a player who shoots a lot — but there’s more to it than that. First

though, it’s important to realize that the bas-ketball team that wins the game is the one that scores the most points. And, as the saying goes, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, so it’s very important to shoot the ball.

In girls basketball, where ballhandling is more of an issue than on the boys side, shooting the ball before a team has time to turn it over is even more important. A very patient offense, with lots of screens away from the ball and several passes, can work very well, but only if the team handles the ball extremely well, or the defense is very passive.

On the boys side, patience is more often re-warded. But even so, the ability to create a shot is one of the most important in the game — and it’s a hallmark of volume shooters.

So what does it mean to create a shot? At the most basic level, it means having the ability to

get a good look at the basket without any outside help. The great players can all create a shot, but it must be noted that it’s a lot harder for a center like Dwight Howard to create his own shot because he has to get the ball first — which means someone must pass it to him.

Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, touches the ball almost every pos-

session, so he can make the decision himself on whether to take a shot or work the ball around.

Another way to create a shot is to penetrate and pass the ball to someone else for an open look. Steve Nash, for example, is very good at that, so even though Nash is far from a volume shooter, he definitely creates shots — just not for himself.

There’s also a distinction between a “shooter” and a “scorer.” Some players are great shooters, but because they can’t create a shot on their own, they are dependent on their teammates

or the offensive system to get them the looks they need. Scorers, on the other hand, might be shooters or they might not, but they find a way to produce points, at the free-throw line, in the paint or wherever.

A volume shooter, then, is a scorer who takes a lot of shots, but there’s more to measuring his or her effectiveness than just shooting percent-age. Getting fouled is very important, for a variety of reasons, and making three-pointers is more valuable than making two-pointers. An advanced stat called True Shooting Percentage (Pts/(2*(FGA + (.44*FTA))) is the best measure of shooting efficiency, and a volume shooter with a good True Shooting Percentage should just keep on shooting.

So back to your original question: When your coach told you that you were a volume shooter, was that a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on your True Shooting Percentage relative to the other players on your team. ✪

Clay Kallam is an assistant athletic director and girls varsity basketball coach at Bentley High in Lafayette. To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email Coach Kallam at [email protected][email protected]

Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ January 17, 2013

Clay Kallam

Behind the Clipboard

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Being called a volume shooter isn’t necessarily a bad thingSo what does

it mean to create a shot?

At the most basic level, it

means having the ability to get

a good look at the basket

without any outside help.

The great players can all create a shot.

Page 12: SJ Issue 59, Jan. 17, 2013

12 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

Story by Jim McCue

Photo by James K. Leash

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13SportStars™Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ January 17, 2013

Have singlet, will travel. Bella Vista senior Shayne Tucker has logged thousands of miles during a long wrestling career that started at age five. His

high school travels will soon end, but the state’s No. 1-ranked wrestler at 152 pounds has his sights set on one final road trip down Highway 99 to Bakersfield this March.

Tucker hopes to return home from the Central Valley then with a state title and a clear vision of the path to college competition. In the meantime, he will draw upon his past experiences on the road and on the mat to pave the path that he believes he can travel.

As a junior, Tucker ran into a detour on his road to a state championship when his season ended with a narrow 4-3 loss to Col-lege Park’s Brian Sergi in the 138-pound final. While the defeat was heartbreaking—Tucker had beaten Sergi earlier in the 2011-12 season—he is determined to use it as motivation to complete the journey in 2013.

“Dropping that match and taking second only makes me want it more,” Tucker said of winning a state title this year. “That will help me stay focused and avoid senioritis or anything else that could keep me from winning.”

In pursuit of a CIF State Championship, Tucker has hit the road early in the 2012-13 season to prepare for the best that the state has to offer. In December, he travelled to Ohio to compete at the Walsh Ironman national tournament and finished fourth against some of the best wrestlers in the country. Shayne was seeded eighth at 152s, and exceeded expectations with an impressive effort.

Tucker followed up the Ironman tournament, one of the toughest national events offered during the wrestling season, with California’s top tournament, the Doc Buchanan Invita-tional in Clovis. At the “Doc B” event, Tucker lived up to his top state ranking with a second-place finish, losing only to Oregon’s Reed Van Anrooy 5-3 in the championship match.

Traveling to face top competition is a regular routine for Tucker and his Bella Vista teammates. Head coach Michael Lee, who is in his 22nd year leading the Broncos after wrestling at the Fair Oaks campus in the 1980s, is a firm believer in going to great lengths to expose his wrestlers to the best competition.

“We go all over to find the best competition,” Lee said. “The Ironman is probably the toughest in-season national tournament and the Doc B is the toughest in the state. We want to go where we can face the best.”

These high-profile events provide the competition and atmosphere that Tucker and his teammates need to thrive at the Sac-Joaqin Section Mas-

ters and CIF tournament. While the Broncos might suffer defeat at the hands of some of the best grapplers in the state and nation,

they view it as an opportunity to prepare for what matters most to them—the final competitions in the postseason.

“The experience at the Ironman and Doc B is big,” Tucker said of facing fierce competition. “The Ironman is the biggest event I have been at and the environment and atmosphere were great.”

“I go out to win every time, but those experiences are only going to get me better. Facing top wrestlers whenever I can will

help at state.”National events like the Ironman and summer freestyle tourna-

ments also give top wrestlers like Tucker exposure to collegiate pro-grams looking to replenish their rosters each year. With just 9.5 scholar-

ships to fill 10 collegiate weight divisions, though, the competition for a full ride is often more difficult than facing a nationally-ranked opponent.

Tucker has dreamed of wrestling for Oklahoma, his longtime favorite college, but he understands that program fit and depth in weight class take a front seat to simple

Bella Vista senior Shayne tucker is the top-ranked 152-pound wrestler in the state, and he can’t wait for a chance to prove it

“We go all over

to find the best competition. We want to go where we can face the

best.”Bella Vista coach

Mike Lee

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14 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

love of a program. While bigger sports like football afford more scholarship opportunities to top recruits, wrestlers are often faced with fewer choices. Fortunately for Tucker, there are a good deal of options for him to determine the best fit.

“I have been talking to lots of schools and took an official visit to North Dakota State,” he said of the recruiting process. “My dream school is Oklahoma, but I will be looking at a lot of programs (including Michigan State, Virginia Tech, and Arizona State) and taking some more trips.”

College will have to wait for Tucker while he makes a final run at the league, division, section, and state levels of competi-tion. Bella Vista has won three Capital Athletic League titles in Tucker’s first three seasons at the school, and a fourth league crown is expected for the Broncos.

With Tucker and teammate Victor Trujillo (126 pounds) both ranked in the top two in their respective weight classes, the Broncos were ranked the No. 9 team in California in the preseason. Lee hopes that up to five wrestlers on the team can qualify for the state tournament to give the program a shot at a top 10 or 15 team finish in Bakersfield.

“If I have my best team and we are healthy, then we are hard to beat,” Lee said of his team’s prospects at the section and state levels. “If the team mentally believes in themselves, then we can go far.”

Tucker is obviously the Broncos’ No. 1 wrestler and, accord-ing to Lee, ranks among the best that the program has ever had. Past Bronco greats include state champions Ken Gaud-reau, Tony Kitchen, Mark Loomis, Lynn Mason, Tracy Yeates, and California’s first three-time state champion David Lee.

“I think that Shayne is every bit as good as (the program’s past greats),” the coach said. “In terms of past greatness in the program, he stands right with them.”

Tucker’s greatness is a product of exceptional athleticism

and technical wrestling ability. Lee says that his current star is strong in all positions—top, bottom, and neutral—and op-ponents have to be at their very best to beat Tucker.

“Shayne does not lose matches,” Lee said. “He thinks well on the mat and stays calm throughout every match. He never loses his composure or focus.”

Shayne attributes his athleticism and success to his father, Mark, who is an assistant coach at Bella Vista and has been Shayne’s coach, mentor, and role model since his youth.

It was Mark, a former baseball star at San Juan High School, who inherited the Junior Broncos Wrestling Club and built it into the California Extreme Wrestling Club that feeds the Bel-la Vista program today. Upon finding out that he was taking over the club, Mark Tucker bought a 13-volume set of VHS tapes to learn the Granby System to teach and coach wrestling to his sons, nephews, and other interested local athletes.

The elder Tucker, who has been the Lead Pastor at the New Life Community Church in Fair Oaks for 20 years, would take his boys to tournaments throughout California and beyond to give them the chance to compete and learn against top youth programs.

“We would load them up and leave on Friday right after school and drive all evening and night to Oregon,” he said. “The kids would wrestle in the tournament all day Saturday, and we would head home so that I could get up early Sunday after a few hours of sleep and get to church on time.”

That family connection with wrestling grew and lived on through Shayne and his brothers and cousins. As a sopho-more, Shayne’s Bella Vista teammates included older brother Colton and cousins Grant and Landon Burkhalter, who were all seniors in 2010-11.

Relatives still follow Shayne in his wrestling pursuits as Tucker had a large cheering section at last year’s state final in-side Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. And, as the stakes get higher, Mark Tucker expects that the size of the Tucker crew at state will also grow.

“We expect an even bigger contingent this year,” he said of Shayne’s cheering section at state. “The family and friends want to see Shayne in his last shot to get a state title.”

A state championship would be a first for the Tucker fam-ily, so Shayne is excited to have the opportunity to share the experience under the spotlight in the middle of the arena with close relatives and friends.

“All eyes are on you and it feels almost like you are in slow motion,” Shayne said of the state finals setup. “It is great how they do the finals. It makes it real special.”

And nothing would be more special to Tucker than to earn a state championship medal at the end of the long road. ✪

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16 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

› › ›››Wrestlers to Watchsac-Joaquin's top 10

JoHNNY CaLLaS■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Nevada Union-Grass Valley/Senior■ Wt. ClASS: 145■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: Sierra Foothill League and SJS Div. II champion (126) vaulted higher seeds, including Folsom’s Connor Pollock and Ponderosa’s Sean Melton to win the SJS Masters title. Callas finished in the top 12 at state.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Callas will compete in major tourneys at 152 pounds, but has captured the Vista del Lago and Bear Creek tournament titles at 160. Sixth at Reno TOC. Currently ranked No. 10 at 152 pounds by TheCaliforniaW-restler.com.

JeFF CaMILLI■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Ponderosa-Shingle Springs/Senior■ Wt. ClASS: 285■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: In field full of senior standouts, including eventual state champion Johnny Schupp of Vacaville and runner-up Michael Lowman from Foothill, Camilli was highest finishing underclassman at the SJS Masters (fifth).■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: The football standout is high on the radar of recruiters as a lineman and wrestler. Camilli is SJS’ highest-ranked heavyweight (No. 6) in the state, and could make a run to keep the heavyweight title in the Section this year.

kaSeY kLauS■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Vacaville/Senior■ Wt. ClASS: 120■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: As a key component of the Bulldogs’ SJS Masters team championship, Klaus followed up league and division titles with an individual SJS Masters title at 120 pounds. ■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Klaus is the section’s top-ranked wrestler in state. Seventh at Reno TOC. Won Bear Creek Invite at 126. Will face solid competition in both weight classes in dual meets before seeking a spot on the state podium at 120s.

raY LoMaS Iv■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Central Catholic-Modesto/Senior■ Wt. ClASS: 170■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: At 145 as a junior, Lomas rolled through strong field at the Masters before recording a 5-2 decision over Union Mine junior Sean Tow in the final. He followed up the section win with an impressive fifth-place finish at state.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Lomas helped Raiders win the Div. IV state football title. Jumping up four weight classes will be a challenge, especially at 170 pounds where the SJS is loaded with talent.

GIoNN PeraLTa■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Vacaville/Junior■ Wt. ClASS: 106■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: A dominating sophomore season produced league, division, and Masters championships for Peralta in the lowest weight class. His third-place finish at State helped Vacaville finish sixth as a team in Bakersfield.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Just a junior, Peralta is the state’s top-ranked 106-pounder. A fourth-place finish at the Reno TOC could be the start of a run at another State champion for the storied Bulldogs’ program.

PeTer SaNToS■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Oakmont-Roseville/Senior■ Wt. ClASS: 170■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: With so much attention on team-mate and defending state champ Jake Elliott, Santos quietly established himself as major player at section and state level. Won 170 Masters title before finishing fifth at state.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Santos is the top dog for the Vikings and proved his No. 2 ranking in California with third-place finish at the Iron Man national tournament in Ohio. The 170s will be challenge within SJS, but Santos is favorite to repeat, make run at a state title.

ISraeL Saavedra■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Modesto/Freshman■ Wt. ClASS: 113■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: Before joining brother Emilio at the high school level, Israel was making his mark in national tournaments over the summer.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Saavedra has already captured titles at three early invitationals (120, 126 pounds), and will be a handful for the 113-pounders when the Masters and state tournaments arrive in February and March.

Trevor SMITH■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Ripon/Senior ■ Wt ClASS: 182 Pounds■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: The Division V champion rolled through the Masters field before edging Vacaville’s Chris Lai 1-0 in semis. Won title with 9-4 decision. He was the top section finisher at 182 pounds in Bakersfield, finishing sixth.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: No. 4 ranked 182-pounder in state, Smith won Western Invitational in Modesto at 195. Second at Clinch Gear TOC at 182. Will be battle with Lai again for section crown. Winner gets higher seed in wide open state field.

JeraMY SWeaNY■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Vacaville/Junior■ Wt. ClASS: 195■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: The league and division winner finished as the runner-up to Khymba Johnson at the Masters before placing eighth at state.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: One of many key returners for the Bulldogs as they make a run for a top 5 finish at state, Sweany is top-ranked in state at 195. All-tournament at Larry Nelson Classic at 220. Won Reno TOC championship at 195.

vICTor TruJILLo■ SCHOOl/grAdE: Bella Vista-Fair Oaks/Senior■ Wt. ClASS: 126 Pounds■ 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: Trujillo won league and divisional titles before finishing as runner-up to Vacaville’s Klaus in the Masters final at 120. Sixth-place finish at state helped the Broncos to a top 20 team finish in Bakersfield.■ WHAt mAy bE NEXt: Rising star ranked No. 2 in the state’s deep 126-pound weight class. Trujillo has impressed early this season with the 132-pound title at the Clovis West Shoot-Out and a fourth-place finish at the Reno TOC. ✪

aLSo oN THe radar■ Nick Fiegener (Folsom), Sr., 160■ Chris Lai (Vacaville), Sr., 182■ Emilio Saavedra (Modesto), Jr., 126■ Jordan Sepeda (Natomas-Sacramento), Sr., 220■ Keaton Subjeck (Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills), Sr., 170■ Scott Votino (Elk Grove), Sr., 195

ABOVE: Jeramy Sweany, Vacaville.James K. Leash photo

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Spend enough time cover-ing football and basketball at De La Salle and it doesn’t take long to witness the strong friend-ship between the school’s two most successful coaches. Frank Allocco and Bob Ladouceur have 989 combined wins as Spartans coaches (as of 1/10). And since Allocco’s arrival in 1997, they’ve become very close friends. Thus, we asked Allocco to write a tribute to Ladouceur to include in our coverage of his decision to step down as head football coach.

Coach Bob Ladouceur, the legendary football coach and my great friend, has retired as head coach at De La Salle.

Writing the above words seems a bit strange despite the fact that Coach Lad had confided in me a year ago that this would probably be his last season.

A trip we took to Chicago started with him complain-ing at the gate about his seat on the plane and asking me to switch so he could have the window seat. Then at the hotel room he required the bed closest to the window. And then there were the meal decisions, which found him ruminating about where and when we should eat. Coach Lad is an amazing coach but he is not a great traveling com-panion!

Despite the challenges, each day ended with us in deep discussion about a wide variety of topics. Although our good-natured bantering and kidding never stops, our con-versations are never trivial. They are always about our lives, our pasts, coaching, developing kids, teaching methods and the blessing that we share — coaching and the chance to make a difference. Its constant communication that has oc-curred in a number of different settings: travel, phone calls, during workouts and at DLS. It is these moments that I have always treasured in my friendship with Bob Ladouceur.

When I first came to De La Salle I did not know Ladou-ceur. I obviously knew all about him and his amazing ac-complishments, but like many public school coaches, I was a bit skeptical. Our first conversation was a daytime phone call when he asked me about my position on kids playing two sports. I told him that I had played two sports in college so I was very receptive, provided they would share the same commitment level to each sport.

He went on to tell me about a great two sport athlete at De La Salle named D.J. Williams. He said D.J. wanted to play both sports and he thought it would be a great idea for both of us to sit down with D.J. and tell him our philosophies. When we got together in a classroom a couple of days later, Bob introduced me to D.J. and said the following:

“D.J., we know that you will hear rumors about what each of us believes about multi-sport athletes, but we wanted you to hear directly from us that we are both on board with you playing football and basketball at DLS.”

Bob then said; “Coach Allocco, why don’t you speak first?” “D.J., I don’t know you,” I said. “But you are obviously a

great athlete, and I think if you are willing to come to open gym and lift weights a couple of days a week in the summer with our team, I think you might be able to play varsity as a sophomore.”

Coach Ladouceur thanked me for my words, and then said; “D.J., we have had great success with our teams here and have several players in the NFL. I think that if you will work hard you can be the best player to ever play here at DLS.”

My mouth dropped as D.J. actually turned his back to me, his body language clearly expressing “I think I like the other guy a little better.” (For his own reasons, Williams chose not to play basketball beyond his freshman year. In 1999, he would prove Ladouceur correct by cementing his Spartan legacy by being named Mr. State Football.)

I walked out of the room and told my long time assistant coach Brian Sullivan; “I just learned my first lesson at DLS, never go first with Bob Ladouceur.”

I have so many amazing memories of my friendship with Coach Lad. I will never forget my first halftime in the foot-ball team’s locker room during their classic 1998 match up

manseasonsA fOR ALL

There’s always been more to Bob Ladouceur than coaching, and few

know better than De La Salle basketball coach frank Allocco

By FrANk AllOCCO | Special to SportStars

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Frank Allocco Bob Ladouceur

Allocco family photo

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with Mater Dei-Santa Ana. I couldn’t wait for halftime, so I could watch the legend in action and hear a fire and brimstone motivational speech. As the players assembled at the half, I heard him softly asking the lineman what plays they thought would work. He then grabbed a black marker and spent the entire half diagramming the blocking on a quick trap play.

I left the locker room disappointed that he had spent the entire half diagramming one play. I had expected a lot more than that. But then in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line and the Spartans facing a 3rd-and-32 situation, he called that quick trap. The blocking was perfect and the play went for 58 yards, a first down, and an upset over Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei. It was then that I learned there was a little bit of magic in this guy.

I will always treasure our pre-game runs together. We would run long distances, sprints, combo walk and jog. He always determined the workout. We were constantly teasing and challenging each other. I remember beating him in a 440 yard sprint and afterwards he said, “well, you might have won, but you are starting to look really old when you run.”

After each workout, we would lay on the grass, gaze at the clouds and talk about the challenges of coaching. The time would fly by as we shared stories of success and disappoint-ments, but always zeroing in on how to improve and better serve kids.

Coach Lad is so much more than a football coach — he is truly a man for all seasons. He is a respected teacher and motivator who has served as a team leader on our school’s out-standing Kairos Retreats. These retreats are held in Healds-burg and bring together approximately 50 of our students for three days of sharing, reflection and prayer. I was proud to

serve on his team as an adult leader, and was amazed to see his skill in a whole new environment.

In just three days, he brought out the best in our kids and their leadership team. He had the perfect touch in serving as an understanding and compassionate mentor to these young men navigating through the difficult adolescent years. But each night, after they were asleep, the guitars came out and we laughed and shared memories of our past as we sang our fa-vorite 60s oldies with our beloved (and now deceased) school chaplain, Father Coz, a man we both reverently and respect-fully called “grandfather.”

Coach Ladouceur’s record as a coach is amazing and needs no restatement here. In a game defined by statistics and num-bers, his are unparalleled. He has the greatest high school coaching record in history (in terms of win percentage). Many will look at the irony of him retiring when he did, just one win short of 400. When I heard Bob was retiring with 399 wins, I called him and asked if that number was on the pro side of the potential retirement decision list. He laughed and said it was, that the number of wins meant nothing to him. The only numbers that truly matter are the numbers of lives he touched in the classroom, on retreats, in the community and on the 100-yard classroom on Winton Drive.

I love Coach Lad and consider him one of my closest friends. I am grateful that since that first meeting we have made a special connection, and I am truly blessed to have had him as a friend, mentor, and role model. I will miss seeing those deep, dark eyes penetrating the action on the field, but I am excited to see the unfolding of this new chapter in his life — one that I am sure will make an even more profound statement than the past 34 years. ✪

after each workout, we would lay on the grass, gaze at the clouds and talk about the challenges of coaching. the time would fly by as we shared stories of success and disappointments, but always zeroing in on how to improve and better serve kids.

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metro

maXto thE

McClatchy’s emergence as a contender may make the Metro the most competitive

girls basketball league in the region

Kennedy vs. McClatchy has always had lots of mean-ing when the girls’ basketball teams face off on the hardwood. Metro League and local rivalry has fu-

eled the showdowns for years, but the games are taking on more importance this season.

McClatchy’s recent visit to the Cougars’ gymnasium had the added intensity of a rising young program attempting to join the established league power as a title contender and playoff threat. In recent years, Kennedy and Sacramento High have owned the Metro and won section titles in their respective divisions while McClatchy has fought to return to the top tier of the standings and revisit past playoff glory.

After a year in which the Lions fell just short of earning a playoff berth in longtime head coach Harvey Tahara’s final season at the helm, McClatchy has regrouped with a deter-mined group of young players eager to be a worthy foe in the improving Metro League.

To start the season, McClatchy made the entire Sac Joa-quin Section take notice with a 12-0 start under the direc-tion of first-year head coach Jessica Kunisaki. That included tournament titles in River City’s Rumble By the River and Folsom’s Lady Bulldog Winter Classic. The Lions then opened league play with a 49-29 victory over Metro foe Valley-Sacramento for the program’s hottest start in years.

“Our overall goal is to get to the playoffs because we missed the playoffs last year by one game,” first-year coach Kunisaki said. “I didn’t know what to expect in league play. I know it’s a very competitive league and we just want to compete every game.”

The Lions were competitive against Kennedy in a game filled with scoring runs. Despite trailing by 19 after three quarters, the Lions fought back with a 16-2 run to cut the Cougars’ lead to 43-38 with 1:34 left, serving notice to the rest of the league that McClatchy will fight to the final buzz-er to join the Metro elite.

“McClatchy is a team that you definitely have to look out for,” Kennedy senior Lynette Johnson said. “They play hard, and they are all underclassmen.”

McClatchy has five seniors, but the bulk of the minutes have gone to a strong group of freshmen and sophomores.

ToP doGSThe Metro League had five teams with at least 10 wins through Jan. 12. The league sent four teams to the SJS playoffs a year ago.

McClatchy ..............14- 1

Sacramento* ...........13-2

Kennedy* ................12-3

Florin* ......................10-4

Burbank...................10-7

*Playoff team in 2011-12. The fourth Metro team to reach the postseason last year was Valley.

By Jim mcCuE | Senior Contributor

James K. Leash photosFreshman Gigi Garcia, center,

has played a huge role in McClatchy’s emergence — this coming just a year since tearing right knee ligaments as an eighth grader.

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Frontcourt forces Gigi Garcia and Destiney Lee have the potential to cause problems at both ends of the court while young guards Lauren Nubla and Kelsey Wong bring high en-ergy and playmaking. The Lions’ upperclassmen add valuable experience and clutch outside shooting, but how far the team goes is likely to rely on underclassmen.

Lee leads with 11 points and seven rebounds per game, but foul trouble limited the sophomore post player to just four points in the team’s first loss. Garcia, a freshman, has been a pleasant surprise, averaging nearly 10 points, six rebounds

and more than four blocks per game.“She had a torn ACL last year in the eighth grade, so I didn’t

really know what I had with her,” said Kunisaki, who had nev-er seen Garcia play until August tryouts. “I heard that she was a guard, so I thought that was where I would play her. But she seems to play better down low.”

Regardless of where Garcia plays, Kennedy coach Dave Parsh knows the league will have their hands full with the freshman forward and the rest of the young Lions.

“I have to look forward to that for another three years,” Parsh said of McClatchy’s young lineup. “(McClatchy) is an-other one that you have to spend a lot of time preparing for, but that’s good. It makes it more fun to play in the league with more competitive games.”

League stalwarts Kennedy and Sacramento have been chal-lenged by Florin recently, and Burbank started the season well with a 9-5 nonleague mark before splitting their first two league decisions. With McClatchy added to the mix of poten-tial Metro playoff participants, coaches like Parsh and Sacra-mento’s Michele Massari may be forced to put in extra hours.

“It used to be that there were only two or three teams that you had to really prepare for,” Johnson said. “You would spend your league season working on your game to face those teams, but we can’t do that anymore.”

Parsh attributes the increasing strength of the Metro League to improved coaching and sees a deeper league as a boost for his team and other playoff hopefuls from the Metro.

“These Metro League wins are important, and it doesn’t matter who you beat,” Parsh said. “I anticipate that we will have a good power ranking from league wins with now four or five teams doing real well in nonleague play.”

Kunisaki will happily accept improved power rankings coming from league play, but she hopes her young team can take the next step in the Metro League to earn some wins against top tier teams. Last year, the Lions were 8-0 in league contests against Burbank, Johnson, Rosemont, and Valley, but winless against Sacramento, Kennedy, and Florin.

“Mentally, we have to get stronger,” Kunisaki said. “Against the best teams, we need to learn how to step up and execute.

“The girls are still learning how to play together and matur-ing mentally and physically.”

With maturity will come stronger challenges to the top programs. Kunisaki believes that it can also lead to some big Metro League victories in the near future. ✪

January 17, 2013

In just her first year coaching

McClatchy, Jessica Kunisaki

has taken a young nucleus and built

an immediate contender.

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With nearly a whole football season behind us and the basketball season just hitting its stride, inju-ries in professional athletes are a common source of discussion in the media. It has become increas-ingly common to hear athletes receiving Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections to recover from injury. Athletes such as Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu and Alex Rodriguez have all undergone PRP treatment.

But what exactly is PRP?In order to understand PRP therapy, you have to first understand the composition of blood. The

majority of blood is a liquid called plasma. Within the plasma are several solid components: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Usually, the function of platelets is to help clot blood, but they also contain proteins called growth factors which can help to heal injury.

PRP is actually plasma that is more highly concentrated with platelets (and its potential growth factors) than regular blood. In order to make PRP

which is suitable for treatment, a patient’s blood is drawn. A special centrifuge then “spins down” the blood so that the platelets are separated from the rest of the blood, creating the PRP preparation that is ready for treatment.

This PRP is then injected into the injured area and/or is injected into an area that has just been surgically repaired. The thought is that by injecting PRP into an injured area, an increased concentration of growth factors is then avail-able to heal whatever damage is present. Since the procedure involves taking your own blood and immediately injecting it back into your own body, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and the World Anti-Doping Agency have all stated that PRP treat-ment is allowed.

Now before you run out to your local doctor and ask him to inject that nagging injury with some PRP, it’s important to understand our limited knowledge about PRP treatment (which is the reason why many insurance companies do not cover the treatment).

First, we are not exactly sure how PRP actually works to speed up injury healing. Although we have a theoretical explanation (putting more growth factors into an injured area), it is unclear what, if anything, is actually occurring on a more microscopic level. In addition, there is no standard PRP injection. Different methods of preparation, protocols, and even the PRP obtained from the same patient (due to diet, time of day, exercise, medications, etc.) can vary greatly.

The most important limitation to understand is that PRP therapy has really only shown to be ef-fective in research studies which look at the treatment of chronic tendon injuries (tendons connect muscles to bone) such as tennis elbow (irritation of tendons about the elbow). Unfortunately, the media concentrates on PRP in the treatment of acute muscle injuries such as hamstring strains in professional athletes; something which has not been consistently proven in research studies.

Therapies such as PRP may potentially hold promise in the future, but further research is neces-sary to determine what injuries PRP is best suited for, standard protocols for preparation, and the long term risks and benefits. It’s always important to remember that even though professional ath-letes are portrayed as making “miraculous” recoveries after receiving PRP injections; you can’t forget that they have an entire team of people working with them 24/7 getting them ready for the next game with an integrated program of exercise, rehab, and nutrition. Remember, the best injury treatment is always prevention.

Dr. Nirav K. Pandya is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon specializing in pediatric sports injuries at the Children’s Hospital in Oakland. He sees patients and operates in Oakland and at our facility at Wal-nut Creek. If you have any questions or comments regarding the “Health Watch” column, write the Sports Medicine for Young Athletes staff at [email protected].

Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy

truth Behind the hype

nirav K. Pandyahealth watch

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Tim Rudd for IYCA training time

PUSh-UPS:Importance of technique

Push-up variations are excellent for core and upper body strength as well as shoulder and elbow health when done correctly. Unfortunately, it’s a move-ment that seems to be taught and performed incorrectly — resulting in poor movement quality through the core and shoulder complex.

The biggest issue I see with push-up performance is an issue with scapular (shoulder blade) retraction and protraction through the entire movement. Most athletes will drop into a push-up without retracting their scapular into adduction (toward spine of upper back) resulting in impinge-ment in the shoulder joint, resulting in humeral anterior (forward) glide which causes stress to the tendons of the shoulder and elbow joint as shown at right.

Here are three tips to cueing and correcting an athlete’s push-up performance:

1The athlete should be in the top position of a push-up. Then place a dowel on your athletes’ back ensuring that the head, upper back and butt are in contact with the dowel, cueing core stiffness.

3Once an athlete reaches end range of mo-tion toward the bottom of the push-up and the scapula reaches it’s end point of retrac-tion, the elbows and the push-up should stop at the side of the athletes’ body not beyond! Then cue the athlete to push the ground away from them while retracting their scapula back to neutral at the start point of the push-up. Properly cueing the push-up movement will ensure that the scapula moves freely along the rib cage, which will maintain the congruency of the ball socket of the shoulder joint, eliminating stress to the tendons of the shoulder and elbow joint of your athletes.

2As the athlete starts to drop down into the push-up cue them to lead with their scapula (shoulder blades) without shrug-ging of the shoulders. You should see the shoulder blades retract-ing toward the spine without any tilting forward of the scapula, which will result in shrugging of the shoulders and poor scapula function.

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Tryouts are often met with fear regarding outcome (“Will I make the team?”), politics (“This coach hates me.”) and performance (“Can I play my best in front of these coaches?”). How can you better manage the pressure of tryouts and earn that spot on the team?

The answer is surprisingly simple: Control the controllables. Learning to control the controllables is not only a skill that helps you perform well in tryouts,

it helps you perform well in all aspects of life. A common mistake athletes make is focusing only on making the team (outcome). This creates anxiety and worry, which manifests in your body as tension, hesitation and overly conservative play. Coaches see you thinking rather than dominating. Let’s see if you know what’s controllable during a tryout session. In the box below, circle what you believe is controllable.

Why is this important information for you? Because it gives clues on how to prepare and perform during tryouts. Wasting time on things are not controllable is just that — a waste of time. Being fit, practicing drills, showing up recovered and well-fueled gives you an advantage over those who aren’t. Being mentally prepared (knowing you have done “the work”) and focused on your personal strengths will create better performance and therefore in-crease the odds of making the team. This is what mental toughness is all about.

Welcome to the New Year. If you are anything like the MILLIONS of people across the world you have started this New Year with a resolution to exercise more, lift more weights, get stronger, lose weight, etc. The problem with this process is that the ma-jor gyms across the country bank on signing people up and locking them into long contracts KNOWING they will not continue working out consistently past the month of February. How do they know this? Simple, people over-train their bodies early on and never come back.

The reason this takes place is because new gym goers are so adamant about gearing up and tackling this obstacle with the fervor of a starving lion eyeballing a fresh piece of meat, that they do too much work too early and kill their bodies.

The most important part about starting a new regimen is to think about the process as a marathon and not a sprint. If you haven’t worked out for months, then you need to realize that the harder you

train, the longer you need to recover. Overtraining is a very real problem and does considerable damage to muscles, bodily chemicals, your emotional state, and your ability to train safely. So if

you train right out of the gates at full speed, and don’t take adequate time in between workouts to recover your muscles, you will end up over training your body and counteracting your entire

purpose of starting a new regimen. When someone experiences over training they physically and emotionally no longer

want to train, which stops the process in it tracks and leaves the person back at square one. Moral of the story: Realize that as long as it took you to get out shape, its going to take

double that time to get back into the shape of your dreams. So put on your big boy/girl pants and dig in for the long haul, not the short sprint.

Have resolve, not a resolution

Know what YOU can control

powered by trucks: anthony trucks

get mental: erika carlson

● Don’t work out more than three days a week to begin with, allowing you four days to recover● Set a goal and create a workout plan to track your progress towards that goal● Drink more water and less coffee, sugar filled drinks, energy drinks; and SLEEP!

Levelup tips

● Have a comment or question for our panel? Email us at [email protected].

Levelup feedback

1. Knowing skills/tests 2. Decision by coaches/scouts3. Fitness4. Rest/Recovery5. Preparation6. Nutrition/Diet7. How you compare to others8. How well you perform during tryouts9. Attitude10. How coaches see you11. Focus12. How precisely you demonstrate sport skills13. Grouping for testing/ scrimmaging14. Making the team 15. “Politics” (favoritism)

ANSWER KEY:Controllables = 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, Uncontrollables = 2, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15

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Records through Jan. 12 (source: MaxPreps.com)Rank, Prev. Team Record1. (1) Salesian-Richmond 12-32. (2) Archbishop Mitty-San Jose 11-33. (3) Sheldon-Sacramento 12-44. (4) Modesto Christian 12-25. (6) Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland 11-36. (7) Deer Valley-Antioch 12-37. (5) De La Salle-Concord 12-28. (9) Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove 15-39. (12) Sacramento 11-410. (8) Serra-San Mateo 12-311. (14) Capital Christian-Sacramento 14-212. (NR) Monte Vista-Danville 12-313. (13) Newark Memorial 8-614. (15) Dublin 12-415. (NR) Sacred Heart Cathedral-SF 11-416. (19) El Cerrito 12-517. (16) San Leandro 12-318. (17) Bellarmine Prep-San Jose 12-319. (NR) St. Ignatius-SF 12-320. (20) Heritage-Brentwood 13-3drOPPEd Out: No. 10 Palma-Salinas, No. 11 Ante-lope, No. 18 Freedom-OakleybiggESt mOvEr: Monte Vista, which had fallen out of the Top 20 just two weeks prior vaults back in to the No. 12 slot after an impressive Jan. 8 win at then-No. 5 De La Salle. Among teams which were already ranked, Sacramento continues to show that it’s young core is growing up quickly. The Dragons have won 5 of 6 and are back inside the Top 10 after jumping three spots.tEAmS Still rANkEd FrOm PrESEASON tOP 20: 14tEAm tO WAtCH: Berkeley didn’t jump into the rank-ings this week, but few teams have had a better Janu-ary. The Yellowjackets have gone 4-1 in the month, including wins over three NorCal Top 20 opponents — No. 16 San Leandro, No. 18 Freedom-Oakley and No. 20 Heritage. Their only loss was a 76-73 defeat against No. 6 Bishop O’Dowd on Jan. 11.kNOCkiNg ON tHE dOOr: Enterprise-Redding (14-3), Oakland Tech (13-4), Freedom-Oakley (10-6), Ante-lope (11-6), Campolindo-Moraga (11-4), McClymonds-Oakland (11-6), Montgomery-Santa Rosa (11-3), Mt. Eden-Hayward (12-3), Archbishop Riordan-S.F. (10-5), Piedmont Hills-San Jose (13-2), West-Tracy (14-5), Weston Ranch-Stockton (10-5), Berkeley (7-8).

By mAttHEW kimEl | Contributor

Historic Earl Crabbe Gym was once again rocking, playing host to the 71st annual Kendall Arnett Tourna-ment at Placer High School.

The storied Arnett, the longest running hoops gauntlet in Northern California, typically takes place between Christmas and New Year’s Day, allowing alumni of the hometown Placer Hillmen to drop by during the holiday season and remember the good old days of when they attended the Auburn school. In a way, it’s like a giant reunion for Hillmen of all ages.

Aside from a brand new snack shack installed this year thanks to a generous donation from Placer cross

Long time runnin’

Oldest annual boys tourney turned 71 in 2012

and little has changed

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Records through Jan. 12 (source: MaxPreps.com)Rank, Prev. Team Record1. (1) Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland 10-3

2. (2) St Mary’s-Stockton 14-1

3. (3) St. Mary’s-Berkeley 10-3

4. (6) Miramonte-Orinda 14-1

5. (8) Archbishop Mitty-San Jose 11-3

6. (9) Salesian-Richmond 13-4

7. (4) Carondelet-Concord 11-3

8. (7) Sacramento 13-2

9. (10) McNair-Stockton 17-0

10. (11) Oak Ridge-El Dorardo Hills 14-2

11. (12) Brookside Christian-Stockton 13-2

12. (15) Kennedy-Sacramento 12-3

13. (5) St. Ignatius-SF 12-3

14. (13) Heritage-Brentwood 11-4

15. (NR) Sacred Heart Cathedral-SF 11-3

16. (19) Lynbrook-San Jose 13-2

17. (20) Eastside Coll. Prep-E. Palo Alto 9-5

18. (NR) Oakland Tech 12-3

19. (18) Monte Vista-Danville 13-3

20. (NR) Enterprise-Redding 15-1

drOPPEd Out: No. 14 Wilcox-Santa Clara, No. 16 Branham-San Jose, No. 17 Alameda

WHO’S nO. 1?: A case could certainly be made that St. Mary’s-Stockton should be No. 1 and Bishop O’Dowd No. 2, but the complexities of ranking systems mean that a game in Florida impacts the order in Northern Califor-nia. Dillard of Florida is the only team to have beaten St. Mary’s, but Dillard just lost to American Heritage on the other side of the country, which hurts the Rams. Of course, the two teams will settle on the floor Feb. 9 at O’Dowd, so there will be no doubt after that.

biggESt mOvEr: St. Ignatius dropped eight spots after losing to Sacred Heart Cathedral, which made its debut at No. 15 — the biggest positive mover

TEAMS STILL RAnKED FROM PRESEASOn TOP 20: 15

kNOCkiNg ON tHE dOOr: Wilcox (14-1), Campolin-do-Moraga (12-3), Burlingame (13-1), Bear River-Stock-ton (16-1), McClymonds-Oakland (16-2), Placer-Auburn (17-2),Alameda (12-4), Pinewood-Los Altos Hills (12-3), Christian Brothers-Sacramento (10-6), St. Francis-Moun-tain View (8-6), Soquel (13-2), Florin-Sacramento (10-4).

country coach Randall Fee, the gym looks exactly the same as it has since it was built in the late 1930s. Many compare it to the arena that might be seen in the movie “Hoosiers,” as its high-rise wooden seats don’t resemble most of today’s modern gymnasiums.

Those rows of wooden benches were jam-packed for this year’s rendition of the Arnett, particularly the title matchup which pitted the Hillmen against the defending champion Del Campo Cougars.

The Cougars captured the title again, beating Placer 78-66 in a Dec. 29 game that was much more entertaining than the final score suggests.

Though Placer fell behind 16-2 out of the gate, the Hillmen rallied behind a boisterous crowd and energetic high school marching band to come within five points late in the contest.

Surely the Hillmen, who haven’t won the Arnett since 2004, would have enjoyed a victory in their own tournament more than the Cougars. Every basketball-playing Auburn boy dreams about hoisting the first-place Arnett trophy during the tournament’s final award ceremony.

“The kids grow up wanting to win the Kendall,” Placer coach Mark Lee said. “Every group that comes through here wants to win the Kendall cause it’s our tournament and there’s history and tradition that go along with it.”

But Del Campo was still rather ecstatic to come away with top honors when it was all said and done. And as Cougars coach dave Nobis was quick to point out, the Arnett is practi-cally a flawless event.

“This is a tremendous tournament,” he said. “Everything is first class. We get such a great experience out of this from the hospitality room to playing on this court to everybody treating us well. It’s great. Coming here and winning is an honor.”

That hospitality room, a cordoned off area where coaches, referees and media are fed, is one of the most well-known aspects of the occasion — featuring dishes well beyond the standard cold cuts and finger foods. This year alone, Placer football coach and teacher Mike Sabins made his famous pulled pork and another saw Lee’s barbecued tri-tip as the main course.

The history of the tournament is rather well documented.For instance, Roseville’s Fred besana holds the Arnett

record of most points scored in a single game (41). Besana accomplished the feat in 1971, which happened to be the only time the tournament was held twice in one calendar year

Another Roseville alumnus, Rocky Perry, holds the record for most points tallied in the span of the three-day event. Perry put up 99 points in the ’73 Arnett.

This year, Placer’s isaiah Pineiro and Del Campo’s Vasilije Sabara both flirted with the Kendall record books. Pineiro, a 6-foot-5 center, recorded 91 points in three games, including a 34-point outing. Sabara, the 2012 MVP, dropped 35 points in the finale while also connecting on 17-of-18 foul shots in the deciding game.

Colfax, a regular entry into the field of eight being only a short trek down Interstate 80 from Auburn, also draws a large crowd to its rival’s gym. Colfax apparently now holds an unof-ficial record of having won seven of the last nine consolation championship games, including this season’s.

The Arnett, of course, is named after the legendary Placer coach Kendall Arnett, who was a popular baseball, basket-ball and football coach at the school. Arnett started the tourna-ment in the 1940s and it was later renamed after him when he passed away in 1954.

The annual tourney started in 1942 as a postseason event, and was originally known as the Washington’s Birthday Patriotic Tournament. In its inaugural year, the tournament was played all in one day on the George Washington birthday holiday — now more commonly known as Presidents’ Day.

Seemingly every Hillmen alum around has a story or two about the Kendall Arnett to share. Some say in the tourna-ment’s heyday, extra rows of seats had to be brought in to accompany the larger crowd that showed up to see the fine event.

Nowadays, even without the need of extra seating, the af-fair still seems to be the biggest draw for preseason hoops in the foothill area. ✪

kendall arnett tourney

Michael KirbylEFt: Placer guard Brennan Entz pushes the

ball up the floor in the 2012 Kendall Arnett semi-final against El Camino-Sacramento on Dec. 28. AbOvE: Hillmen big man Isaiah Pineiro fell eight

points shy of the tournament scoring record, posting 91 points over three games.

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thE GIrlS PlAy tooMLK Madness means showcase events at several sites

featuring plenty of the state’s top girls basketball teams

It’s a long weekend, right? That means the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday is time to kick back and recover from actually having to do things like go to school and go to work after the Christmas break, right?

Not if you’re a basketball player, though. The MLK weekend has become home to a variety of

shootouts, classics and other gatherings of teams for day-long sessions involving multiple teams.

This year’s fun begins on Jan. 19 at several sites, most notably St. Mary’s-Stockton, and concludes Jan. 26 at the Campolindo Shootout, which just to confuse things, is at Bentley School in Lafayette.

But before worrying about why one school’s event is being played at another campus, a better plan is to Google the location of St. Mary’s, because Saturday’s lineup is pretty special.

Among the many highlights is the presence of South Medford of Oregon, which will play St. Mary’s-Berkeley at 7:30 p.m. (Well, sometime after 7:30 p.m. is more likely, as it’s the seventh game of the day, and the odds of all of them fitting into the 90-minute time frame allotted for game play and warmups are pretty low.) South Medford is one of several very strong Oregon teams this year, and owns a win over MaxPreps’ No. 21 in the nation, Riverdale Baptist of Maryland.

St. Mary’s-Berkeley, though, has a signature win of its own, knocking off Long Beach Poly 47-45 to win its bracket at the Nike TOC in Phoenix. The Panthers are led by elite junior wings gabby green and Mikayla Cowling, but if you happen to see a tall young woman wearing Stanford colors wandering around the gym, it’s very likely 6-4 Tess Picknell. The Stanford freshman helped lead South Med-ford to the Oregon 6A title last year.

By ClAy kAllum | Contributor

Jonathan HawthorneBishop O’Dowd’s

Asha Thomas

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33SportStars™Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ January 17, 2013Score Digital Content: Scan SSM With LAYAR

There’s also a great rematch scheduled at 1 p.m., as Sacra-mento and Hanford will go at it again. They met at the West Coast Jamboree Dec. 28, with Sacramento winning 70-68, and round two promises to be just as entertaining.

The 4:30 p.m. game between McNair-Stockton and Dougherty Valley-San Ramon features two of the top posts in Northern Califor-nia: 6-4 Mandy Coleman of McNair and 6-2 Jasmine Jenkins of Dougherty Valley.

Because we’ve got so much else to cover, we’ll slide quickly past two other very good games — Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove vs. Deer Valley-Antioch and Clovis West-Fresno against Miramonte-Orinda (which has lost only to national No. 8 Windward-L.A.) — to touch on a couple other events.

At Pittsburg High, NorCal’s top-rated team, Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, will take on small but mighty Brookside Christian-Stockton, the defending Division V champion that pretty much plays everyone. That game is at 5:30 p.m., and is preceded by two good teams whose records reflect the very tough schedules they’ve played. Both Christian Brothers-Sacramento and Oakland Tech have tested themselves against the top teams in the area, and this should be a very good matchup.

The nightcap at 7 p.m. matches two resurgent programs that are going to be relevant in the postseason: Kennedy-Richmond and Pittsburg. Both schools have struggled a bit in recent years, but are definitely back on track.

Also on Jan. 19, three strong teams will make their way to Modesto Christian, including the host. Bradshaw Christian and Vanden-Fairfield also have excellent records, but none of the trio will

SCAn THIS pAgE WITH YouR LAYAR App To vIEW gAME LInEupS FoR THE SHoWCASE EvEnTS FEATuRED In THIS ARTICLE.

›››

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play each other.Unlike years past, there will be no girls’ game at Haas Pavilion on the

actual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but Tom Gonsalves has stepped in and will bring back many of the teams that played on Saturday.

For example, St. Mary’s-Stockton will take on South Medford at 1 p.m., while Bishop O’Dowd will arrive to play Kelsey Plum and La Jolla Coun-try Day at 2:30. Archbishop Mitty, the defending Division II champion, will meet Sacramento at 6 in the fourth of five games that day.

The venerable Campolindo Shootout, which has undergone several name and location changes, will be played at Bentley School in Lafay-ette, but will still offer some excellent matchups on Jan. 26.

Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and Miramonte will play at 3:30 p.m., followed by Carondelet and Berkeley at 5 p.m. and St. Mary’s-Berkeley against Brookside Christian at 6:30 p.m. (These games are more likely to start on time as an extra 30 minutes is added onto the time frame after the 1:30 p.m. game between Division I powers Heritage-Brentwood and Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills.)

There are other games at that site, and other games at all the other events, but there’s only so much room — and so much time.

And speaking of time, did we mention that all these teams have at least two leagues in the weeks before and after? And that some of them take finals too?

It may be a holiday, but it’s definitely not a vacation. ✪

Jonathan HawthorneBreanna Grigsby and Brookside Christian will take on two of the top three programs in the SportStars NorCal Top 20 over the next two weeks. They take on No. 1 Bishop O’Dowd on

Jan. 19 and No. 3 St. Mary’s-Berkeley on Jan. 26.

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36 SportStars™ Upload photos and team stats! www.SportStarsOnline.comJanuary 17, 2013

GaMeFaCeYou might be a big sports fan, but are you hardcore enough to endure the frozen tundra of Candlestick, shirtless and lathered up in red and gold for four hours? If not, may we suggest Gameface? It’s temporary face paint. It’s comfortable, doesn’t sweat or rub off, doesn’t itch and you won’t break out in hives, etc. Go to www.thegamefacecompany.com, find your colors and have at it.

Welcome to Impulse, your one-stop shop for gadgets, gizmos and gear. Compiled by staff writer Erik Stordahl, Impulse provides you with the latest and greatest and what’s currently hot on the market. Since high school soccer is in full swing, we offer up a smorgasbord of items.

SoCCer SHoeSWe all know Lionel Messi is the world’s best soccer, er football, play-er. But what you didn’t know is that it’s all in the cleats. Come on, you seriously didn’t think he was that good — taking on five defenders at once and putting that crazy spin on the ball just because “he’s talented.” Messi wears Adidas AdiZero F50 cleats and he gets ’em for free. You on the other hand will have to pony up a couple hundred bucks but we think it’s worth it. If that’s too rich for your blood, fine, choose from these less expensive alternatives:

MeSSI JerSeYHey, even if you can’t play like him or dress like him, you can still pretend to be him! Don this jersey and your friends will be none the wiser.

• Nike Mercurial Miracle III (alliteration award)

• Adidas Predator Absolion LZ TRX (best name award)

• Nike Air Legend Women’s

• Diadora Macarana RTX 12

• Puma evoSPEED 5

SJ earTHquakeS GearThese guys played out of their minds last year and it’s time to hop on the bandwagon. Pick up a jersey, t-shirt or shorts and go crazy cheering on the Quakes as they go for another MLS Cup. Remember: Goonies never say die. (Quakes fans get it)

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37SportStars™Support Your Local Business • Say You Found Them In SportStars™ January 17, 2013

❒ All- Star Academy Baseball Media Day ......................35

❒ Antioch’s Great Family Entertainment Centers ...........37

❒ Army National Guard Recruiter ....................................5

❒ Baseball Mentoring Program ....................................34

❒ Bay Area Festivals Inc. ...............................................35

❒ Big O Tires Northern California/ Nevada ......................2

❒ Championship Athletic Fundraising ..........................11

❒ Cheergyms.Com ........................................................36

❒ Children’s Hospital And Research Center ....................28

❒ Club Sport .................................................................28

❒ Community Youth Center .................................... 17, 24

❒ Core Volleyball Club ...................................................32

❒ Diablo Futbol Club .....................................................37

❒ Diablo Rock Gym .......................................................37

❒ Diablo Trophies & Awards ..........................................37

❒ E J Sports Elite Baseball Services ...............................32

❒ East Bay Bulldogs Basketball .....................................34

❒ East Bay Panthers Basketball ............................... 32, 34

❒ East Bay Sports Academy .................................... 14, 33

❒ East Bay Youth Sports Camps.....................................38

❒ Excellence In Sport Performance ...............................29

❒ Fit 2 The Core .............................................................29

❒ Halo Headband .........................................................24

❒ Heritage Soccer Club .................................................25

❒ Hillside Karate Kai .....................................................35

❒ Home Team Sports Photography ...............................35

❒ Image Imprint ...........................................................24

❒ Jump Highway ..........................................................35

❒ Kali Ball Training .......................................................34

❒ Kinders B B Q ...............................................................3

❒ Mike Allen Sports L L C ..............................................39

❒ Mountain Mike’s Pizza .................................................7

❒ National Scouting Report ..........................................32

❒ Pro Hammer Bat ........................................................34

❒ Rocco’s Pizza ..............................................................37

❒ Rockin Jump ..............................................................40

❒ Sky High Sports .........................................................37

❒ Sport Clips .................................................................19

❒ State Farm Jimmy Harrington Agent .........................23

❒ Stevens Creek Toyota .................................................15

❒ Sutter Delta ...............................................................27

❒ The First Tee Of Contra Costa ......................................24

❒ U S K S Martial Arts ...................................................33

❒ Velocity Sports Performance .....................................37

❒ Velocity Sports Volleyball ..........................................33

❒ West Coast Soccer Club ..............................................33

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