We begin our 2017 Football coverage by revealing teams #20-11 in our NorCal Preseason Top 20 in a daily countdown to Aug. 24 when #10-1 are revealed in our 2017 Football Preview Special. If you need to catchup, here are links to previous entries: | No. 20 Foothill (Aug. 14)... Read more

Examining CIF’s Shift To A Competitive Equity-Based Playoff System • Story by CLAY KALLAM | Illustration by MIKE DECICCO It used to be so simple: How many students a school had attending once determined what division it played in. But now it’s a brave new postseason world for high school... Read more

  SportStars Vault (Issue 83, April 2014): John Gavin And The St. Francis Baseball Tradition Of Major League Talent •   EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re re-running this story from 2014 to celebrate former St. Francis-Mountain View star, John Gavin, signing his first professional baseball contract today (June 27, 2016) with the... Read more

You’re at the third of four segments. If you haven’t seen the previous entries, find them at the following links (or skip ahead to end, if you must): Nos. 75-51 / Nos. 50-26  / Nos. 5-1 25. NATE LANDMAN Monte Vista-Danville – Football – Senior The SportStars NorCal Defensive Player of the Year... Read more

Elk Grove Continues Its Mastery Of Playing Its Best Baseball In Late May And Early June • Story By JIM MCCUE | Photos By JAMES K. LEASH Most numbers mean little to Elk Grove baseball coach Jeff Carlson, especially in March. The wins and losses only matter in late May... Read more

Here’s how we see the NorCal baseball landscape to start the 2017 season. 1. DE LA SALLE-CONCORD (25-3) Some of the most competitive games on the Spartans schedule each year are the intrasquad games played at Saturday morning practices. It’s in those games where De La Salle builds its program... Read more

  AFTER VIEWING THESE RANKS, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT CAL-HI SPORTS FOR ITS FINAL STATE TOP 10.   Records are FINAL 1. (1)  De La Salle-Concord   11-2  COMMENT: Spartans will always own this spot until losing to a NorCal opponent 2. (2)  St. Mary’s-Stockton   14-2  COMMENT: Rams proved mettle... Read more

SportStar Of The Week | Freedom-Oakley | Football | Senior • In one the best back-and-forth games of the season in the East Bay, Pierce helped keep the Falcons’ perfect season in tact by leading them to a 41-38 victory at previously-unbeaten Pittsburg. Pierce’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Giles Jackson was... Read more

One Month In. And just like that, September was gone. Our first full month of the 2016-17 year in high school athletics was a pretty eventful one. This is always a time of year where I like to use this space to take note of what we’ve learned about the... Read more

SportStar Of The Week | Serra-San Mateo | Football | Senior • The Padres QB accounted for six touchdowns and the game-winning 2-point throw in an overtime win over St. Francis-Mountain View. The dual-threat quarterback was at his best in leading host Serra to a thrilling 41-40 overtime upset of previously-unbeaten St. Francis-Mountain... Read more

   Girls volleyball is back. Well, not really, but as a sport in which Cal-Hi Sports will be offering a state ranking it is.    One of the main reasons we’re re-firing a State Top 20 each week, beginning Sept. 21, is that it’s part of a further evolution of... Read more

SAN PABLO, CA ““ The Seventh Annual NorCal Clash that ended in a 96-93 victory for the boys from the class of 2018, was a back and forth affair that certainly gave the fans at Contra Costa College on Sunday afternoon their money’s worth. Several players shined for both teams,... Read more