Trail Blazers

Cal Stars Nike Elite goes unbeaten at Oregon Trail and Nike Inviational; Nike Nationals up next.

  By CLAY KALLAM | Contributor

  “The college coaches always start here,” said Scott Davis of Strictly Hoops, a North Bay-based club basketball program – and because the coaches do, so do many, if not most, of the Northern California club teams.

  But despite the traditional trip to Oregon City for the End of the Oregon Trail tournament, only one NorCal club has ever won the 34-year-old event. It looked as if the Cal Stars Nike Elite would make it two — matching the 1989 title for North Coast Express, led by Jualeah Woods, Tanda Rucker and Kate Paye — but plane tickets got in the way.

  The Cal Stars Nike Elite rolled through the Diamond Bracket, with Mariya Moore MVP of the 16-team group, but their reservations made it impossible for them to play the 1 p.m. overall championship game on July 9. They offered to play the eventual champs, the Northwest Blazers Orange, at 11:40, but the Blazers’ coach would only play at 1.

  So the Cal Stars went to the airport to fly to the Nike National Invitational in Chicago, and picked up a title trophy there, beating DFW’s (Dallas-Fort Worth) T-Jack Elite 64-42 in the finals. (Two other top NorCal teams, EBX and the Cal Ballaz, had played in the DFW tournament in Dallas, which was at the same time as the EOT. Both did well, but the DFW T-Jack Elite won the event.)

  But for most NorCal teams, the End of the Trail is a premier event — and they’re not alone.

  “If you’re a West Coast team, you know the West Coast colleges are here,” said Carl Tinsley, the tournament director — and since most Northern California players will wind up going to West Coast schools, it’s a perfect fit.

  “We do the regional thing,” said Doug VanderHorst of Sportstrong and Dougherty Valley High School, about the club’s summer schedule. “Realistically, we don’t have kids who are going to school in Florida.”

  Danny Crosby, who coaches Los Banos High and the Corona Force, echoes VanderHorst. “We try to find the tournaments with the most college coaches,” he said. The club wouldn’t mind traveling, but “money, as usual, is the issue,” said Crosby.

  “It’s tough for kids to go across the country,” Davis said, “and there’s so few kids it would benefit.”

  And that explains the proliferation of local teams in Oregon City. Of course, there are 238 teams in the eight brackets, which are divided into two groups. The top four brackets — the Diamond, Platinum, Gold and Silver — are for the stronger teams, while the Red, White, Blue and Yellow brackets are for younger clubs.

  The bracket winners then move into a single-elimination playoff round, and of all the NorCal teams, Cal Stars Nike Elite was the only team to do so. The Cal Stars played Tree of Hope from Seattle in the semifinals of the playoff round, and though the coaches and tournament officials knew the game was a forfeit because Cal Stars had to leave, the players did not. The result was an exciting, up-and-down 82-71 win for the Cal Stars.

  That victory came without Carondelet guard Natalie Romeo on the floor for the Cal Stars, as she hurt her knee in the Sunday night game. The results of the MRI have not yet come back, but it’s hoped that she avoided tearing her ACL, and only has a sprained knee.

  Stepping into her spot on the starting five was rising sophomore Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 29 points against Tree of Hope, and broke open a close game in the final three minutes. Ionescu’s emergence wasn’t that much of a surprise, as she was just coming off a solid performance with the gold-medal-winning USA Basketball U16 team in Mexico.

  Two other NorCal teams did well in the Diamond bracket: The Palo Alto Midnight Black, led by Paige Song and Savannah Scott, finished fifth in the 16-team group, and the San Francisco Eagles, sparked by Sydney Raggio and Addi Walters (daughter of USF coach and former NBA player Rex Walters), won the consolation title.

  Mission Rec and the Palo Alto Midnight Onyx each took third in lower brackets, but for most of the teams, the Oregon City experience was about playing in a competitive tournament, getting better and enjoying a tournament with a reputation for being extremely well-organized.

  The Cal Stars Nike Elite team was disappointed not to get a shot at the EOT trophy, but not only did they have the consolation of winning in Chicago (and finishing the first segment of the college viewing period 11-0), they will also be the first NorCal team ever to participate in the Nike Nationals July 27-30.

  The 20-team Nike Nationals is considered the best summer tournament in the country, even though only Nike-sponsored teams can be invited, and though NorCal teams such as EBX, the Cal Ballaz, Mission Rec and others have been strong in the past, none ever got the coveted invitation.

  The Cal Stars Nike Elite could be even stronger for the Nike Nationals, even if Romeo is unable to play. Kelli Hayes, one of the top players in the Class of 2014, didn’t play for the team in Oregon, as she was with the San Jose Cagers Blue with her teammates from Archbishop Mitty.

  In the end, though, summer basketball is more about experience and exposure than winning lots of trophies, and the End of the Oregon Trail supplies both. It did not, however, deliver a second NorCal champion — but maybe next year.

  OREGON TRAIL HONOR ROLL

  • DIAMOND BRACKET
  1st: Cal Stars Nike Elite
  5th: Palo Alto Midnight Black
  Consolation: San Francisco Eagles
  MVP: Mariya Moore
  All-tournament: Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Alford, GeAnna Summers-Lualu (Cal Stars Nike Elite); Paige Song, Savannah Scott (Palo Alto Black); Sydney Raggio, Addi Walters (SF Eagles)

  • YELLOW BRACKET
  4th: Strictly Hoops Grey
  Consolation: JBS Grey
  All-tournament: Brook Santander, Rachele Nagler (Strictly Hoops Grey); Kate Reina, Alyna Kange (JBS Grey).

  • RED BRACKET
  3rd: Mission Rec
  6th: Palo Alto Future
  Consolation: North Bay Elite
  All-tournament: Addel Kade, Katie Lo (Mission Rec); Lauren Koyama, Stella Kailahi (Palo Alto).

  • WHITE BRACKET
  5th: Orinda Magic.
  Consolation: Cal Stars 2016
  All-tournament: Cassie Re, Alana Horton (Orinda Magic).

  • BLUE BRACKET
  3rd: Palo Alto Onyx
  Consolation: Stockton Rising Stars
  All-tournament: Lauren Johnson, Siggi Bengston (Palo Alto Onyx); Sydney Fryer, Akira Decosta (Stockton Rising Stars).