Ryan Hyrn, center, rises above a pair of Monte Vista defenders in Cal's 58-54 loss on Jan. 20. After opening league play with three wins, Cal has lost five straight games. photo by Amir Sagafi

by John Sexton, Sports Editor

Men’s Basketball

Cal High’s hoopsters have had a rollercoaster of a season.

The Grizzlies opened league with a three-game winning streak, only to be hit with a five-game losing streak that the team finally snapped last Tuesday against Livermore by a score of 74-60.

San Ramon Valley was the latest team to take down the Grizzlies, 66-60 on Jan. 27.

Cal went 3-for-13 on shots in the paint in the fourth quarter, which led to the defeat.

De La Salle executed its customary Cal High beat-down on Jan.24, as it doubled up the Grizzlies 66-33.

Cal (4-5 EBAL, 10-11 overall) opened league play in early January with decisive wins over San Ramon, Livermore, and Granada.  These wins were followed by a string of losses that really shook the team’s resolve.

“We’re kind of inconsistent,” said coach Bob Donovan. “Some games we play well, some we don’t.”

On top of Donovan’s “must improve” list? Rebounding. The lack of rebounding was the Grizzlies’ downfall in their OT loss to Foothill on Jan. 13.

“We just have to screen out and get rebounds,” said Donovan.

He believes the team must also try and shoot their way out of their current slump.

The team must have a winning overall record to be eligible for an NCS berth.

Two players stand out so far this season – senior guard Ryan Hyrn and senior center Noel Frazier.

Hyrn has demonstrated the ability to put up points in bunches.  He scored 15 points in the win over Granada and  knocked down key free throws to seal the victory over Livermore.

Hyrn works well with the other guards, such as senior David Eplin, and sets up his teammates as well.

One of those teammates is Frazier, who has the ability to get the fans out of their seats with his spectacular dunks.

In addition to the flair, Noel has been able to get it done on both sides of the ball. In the Granada game, he had 15 points and three blocks.

The team has played more road games than home so far this season, so they hope for some success at home down the stretch.

Results from Friday’s game against Granada were not available when The Californian went to press.

Men’s Soccer

With a talented roster featuring 10 seniors, the Grizzlies are once again the team to beat in the EBAL.

For the second straight year, Cal is on top in the standings at 13-3-2 overall, 5-3-1 in league play.

Riddled with injuries, the Grizzlies suffered a heartbreaking loss on Jan. 12, when they lost 3-2 to visiting Monte Vista.

This was then followed by a 4-0 loss to rival De La Salle on Jan.17, and a 5-2 loss to San Ramon Valley on Jan.19.

The losses ended a 39-game undefeated streak, dating back to the 2008-09 NCS Championship game.

On a higher note, the team was featured in ESPN RISE, the high school affiliate for ESPN, the week of Jan. 8 as the 37th best team in the nation.

The team has been featured there since Week 3 of the year, dating back to Dec. 11.

“We work very well as a team, and often hang out outside of school,” said junior forward Nate Grixti. “We are all good friends.”

Nate leads the EBAL in goals scored with 17. Seniors Brandon Brown and Chris Nodhal have eight goals apiece.

The team has scored 31 more goals than its opponents this season.

“We’ve played well, but we’re always looking to get better,” said coach Chris Faidley. “Championships are created by paying attention to the details.”

Coming off a terrific win at the Winter Classic, the men’s team is on track to win the league and put themselves back in a great position to win and become EBAL champions.

Results from Thursday’s game against Foothill were not available when The Californian went to press.

– Eric Yee

Women’s Soccer

The ladies are off to a strong start, with only three losses so far this season.

Cal (6-3-2) is fourth in league after back-to-back 1-0 wins over Amador Valley and  Granada on Jan. 31 and Jan. 26.

Senior Morgan Collyer leads the team with seven goals on the year.

Close games have been an issue for the team, after suffering a 1-0 shutout at Foothill on Jan.10.

The team won a huge game on Jan. 17 against Carondelet, with a final  score of 3-1. The

ladies followed up with  a disappointing 5-2 loss to San Ramon Valley on Jan. 19.

“We work on ball possession and shooting at practice,” said junior goalkeeper, Lauren Holden. “The overall team chemistry has improved.”

Determination and hard work from these ladies is important to bring the team back to the playoffs, where they hope to go further then last year.

Results from Thursday’s game against Foothill were not available when The Californian went to press.

– Eric Yee

Wrestling

Despite the team’s poor record, the Grizzlies are making a big improvement over last year’s team.

The Grizzlies lost two of the best wrestlers from last season after Rich Garwood and Cole Pricco graduated.

“I feel like our team is young, and have a lot of work to do to get better.” said junior John Pricco, who wrestles in the 152 weight class. “But over the past few weeks we all have improved a lot.”

With additions of freshman wrestler Jordan Manibusan (128), Cal should send more wrestlers to the EBAL Championships and NCS than last year.

Senior captain Shaun Lin predicted about six wrestlers to make it to NCS this year compared to only two last year.

The team also has a new attitude about winning this season, even though the Grizzlies are 0-4 in league so far.

– Luke Finkel

Women’s Basketball

Livermore fell to the Grizzlies 45-43 on Jan. 31.

The win came on the heels of a satisfying 47-43 win over San Ramon on Jan. 27.

After a disappointing non-league start to the schedule, the ladies have a 4-5 EBAL record and hope to fare better as the season progresses.

The bright spots on the team are juniors Jessica Catson and Kwyn Cooper, and senior Shannon Villanueva, who has shown she has a sweet stroke from beyond the arc.

Results from Friday’s game against Granada were not available when The Californian went to press.

– John Sexton

The world of fantasy sports has reached new heights. What once started out as a fun hobby has turned into a competitive and costly pastime.

For the first year ever, Cal High has its own Fantasy Sports Club on campus, which meets every Friday at lunch in room 321. The club offers tips and friendly competition to its members.

With a simple click of the mouse, one can create one’s own free account on popular sites such as Espn.com or Yahoo Sports to join the fun.

Fantasy sports’ increasing popularity has smart phones to thank for delivering alerts about players and specific teams.

Perhaps one of the biggest factors for this ever-popular hobby is the ability to create your very own team of professional athletes. The feeling of owning your very own team makes you feel as if you are a professional general manger making millions.

This year, fantasy football skyrocketed in the number of participants. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association expected 36 million people in the U.S. and Canada to play fantasy sports in 2011, a 13 percent  increase from 2010.

About 75 percent of those 36 million people were expected to to play fantasy football.

The steady rise in fantasy team owners is perfect for sports lovers. Often, daily sports shows such as ESPN’s SportsCenter include a live fantasy sports interview with a reporter discussing how to set teams for the week. This segment of sports shows will only become more popular as the years go by.

In particular, fantasy football has changed the way people plan their Sundays around football.

According to the Nielsen ratings for the week of Jan. 2, the top show of the week was the Lions-Saints game. Right behind the game in the ratings was the pre-game show for the same game.

The numerous channels showing football games on the weekends also has a positive effect on fantasy sports.

Fans can buy annual memberships to the NBA Channel or NFL Network. These specialized channels give fans access to watching multiple games at a time.

But the ultimate goal of fantasy sports is to win. In deep leagues of more than 10 owners, it is obviously harder to win, compared to a league with fewer owners.

In highly competitive leagues where hundreds of dollars are on the line, people suddenly consume their lives with checking their team every 20 minutes.

In the end, only one can win. Will it be you?

Cal High's football team has been blazing hot, pulling off a record of 5-0. Photo by Kyra Uson.

While the fall weather has started to get hot, the Cal High football team has remained a consistent heat throughout the entire school year.

After back-to-back wins for the first time in history against Monte Vista on Oct. 1 and San Ramon Valley on Oct. 8, Cal has gained statewide recognition for only the second time in school history.

Leading sports news station ESPN, and their high school affiliation Web site, ESPN RISE, recently came out with their Cal Hi Sports Top 25 Football Rankings for the entire state. An undefeated season and multiple impressive performances later, Cal has cracked the top 25 for the week of Oct. 11.

Head coach Eric Billeci and the rest of the Grizzlies are currently ranked 23rd in the state.

Before Cal’s dominant performance against San Ramon Valley last Friday night, the Wolves were ranked 23rd. Cal took that spot after its 38-19 win at San Ramon Valley. Cal also beat Monte Vista 45-3.

“This year so far it looks like (Cal) is going to be the one with the best shot at the green monster (De La Salle),” said ESPN RISE Deputy Editor Mark Tennis, who contributed to the rankings. “We’ve been especially impressed with the last two outings.”

This is the second time ever that Cal has been ranked in the Top 25 teams in the state. Former head coach Tony Sanchez, now with Bishop Gorman, Nev., helped Cal enter as one of the elite teams in all of California in 2007 during Cal’s one-loss, EBAL championship winning season. Cal ended up crushing all of their opponents in NCS only to lose to De La Salle in the NCS championship 37-0 at the Oakland Coliseum.

With the homecoming game tonight against highly improved Livermore, I believe that Cal should have no problems improving to 6-0 with a win over the Cowboys (3-2 overall, 0-2 EBAL)

After Livermore, Cal will have a tough stretch of games. An Oct. 22 match up against All-American brothers George Atkinson III and Josh Atkinson, both who have made verbal commitments to attend Notre Dame on football scholarships, and the Granada Matadors seems to be Cal’s biggest challenge until Nov. 12 against EBAL, state, and national powerhouse De La Salle, ranked second in the state. Cal will host the game against the Spartans, but has to travel to Granada for that game.

Seniors Drew Reil and Kyle Alvarez have the Grizzly offense tearing through opponents. The nine-headed monster in the Grizzlies backfield, led by Kyle, is averaging more than 265 rushing yards per game. Kyle alone is accounts for about 107 yards rushing per game, gaining 11 yards per carry.

Drew, on the other hand, has been the man leading Cal’s passing game throwing for 11 touchdowns in five games and completing more than 70 percent of his passes as Cal has averaged more the 41 points a game.

But as the offense gets most of the credit for the Grizzlies domination of EBAL opponents, the defense led by senior linebackers Kelly Fielder and Marcus Prenot have held their five opponents to only 59 points combined all season.

If you would like to see this weeks ESPN RISE Cal-Hi Top 25 Football rankings, visit this link:
ESPN RISE 10-11-10 Cal-Hi  Top 25 Football Rankings