The West Coast Jamboree has graduated from its teens and will now celebrate its 20th anniversary tournament, but it’s still hard to believe the largest girls high school basketball tournament in the nation has had this kind of longevity after the way it began and the ways it’s grown.
This year’s Jamboree will begin this Friday and runs until Monday since California high school rules do not allow competition on Sunday.
It seems like only yesterday that Jamboree founder and current member of the board of directors, David Jackson, came to a group of us involved in covering and promoting girls high school basketball with an idea of starting a girls high school basketball tournament in Northern California that could be of potentially equal caliber to the Nike TOC (Tournament of Champions). Initially, most of us wished him good luck but that he was crazy thinking he could pull off the endeavor.
Jackson researched the TOC in 1998 and 1999 and in the spring of 2000 he asked four East Contra Costa County coaches from Deer Valley-Antioch, Freedom-Oakley, Liberty-Brentwood and Pittsburg, and a couple others of us, to gather around the coffee table of his Antioch home, and from there the 2000 West Coast Jamboree was born and contested as it has been ever since during the week between Christmas and New Year.
That first year there were 56 teams, a pretty significant number for any tournament, let alone a first year. The most teams ever were 166 and 148 teams participated last year.
Through it all the Jamboree survived 911 in its second year, became a 501c3, and has grown into the largest girls high school basketball tournament in the nation. From four Host School gyms/venues and four divisions to start the Jamboree in 2000 the tournament has used as many as 12 Host School gyms and up to as many as 21 divisions. These Host Schools also benefit from the Jamboree and in 2018 over $30,000 went to the Host Schools.
Over the years over 25,000 players, thousands of coaches, and around 2,500 different teams have played in the Jamboree. The estimated attendance is around 250,000 spectators.
The tournament has played host to some of the finest female basketball players, including USA Basketball gold medalists and WNBA stars. Some of those elite players include Jayne Appel, Jacki Gemelos, Alexis Gray-Lawson, Ebony Hoffman, Charde Houston, Epiphany Prince, Noelle Quinn, Candice Wiggins and Lisa Willis.
“In my wildest dreams I would never have believed it would go 20 years,” Jackson remarked. “The first year whatever could go wrong did, and then there was 911 the second year, but we survived.
“Our name got out there and the top teams in Northern California like Berkeley (with legendary Coach Gene Nakamura) and the top teams from Southern California started to come up and it took off from there,” Jackson continued. “But we never could have gotten this far without family friends, and people that volunteered to help.”
The 2019 West Coast Jamboree will have 17 Divisions and 136 teams competing at 10 high school gyms in Contra Costa, Alameda and Solano Counties. Three of the 17 divisions are called Elite with the Platinum Division at College Park-Pleasant Hill, the Diamond Division at Las Lomas-Walnut Creek and the Gold Division at Heritage-Brentwood. The other 14 divisions are called Premier and will be at Alhambra-Martinez, Benicia, Clayton Valley-Concord, Cornerstone Christian-Antioch, Jesse Bethel-Vallejo, Granada-Livermore and Northgate-Walnut Creek. Several schools host two divisions, including College Park and Heritage where a Premier division will also be played.
Platinum Division
The Platinum Division will have Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth (9-2) as the top seed. The Trailblazers were No. 1 in the state in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings lost 44-43 to No. 2 La Jolla Country Day on a last second shot in the top division of the TOC last week. The defending state CIF Open Division champions are led by the senior due of Duke-signed guard Vanessa De Jesus and her Texas-signed backcourt mate Ashley Chevalier. Another player to look for is Boise State-bound Alexis Mark. The Trailblazers will be making their first-ever appearance in the Jamboree and open against a Cal-Hi Sports No. 14 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (10-0) led by UC Santa Barbara-bound flashy senior guard Anya Choice.
Mater Dei-Santa Ana (10-1) is making its second appearance in the Jamboree and will be on the other side of the Platinum Division bracket from Sierra Canyon. Although Mater Dei did not play in the TOC, the Cal-Hi Sports No. 4 ranked Monarchs come into the Jamboree with a lone loss to a Long Beach Poly team that was No. 3 in the state at the time. Mater Dei, with Coach Kevin Kiernan, the all time winningest coach in California with 785 career coaching wins, is led by reigning Cal-Hi Sports State Sophomore of the Year, and Stanford-committed junior Brooke Demetre. Other Monarchs players to look for are junior guard and solid D1 prospect Alyssa Frescas, junior power forward Meaali’I Amosa, and the coach’s daughter, senior Camryn Kiernan, who is committed to Concordia University and will be playing for her father and then her mother, Christine Collins-Kiernan, the Eagles head coach.
Archbishop Mitty-San Jose (6-2) is on the same side of the bracket as Meter Dei. Coach Sue Phillips and her girls had a decent showing in the top division of the Nike TOC. The Monarchs finished third in the Smith Division after a loss to La Jolla Country Day and then Maryland Riverdale Baptist, both highly regarded and nationally ranked teams. Junior star Hunter Hernandez is out with a knee injury but could return after the first of the year. Olivia Williams, a junior that can play anywhere, and Marley Langi, a junior wing, lead a deep team that includes senior guard Ashley Hiraki, plus others. Mitty’s first round opponent is Clovis North-Fresno, and if Phillips’ girls can get the win, the wily veteran will be going for career win No. 700 in the second round against the Mater Dei and Bishop O’Dowd winner.
St. Joseph Notre Dame (5-0) comes in a bit untested and will get a test from Northern Nevada power Spanish Springs-Sparks (9-0) in the first round. If Coach Shawn Hipol and his Pilots get past Spanish Sprigs they meet the Sierra Canyon and Cardinal Newman winner. The Pilots are led by senior wing Malia Mastora, rising sophomore star point guard Talana Lepolo, and senior wing Sophie Nilsson, plus other on a deep bench for Hipol.
Clovis North (11-2) took an early season loss to state-ranked Harvard-Westlake but came back to take this place in the second toughest division at the TOC after a thrilling 55-54 Anderson victory the buzzer over St. Mary’s-Stockton. Long Beach State-bound senior Savannah Tucker had 115 points in the four TOC games. Another player to look for in the lineup of Coach Heather Long is 2018 Cal-Hi Sports State Sophomore of the Year Rowan Hein.
Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (5-1) will play Mater Dei in the first round and Coach Malik McCord and his Dragons come into the Jamboree looking good after a lone close loss to state-ranked Windward-Los Angeles and then a 43-40 win in the fifth-place game of the TOC’s Anderson Division. O’Dowd is led by junior wing Kennedy Johnson and rising star sophomore guard Amaya Bonner, plus a deep bench.
Diamond Division
The Diamond Division has Cal-Hi Sports No. 15 Miramonte-Orinda (7-0) on one side of the bracket and preseason No. 16 Chaminade-West Hills (6-2) on the other side. Miramonte Coach Kelly Sopak has five solid starters that all can shoot the three-pointer led by junior Mia Mastrov, the Diamond David “Scoop” Jackson MVP winner last year. Senior guards Erin Tarasow, Rebecca Welsh, the coach’s daughter Leah Sopak, and junior wing Jordan Allred round out the starting five. The Mats open with Nevada Damonte Ranch-Reno.
Chaminade has a new coach in longtime assistant Megan Kelso and she has one of the top players in Southern California in Washington-committed senior Alexis Whitfield. The Eagles have a couple of solid wins so far this season but they do have losses to Mater Dei and a solid Lynwood team.
It would appear Miramonte is on a collision course with the Chaminade girls from the San Fernando Valley, but if Sopak and his girls get past Nevada Damonte Ranch-Reno (4-2) they conceivably could meet Marlborough if the Los Angeles girls defeat Buchanan Clovis. Marlborough (6-1) has a loss to state-ranked Centennial-Corona, but since then they won the Kipp Division of the TOC. Buchanan (8-3) just suffered a big loss to a San Joaquin Memorial team in the Gold Division, but only lost 54-48 to Gold Division co-favorite and host Heritage-Brentwood.
Salesian-Richmond (7-1) may have something to say in this division. The Pride suffered a lone loss to Arizona No. 4 Shadow Mountain-Phoenix, and then went on to win the Consolation championship of the TOC’s Desper Division. Del Oro-Loomis (8-3) faces Salesian Coach Stephen Pezzola and his girls in the first round.
Elk Grove (2-10) rounds out the field and after a rough start the Thundering Herd won’t get a break in the Jamboree with Chaminade as its opening opponent.
Gold Division
Heritage (3-2) will host the Gold Division but Coach Rob Ocon and his girls have had a bit of a rough start after losses to Folsom in the first round of the Oak Ridge tournament and then in overtime in the consolation championship to Inderkum. The Patriots, who are led by Boise State-bound post Abby Muse, open play with Canby of Oregon.
On the top side of the bracket opposite Heritage is the Antelope team that beat the Patriots last season in the NorCal D1 second round. Antelope (9-0) has stayed local but they won the Oak Ridge tournament and along the way walloped the Folsom team that bested Heritage. Coach Sean Chamber and his girls, led by junior sensation Jzaniya Harriel, open against Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco.
Kamehameha Kapalama-Honolulu becomes the first team from Hawaii to play in the Jamboree and opens with Valencia from the Santa Clarita Valley. The other first round match-up is Oakland Tech and San Joaquin Memorial.
Most of the girls playing in the West Coast Jamboree will be in one of the
14 Premier Divisions, Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Garnet, Ivory, Jade, Onyx, Opal, Pearl, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz and Turquoise, all getting their names from founder Jackson.
This year the Jamboree’s management team, Hoops4Girls, found an anonymous corporate sponsor that is covering the entire cost of the expenses of the Paradise team that was devastated along with the entire town by the 2018 Camp Fire. Their story and the story about how the nearly $7,000 sponsorship unfolded is in the Jamboree program.
Scholarship Program
Lastly, three years ago the Jamboree began its Scholarship Program which was part of the vision of Jackson. Each year for the past three years, three $2,500 scholarships for a total of $22,500, have been awarded to senior girls that participated in that year’s tournament and are maintaining a 3.0 GPA.
As the Jamboree attempts to expand the program to include more girls and girls that are needs based as well, the criteria are undergoing some changes. One of the things the Jamboree is proud of is it was the first and is still the only high school tournament in any sport in the nation, girls or boys, to offer scholarships. The 2018 winners were Alyssa Andrews of Vintage-Napa, Klara Astrom of Pinewood-Los Altos Hills and Paige Lyons of Eureka. This year’s 24 finalists have been selected and will be announced at the conclusion of this year’s Jamboree.
