ROCKLIN, CA – On the surface it was a Cal Stars love fest, but despite an all Stars final in the Brad Smith Division, the girls that got the biggest dose of love were the Cal Stars Nike EYBL after winning the top division of the EOT Ultimate Challenge to go 6-0 with a 73-41 victory over Cal Stars 16U EYBL.
It was the fourth time both teams advanced to the finals of a tournament’s top division and the fourth time the Nike EYBL team defeated the 16U EYBL after wins at the non-viewing period Bulldogs tournament at City College of San Francisco and the Battle of Alameda at the Alameda Naval base, and then earlier this month at the End of the Trail National Showcase in Oregon that kicked off the first half of the NCAA Certified Event Viewing period while the Ultimate Challenge starts the second half.
As has been the case the entire viewing period the Nike EYBL girls were missing their two top players as 2019 Haley Jones of Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and 2020 Oregon sensation Cameron Brink of Southridge-Beaverton are with the USA U17 team at the FIBA World Championships in Belarus. However, as expected it made little difference as the girls that were at the disposal of Coach and Stars founder Kelly Sopak blitzed the field without them.
After opening with a 13-0 run the game was basically over and even though Sopak emptied the bench allowing five girls to hot double-figure scoring the lead ballooned to 38-points at one point
One of the players at the Ultimate Challenge was Pinewood sharpshooter Hannah Jump. The Stanford-committed Jump hopped and popped her way to a game-high 16 points with four-three pointers to give her 19 three-pointers for the six games with four from NBA range. Her shooting prowess was not lost on the college coaches that observed her over the three days.
“She’s the best high school shooter I’ve ever seen,” remarked one anonymous college coach that played in the WNBA.
“It’s all about how quickly she squares up, her quick release and almost perfect rotation each time,” said another anonymous college coach.
Another girl that drew raves from the college coaches was Alyson Miura, a 2019 point guard from Clackamas, Oregon. She had 11 points with one trey with three assists, rebounds and steals and ran the point with a lot of skill.
Anya Choice, a 2020 point guard from Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa that was brought up from the Cal Stars Attack team to bolster the backcourt with the absence of Jones, got her most minutes of the tournament and made the most of it by impressing the college coaches with her quickness and tenacity and willingness to go inside against bigger girls. She finished with 11 points (one three-pointer) plus seven rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.
“That Anya Choice can play some basketball,” a smiling Sopak remarked.
Nia Lowery, a 2019 combo guard from McClatchy-Sacramento that seemed energized to be playing close to home was outstanding with solid all-around play in every game. She had 10 points including a very difficult reverse scoop layup and added seven rebounds and two steals.
The fifth girl in double-figure scoring was USC-committed 2019 Clovis West-Fresno shooting guard Madison Campbell who played well and did her job in every game. She nailed two three-pointers and finished with 10 points plus four rebounds and two steals.
Two girls that didn’t reach double-figure scoring but impressed the college coaches were Angel Jackson and Brooke Demetre.
Jackson, a 6-5 incoming senior post from Salesian-Richmond has been showing marked improvement this summer and is looking to score more and even finishing with her left hand. She had seven points and nine rebounds with four blocked shots. Cal and several other Pac-12 schools plus Florida observed just about all of her games.
Demetre, a 2021 from Mater Dei-Santa Ana, who is regarded as one of the top two freshmen in the state, turned a lot of college coaches’ heads with her athleticism and ability to score inside or out. Some think she may develop into a three or any position she wants as she grows and matures but right now she wants to play guard.
The college coaches answer to that was pretty unanimous. “They all want to play guard,” more than one remarked.
Ali Bamberger, a 6-3 power forward and incoming Carondelet-Concord senior who lit things up on her Birthday on Tuesday, only had three points but snagged nine rebounds. Not surprisingly a lot of West Coast Conference coaches appeared to be observing her.
The U16 EYBL team was led by Erin Tarasow, a 2020 wing from Miramonte-Orinda. She came off the bench in this game to knock down three three-pointers for a team-high nine points.
Three other girls had six points. Heritage-Brentwood 6-3 incoming junior Abigail Muse added 10 rebounds and two blocks. Some college coaches likened her budding game to Brink, who she resembles in build and in looks a bit. Kenna Holt played her heart out just like in all the other games observed. She had a three-pointer and added four rebounds and two assists with a block to her points, and Mia Mastrov, a 5-10 guard and incoming sophomore at Miramonte, also had four rebounds and two steals.
Nike EYBL punched its ticket to the championship with a 77-46 victory over Cal Stars Attack. Jump nailed five three-pointers and finished with 17 points. There was no official MVP but as far as Prep2Prep is concerned it was California’s current best outside shooting threat.
Miura nailed three trey and had 15 points, Demetre was sharp and finished with nine points with one three-pointer, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, Rachel Harvey, a 2020 from St. Ignatius-San Francisco hit a three-pointer and added seven points, Idaho State-bound 2019 Jordan Sweeney of Heritage-Brentwood hit two three-pointers and finished with eight points and three assists, Campbell hit two treys for her six points and also had three rebounds and two assists, Jackson had five points and seven rebounds with two blocks, Bamberger had five points and seven rebounds, and Choice had five points and five assists.
The top player for Stars Attack was Charity Gallegos, an incoming sophomore at Folsom. She made three three-pointers and finished with 16 points, plus despite only being 5-5 she had five rebounds and also added four steals. Jenna Kilty, an incoming junior point guard from Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, made one trey and added 11 points, Tatyana Modawar, a 6-3 2019 power forward from Carondelet-Concord that has seen time on the Nike EYBL team, had six points and seven rebounds.
All in all Sopak was pleased with the way his Stars program at all levels performed, particularly the Nike EYBL team. There were 10 Cal Stars teams participating, three Alaska Stars teams, three Northwest Stars, and two Seattle Stars teams in action.
“For kids at this level I really loved our intensity. It really says a lot about who they are as competitors,” Sopak remarked. “It’s hard for players at this level to do that every game because every game they have a target on their backs.”
“This is game 56 and every game is against an elite team,” Sopak continued. “That says a lot about not only their ability but their intensity.”
The Cal Stars Nike EYBL and their intensity and the rest of the Cal Stars teams are on their way to Orange County for the final event of the viewing period for them and that’s the July 27-29 EOT Summer Swoosh Championships at the Ladera Sports Center in Ladera Ranch near Mission Viejo.
