LIVERMORE, Calif. – The Bay Area senior girls had a lot more college-bound players on its roster but it was the team from Sacramento that got it done. Sacramento overcame a 40-34 halftime deficit with a strong second half to post a 90-81 victory in the Fifth Annual NorCal Sports TV All NorCal Games on Saturday at Las Positas College.
Tulsa-bound Ahrray Young of Laguna Creek-Elk Grove wasn’t close to being the high scorer for Sacramento with nine points, but seven came in the second half, plus she had 10 rebounds and five assists. Her overall play helped build a 78-64 lead with just over four minutes remaining and was instrumental in sealing the victory. For her efforts Young was named the MVP award winner.
Cal State Stanislaus-bound Makayla Jackson of Folsom was the choice of some media as MVP, but All NorCal Games organizers made her the Defensive Player of the Game after she went for a game-high 18 points, four rebounds and two assists. Three other Sacramento players were in double-figure scoring. Oregon Tech-bound Chelsea Ching from Folsom had four key three-pointers and finished with 14 points. Cal Poly-Pomona-committed Keke Scott from Rocklin and post Gabby Kime from Del Oro each had 12 points with Kime adding six rebounds and three assists.
Bay Area had a 55-44 rebounding advantage but they had some real problems shooting the basketball. While Sacramento was 37-of-77 from the field and 9-of-29 from beyond the arc, Bay Area was 35-of-93 from the field and a measly 8-of-41 on three pointers.
Two Bay Area D1 players were in double scoring led by Sacramento State-committed Kaylie Edge of Salesian-Richmond with 12 points. Natalie Pasco, a Boise State-signed San Ramon Valley-Danville star had 10 points.
Washington-bound Elle Ladine of Pinewood-Los Altos Hills had 11 rebounds but missed both of her three-pointers and only shot 4-of-15 from the field for eight points.
The bottom line in this game as one of the folks at the scorer’s table noted was the Sacramento girls seemed to want to get revenge for the boys 133-91 drubbing by Bay Area in an earlier game.
209 rolls past Central Section
The first of the senior All NorCal Games pitted the 209 team with girls from the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section versus a team from the Central Section with 209 turning a 43-37 halftime lead into a comfortable 92-69 victory.
Tierra Snipes, a San Francisco State-committed power forward from Edison-Stockton, had another strong postseason showcase performance after going for a solid double-double 22 points and 16 rebounds to garner MVP honors for the 209 team. The 16 rebounds was an All NorCal Games record.
Junae Mahan made it a close call for MVP after the UC San Diego-commit from Lincoln-Stockton gave 209 an outing of 20 points (9-of-11 from the field) and seven assists. Fellow Lincoln teammate and Air Force-bound Faith Sheldon added a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds. The fourth 209 player in double-digit scoring was Oregon Tech-bound Gabbie Gascon of Argonaut with 11 points.
Central Section was led by Corin Camara of Buchanan-Clovis. She set the All NorCal Games record for three-pointers with seven for all of her 21 points. Asha Sra of San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno added 11 points.
A new star is born in Girls Middle School Game
The name McKenna Woliczko is already known among some girls basketball analysts, and despite not playing a minute of high school basketball as an eighth-grader from San Bruno she already has offers from Pacific, Southern Utah and UC Irvine.
It would be safe to say basketball is in Woliczko’s blood. She’s the daughter of West Coast Conference Senior Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball and Sport Administration and a former player and college men’s head coach Aaron Woliczko.
In a 73-55 Team South victory over Team North, the 6-1 Woliczko, who reportedly can dunk a tennis ball, got up and above the other middle school girls to the tune of 16 rebounds and a team co-high of 14 points. She also had five of South’s nine steals and three assists.
Woliczko plays with the fluidity of much older girls. She can handle the ball with either hand, moves well laterally for a girl that tall, and has multiple moves to the basket. About the only thing we didn’t see her do was shoot the three-pointer. Woliczko was hands down the choice for MVP of the South. In many respects she reminds us of Morgan Cheli of Archbishop Mitty-San Jose.
In a postgame interview when we told her she reminded us a bit of Cheli and asked her where she was planning on attending high school her response came with a huge grin. You guessed it. The answer was “Archbishop Mitty.”
Of note is besides shining on the hardwood the word on McKenna is she is a top-notch softball player and will do double duty for the Monarchs.
Woliczko was not the only middle school girl to shine at the All NorCal Games.
Alexis London, a slick left-hander from Sacramento that plans on attending St. Francis-Sacramento, was 4-of-8 from three-point land and finished with a game-high 16 points plus four steals. London was the MVP of Team North.
Team South had three other girls in double-figure scoring. Ellie Ortega from Hayward tied Woliczko for team-high with 14 points with five assists and four rebounds. Taliyah Nasol, a seventh-grader from Union City and one of only four seventh-graders to play in the game, had 13 points, and despite only being 5-foot tall, she snagged six rebounds. Jayla Stokes from Danville rounded things out with 11 points.
Besides London, Renee Harris from Elk Grove had 12 points for Team North.
