Larry Gurganious III announced last week that he is transferring from Gonzaga to a school closer to home. I talked with Gurganious’ dad, Larry Gurganious Jr., and he did confirm that the 2005 Times Boys basketball player is transferring.

He wouldn’t say which school are in the running but it would be closer to the East Bay. Larry Gurganious III is also waiting on an NCAA waiver to be able to come in and play right away. Gurganious III missed time due to injury at Gonzaga and is hoping the waiver will allow him to play right away.

Here is a link on Gurganious III leaving Gonzaga.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegesports/2004456042_webzags03.html

 Stay tuned.

Suffering from March Madness withdrawals? … Me too. But there is still basketball (besides the NBA…Go Warriors) being played.

Today five local boys high school players will play in the 1 Dream All-Star Classic at 3:30 p.m. at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The game pits 12 Southern California seniors against 12 Northern California seniors.

St. Mary’s Will Brew, Newark Memorial’s Chris Jones, McClymond’s Frank Otis, Antioch’s Tim Williams and Salesian’s Justin Brown were all scheduled to compete for the 12-player NorCal squad coached by St. Mary’s Manny Nodar.

Check out the web site http://www.1dreamfoundation.com/home.html or stay tuned here for updates.

So the Oakland Soldiers won their first game by 10 points over a team from New Jersey. From what I hear, the game started slow as Team NJ sat in a zone and tried to slow the game down in the first half. The second half was better as the Soldiers were able to spread the court and get to the basket. Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Jerry Brown sparked his team in the first half when the Soldiers jump shots were not falling.

St. Mary’s Chris Brew took over in the second half and led the team with 18 points and four steals. McClymonds’ Will Cherry had eight points, Quincy Hill nine and Damon Powell got into foul trouble but finished with eight points. Westchester’s Dwayne Polee (committed to USC 2010) had 11 points.

Game two day two

The Soldiers came away with a 72-59 win over the Georgia all stars. McClymonds’ Will Cherry led the team with 20 points and St. Mary’s Chris Brew added 13 points and seven assists. Both Brew and McClymond’s Damon Powell got into early foul trouble and played about half the game. Also heard that Miramonte’s Eric Obeysekere played well against the bigger Georgia team.

Stay tuned

 The Oakland Soldiers tip-off tonight at 7:30 p.m. (PDT) at the Boo Williams Tournament in Hampton, Va. against the Charlotte Royals.

Notables on this year’s Soldiers’ team include St. Mary’s Chris Brew, McClymonds’ Will Cherry, Quincy Hill and Damon Powell, Miramonte’s Eric Obeysekere and Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Jerry Brown and Kevin Green.

Stay tuned for updates.

The St. Mary’s high school boys basketball team may not have to wait three years to get another shot at state champion Campbell Hall-North Hollywood. Preliminary talks are under way to invite Campbell Hall up in either December or January to play in a two-day, four-team invite. The Vikings would  play against Salesian one night and St. Mary’s the following night. The fourth team in the mix right now sounds like Oakland.

Campbell Hall beat St. Mary’s 83-61 in the Division IV state title game on March 14. The Vikings also beat St. Mary’s 74-53 in the Division IV state title game in 2005. Campbell Hall also beat Salesian that year 60-51 on Jan. 22, 2005.

Campbell Hall loses Jrue Holiday to UCLA but returns freshman point guard Austin McBroom, who scored a career-high 30 points in the state championship win. Salesian has junior forward Desmond Simmons and guard Jabari Brown returning, and St. Mary’s returns UC Santa Barbara-bound Chris Brew, San Jose State-bound Aalim Moor and sophomore twins Dominique and Demetrius Lee.

 Stay tuned.

Tonight’s scores

Boys

No. 1 McClymonds 73, Fremont-Oakland 71

No. 2 De La Salle 46, Pittsburg 32

Hayward 58, No. 4 Castro Valley 54

No. 6 Oakland 73, Skyline 56

No. 7 San Leandro 67, Moreau Catholic 65

Amador Valley 47, No. 11 Foothill 27

Girls

No. 1 Carondelet 65, Pittsburg 42
No. 2 Deer Valley 70, Clayton Valley 46

No. 6 Moreau Catholic 51, San Leandro 39

No. 15 American 57, No. 7 Washington 56

No. 8 Castlemont 54, Oakland Tech 39
No. 10 Monte Vista 52 San Ramon Valley 31

No. 14 Arroyo 49, Mt. Eden 22

8:46: De La Salle wraps up BVAL play 16-0 with a 46-32 win over Pittsburg

8:30: De La Salle is up 40-30 with two minutes left to play

8:15: Pittsburg is making things interesting. De La Salle leads 26-21 at the end of the third quarter

Sorry for the delay, on the phone working on a story.

7:56: Chace checks back in. De La Salle was up 20-9 at halftime. The Spartans are at it again, doing what they do best, playing defense. De La Salle held Pittsburg scoreless for 10:32 in the first half. Jose Rivera is still the leading scorer with eight points.

7:38: Chace checks in and says that the Spartans jumped to the lead behind Jose Rivera, who scored eight of De La Salle’s 10 points.

7:37: De La Salle up 10-2 after one period.

These scores just in:

McClymonds slips by Fremont 73-71 to stay unbeaten.

Oakland beat Skyline 73-56.

Chace reports that the De La Salle, Pittsburg game hasn’t started yet because the Pirates had their senior night festivities. Should start shortly

With the three-day weekend most of the leagues in Contra Costa County played their games on Thursday, so this will be a shorter version. Chace Bryson is out at Pittsburg to cover De La Salle and Pittburg in the Bay Valley Athletic League for both teams. It also marks the last time the Spartans will play in the BVAL. De La Salle moves to the East Bay Athletic League next season.

Tonight’s boys games

No. 1 McClymonds hosts Fremont-Oakland

No. 2 De La Salle at Pittsburg

No. 4 Castro Valley host Hayward

No. 6 Oakland at Skyline

No. 7 San Leandro hosts Moreau Catholic

Amador Valley 47, No. 11 Foothill 27

Here are some scores from Thursday

No. 3 St. Mary’s 50, St. Joseph Notre Dame 29 (Semifinals of Bay Shore Athletic League playoffs)

No. 5 Kennedy 78, No. 12 Salesian 65 (Semifinals of Bay Shore Athletic League playoffs)

No. 8 Newark Memorial 70, No. 13 James Logan 59 (Misson Valley Athletic League title game)

El Cerrito 71, No. 10 Berkeley 70 (Created a tie for Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League title)

No. 15 Campolindo 75, Northgate 53 (Clinched Diablo Foothill Athletic League title for Cougars)

Saturday’s games

No. 3 St. Mary’s vs. No. 5 Kennedy (BSAL title) 8 p.m., Albany high

No. 9 Monte Vista vs. San Ramon Valley 1 p.m. at Dougherty Valley high

No. 10 Berkeley host El Cerrito (For ACCAL NCS playoff berth) 7 p.m.

Tonight’s girls games

No. 1 Carondelet hosts Pittsburg

No. 2 Deer Valley at Clayton Valley

No. 6 Moreau Catholic at San Leandro

No. 8 Castlemont at Oakland Tech

No. 10 Monte Vista host San Ramon Valley

No. 14 Arroyo at Mt. Eden

Here are some scores from Thursday

No. 3 Berkeley 70, El Cerrito 44

No. 4 Hercules 84, Richmond 22

No. 5 Miramonte 66, Dublin 49

No. 7 Washington 66, James Logan 47 (Wednesday)

No. 12 Piedmont 62, No. 9 St. Mary’s 47 (BSAL semifinals)

No. 11 Bishop O’Dowd 64, Hayward 49

No. 13 Northgate 73, Campolindo 32

No. 15 American 76, Newark Memorial 35 (Wednesday)

Saturday’s games

No. 3 Berkeley host No. 4 Hercules at 5 p.m. for ACCAL’s NCS playoff berth

No. 12 Piedmont vs. St. Patrick-St. Vincent at Albany high 5 p.m.

So last Saturday, I tried to get cute and made a Corbin Louks who? reference in the Further Review section after San Ramon Valley quarterback Joe Southwick went 18 of 21 for 279 yards and four touchdowns in his varsity debut. The reference wasn’t meant to be a slight at Louks, who threw for over 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior last season, but it came off that way.
Well Southwick isn’t the only Danville quarterback having success this season.
UCLA had no idea who Louks was but the Bruins left Saturday’s game against Utah knowing who Louks is now.
A true freshman, Louks made his collegiate debut and went 2 of 3 for 18 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter as the Utes upset the then No. 11 UCLA 44-6 in Salt Lake City. Louks also ran the ball four times for 10 yards.
Louks should see even more time in the future with Utes senior starter Tommy Grady battling injuries and consistency issues.
According to newspaper reports, Utah was orginally thinking about redshirting Louks but decided against it. Here is what Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham told the Salt Lake Tribune about Louks following the win.
“He is an athletic type of quarterback who matches what Brian Johnson brings to the offense, so we wanted to start bringing him along and running him like crazy,” Whittingham said. “We have to have a guy who is in the same mold as a throwing threat, and Corbin Louks has a great deal of poise and savvy that are intangibles you can’t measure statistically.”
Here is the link for the entire story: http://www.sltrib.com/collegesports/ci_6915908

Do not play poker with De La Salle golf coach Leo Lopoz.
Lopoz has said all season that his team wasn’t very good, and that all the Spartans wanted to do was advance to the next round.
And he has said this all year with a straight face.
If the Spartans aren’t a good team, I don’t know who is.
De La Salle fired its best 18-hole round of the season with a five-golfer score of 6-over-par 366 to win the NCS South Qualifier on May 7.
Andrew Haggen and J.P. Gross led the Spartans with 1-under-par 71s, and the rest of the Spartans shot a 78 or lower to best second-place Foothill by five strokes.
I wonder what he and the rest of the Spartans have in store for Monday’s NCS Tournament of Champions.
In Lopoz’s defense, De La Salle did graduate three of its top five golfers and lost a fourth to the David Leadbetter Academy. Brian O’Regan is the lone Spartan that returned from last year’s state title team. De La Salle beat Cathedral Catholic-San Diego by one-stroke to secure its first title.
If Lopoz is this good at believing the Spartans aren’t very good, then imagine what he is like with green felt, some cards and plastic chips in front of him.
I know one thing, I’m not playing poker with him.

It’s not Augusta, but he still earned his green attire.
Foothill High School junior Justin Gabbert picked up his leafy colored gear for the first time at Monday’s North Coast Section South Qualifier.
Gabbert fired a 1-under-par 71 at Lone Tree Golf Course in Antioch for his first sub-par 18-hole round of his career.
The Falcons’ No. 3 golfer, Gabbert has been even-par or one or two over, but could never quite break the par barrier.
His round at Lone Tree earned him a green golf bag from Castlewood Country Club, which rewards its junior members with a green golf bag when they achieve their first under-par 18-hole round.
“It took me long enough,” said Gabbert after his round. “I played solid all day long and was hitting my irons well all day long.”
At the NCS South Qualifier, Gabbert started the 8 a.m. shotgun start on the eighth hole and was two over after his first four holes. But birdies on holes 12, 13, two and six helped him card one of the day’s eight rounds under par at the event that featured 139 golfers.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Gabbert’s round plus that of teammate and fellow junior Anthony Machi, who also shot a 71, helped Foothill finish second at the qualifier with a five-golfer score of 11-over 371.
De La Salle won the qualifier with a 366 and also had two golfers in Andrew Haggen and J.P. Gross card 71s.

In a move that hadn’t been done all day, each member of the Long Beach Poly girls basketball team took time out of celebrating their second straight CIF Division I state title to hug opposing coach Gene Nakamura.
Nakamura coached his final game of his 24-year career at Berkeley High School.
So after all 16 Jackrabbits received their medals for beating Berkeley 58-52 on Saturday at Arco Arena, each player trekked halfway across the court to hug Nakamura.
That is what Nakamura earned in 24 years coaching at Berkeley. Nakamura is largely credited with giving girls basketball in Northern California a face.
Nakamura won two state titles and eight NorCal titles with the Yellow Jackets.
After Long Beach Poly coach Carl Buggs hugged and shook Nakamura’s hand and then posed for pictures, Nakamura walked off the court as a coach for the final time.
With his 3-year-old granddaughter Kaelie in tow, Nakamura walked through the tunnel toward his last post-game invterview. He was stopped by television cameras for one of his last TV interviews. The McClymonds boys team, which was waiting for its Division I game to start in the tunnel, also gave Nakamura an ovation.
That is what happens when you give something a face.