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Niamey won AAA Player of the Year awards in football and basketball for a second straight year — no one else has done so even once — and led Mission to the San Francisco Section’s first state basketball title with a resounding postseason that earned him a spot on The Chronicle’s All-Metro first team.
Najee, the nation’s No. 1 football recruit from Antioch, backed up his preseason hype with 2,766 rushing yards and 36 total touchdowns while winning his second straight Metro Player of the Year award.
The Harrises shared similar upbringings — raised in tough neighborhoods by single moms — and each displayed a strong, quiet, yet forceful presence to lead their teams to prominence.
[...] winning state division titles in football and basketball — the first for boys programs in school history — and reaching the North Coast Section baseball championship game was startling.
Drake-San Anselmo’s baseball team not only spoiled the perfect-season bid of Miramonte-Orinda by winning the NCS Division 3 title game, but also ruined the perfect send-off for longtime coach Vince Dell’Aquila.
MCAL Pitcher of the Year Ryan McLaughlin threw a four-hitter with eight strikeouts and had a key two-run double to lead Drake to a 4-3 victory.
Drake (25-5) set a school record for wins, handed the Matadors (27-1) their only loss and, in the semifinals, ended Analy-Sebastopol’s 18-game win streak.
Lincoln senior Pamela Amaechi (shot put) and Pittsburg senior Iffy Joyner (discus) became the first Bay Area girl and boy to win throwing events at the same state meet.
Amaechi, who won the state discus title as a junior, unleashed a career-best 47-foot, 5¼-inch throw on her final attempt, and Joyner topped 200 feet for the first time (203-8) on his next-to-last effort.
St. Mary’s-Berkeley senior and Cal-bound Sanjay Kettles won the state boys long jump at 24-3¾ on his final attempt.
St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda senior Cooper Teare didn’t repeat as the state 3,200 champion, but was the national leader (8:41.46) after a win at the Arcadia Invitational and just missed a sub-4-minutes mile while winning at the Mt.
El Cerrito senior Kaylah Robinson had the nation’s third-fastest high school 100-meter hurdles time with a wind-aided 12.98 in the state final, but lost to Tara Davis (12.83) of Agoura.
No Bay Area basketball team drew more attention than the Bears, who pulled off consecutive playoff upsets in packed gyms at top-seed St Ignatius (64-54) and at second-seed Vanden-Fairfield (72-68) before a resounding 82-75 Division 3 state-title win over Villa Park at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Bears (35-1) were honored at City Hall and by the Warriors and finished No. 1 in The Chronicle’s rankings for the first time, and coach Arnold Zelaya was selected state boys basketball Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports.
The advent of the 13-division bowl game system opened the door for state championships and four Metro teams returned with titles.
Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland got three touchdowns from sophomore running back Austin Jones in a 43-24 Division 5-AA win over Valley View-Moreno Valley, and McClymonds used strong secondary play and a kickoff return for a touchdown by Devin White to beat La Jolla Country Day 20-17 in Division 5-A.
Vincent won the Division 6-A title, beating Strathmore 29-28 on a 19-yard field goal by Gabe Fuentes with six seconds to play, and Campolindo-Moraga (4-AA) beat Bakersfield Christian 31-7 behind two interceptions and a TD catch by John Torchio.
On its way to making its case for being perhaps the Bay Area’s best-ever girls basketball team, Mitty (28-3) lost the Open Division final 44-40 to Clovis West, failing to score a basket in the final 5:42 after taking a 37-30 lead.
Sophomore Haley Jones and senior Maddy Holland were first-team All-Metro players on a deep, talented team that couldn’t connect down the stretch.
The Kennedy-Richmond football team, pushed by a couple of young coaches with the credo “We all we got, we all we need,” went 10-2 and won its first playoff game since 1988 — which was also the last time it had a winning record.
All-Metro first-team pitcher Griff McGarry pitched a three-hitter in the title game.
Jim Liggett, the state’s winningest softball coach, from Carlmont-Belmont; former Riordan and Stanford football and track athlete and scholar Tyrone McGraw (who was only 29); and longtime El Cerrito football coach and community leader George Austin.
Candice Denny (Mitty volleyball): The junior middle blocker had 312 kills, including a team-high 15 in an Open Division championship sweep of Santa Margarita-Rancho Santa Margarita that gave the Monarchs their state-best 13th crown.
Nicole May (Foothill-Pleasanton softball): Cal-Hi Sports’ Freshman of the Year led the Falcons to a NCS Division 1 title by going 25-1 with 290 strikeouts in 191 innings and hitting .480.
Damari Milstead (Moreau Catholic-Hayward boys basketball): The Metro Player of the Year averaged 25.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.1 steals for the NorCal Division 2 champs.
Leki Nunn (Serra football): One of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the area in years, Nunn accounted for 3,100 yards and 39 TDs, leading the Padres to the state Division 2-A final.
Delanie Sheehan (Liberty-Brentwood soccer): The UCLA signee and U-19 national team member won her third straight BVAL MVP award.
Tim Tague (Miramonte-Orinda football and baseball): He was a second-team All-Metro quarterback (3,085 yards, 43 TDs) and the Metro Player of the Year in baseball (13-0 record, 0.81 ERA), .345 batting average.
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Najee, the nation’s No. 1 football recruit from Antioch, backed up his preseason hype with 2,766 rushing yards and 36 total touchdowns while winning his second straight Metro Player of the Year award.
The Harrises shared similar upbringings — raised in tough neighborhoods by single moms — and each displayed a strong, quiet, yet forceful presence to lead their teams to prominence.
[...] winning state division titles in football and basketball — the first for boys programs in school history — and reaching the North Coast Section baseball championship game was startling.
Drake-San Anselmo’s baseball team not only spoiled the perfect-season bid of Miramonte-Orinda by winning the NCS Division 3 title game, but also ruined the perfect send-off for longtime coach Vince Dell’Aquila.
MCAL Pitcher of the Year Ryan McLaughlin threw a four-hitter with eight strikeouts and had a key two-run double to lead Drake to a 4-3 victory.
Drake (25-5) set a school record for wins, handed the Matadors (27-1) their only loss and, in the semifinals, ended Analy-Sebastopol’s 18-game win streak.
Lincoln senior Pamela Amaechi (shot put) and Pittsburg senior Iffy Joyner (discus) became the first Bay Area girl and boy to win throwing events at the same state meet.
Amaechi, who won the state discus title as a junior, unleashed a career-best 47-foot, 5¼-inch throw on her final attempt, and Joyner topped 200 feet for the first time (203-8) on his next-to-last effort.
St. Mary’s-Berkeley senior and Cal-bound Sanjay Kettles won the state boys long jump at 24-3¾ on his final attempt.
St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda senior Cooper Teare didn’t repeat as the state 3,200 champion, but was the national leader (8:41.46) after a win at the Arcadia Invitational and just missed a sub-4-minutes mile while winning at the Mt.
El Cerrito senior Kaylah Robinson had the nation’s third-fastest high school 100-meter hurdles time with a wind-aided 12.98 in the state final, but lost to Tara Davis (12.83) of Agoura.
No Bay Area basketball team drew more attention than the Bears, who pulled off consecutive playoff upsets in packed gyms at top-seed St Ignatius (64-54) and at second-seed Vanden-Fairfield (72-68) before a resounding 82-75 Division 3 state-title win over Villa Park at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Bears (35-1) were honored at City Hall and by the Warriors and finished No. 1 in The Chronicle’s rankings for the first time, and coach Arnold Zelaya was selected state boys basketball Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports.
The advent of the 13-division bowl game system opened the door for state championships and four Metro teams returned with titles.
Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland got three touchdowns from sophomore running back Austin Jones in a 43-24 Division 5-AA win over Valley View-Moreno Valley, and McClymonds used strong secondary play and a kickoff return for a touchdown by Devin White to beat La Jolla Country Day 20-17 in Division 5-A.
Vincent won the Division 6-A title, beating Strathmore 29-28 on a 19-yard field goal by Gabe Fuentes with six seconds to play, and Campolindo-Moraga (4-AA) beat Bakersfield Christian 31-7 behind two interceptions and a TD catch by John Torchio.
On its way to making its case for being perhaps the Bay Area’s best-ever girls basketball team, Mitty (28-3) lost the Open Division final 44-40 to Clovis West, failing to score a basket in the final 5:42 after taking a 37-30 lead.
Sophomore Haley Jones and senior Maddy Holland were first-team All-Metro players on a deep, talented team that couldn’t connect down the stretch.
The Kennedy-Richmond football team, pushed by a couple of young coaches with the credo “We all we got, we all we need,” went 10-2 and won its first playoff game since 1988 — which was also the last time it had a winning record.
All-Metro first-team pitcher Griff McGarry pitched a three-hitter in the title game.
Jim Liggett, the state’s winningest softball coach, from Carlmont-Belmont; former Riordan and Stanford football and track athlete and scholar Tyrone McGraw (who was only 29); and longtime El Cerrito football coach and community leader George Austin.
Candice Denny (Mitty volleyball): The junior middle blocker had 312 kills, including a team-high 15 in an Open Division championship sweep of Santa Margarita-Rancho Santa Margarita that gave the Monarchs their state-best 13th crown.
Nicole May (Foothill-Pleasanton softball): Cal-Hi Sports’ Freshman of the Year led the Falcons to a NCS Division 1 title by going 25-1 with 290 strikeouts in 191 innings and hitting .480.
Damari Milstead (Moreau Catholic-Hayward boys basketball): The Metro Player of the Year averaged 25.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.1 steals for the NorCal Division 2 champs.
Leki Nunn (Serra football): One of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the area in years, Nunn accounted for 3,100 yards and 39 TDs, leading the Padres to the state Division 2-A final.
Delanie Sheehan (Liberty-Brentwood soccer): The UCLA signee and U-19 national team member won her third straight BVAL MVP award.
Tim Tague (Miramonte-Orinda football and baseball): He was a second-team All-Metro quarterback (3,085 yards, 43 TDs) and the Metro Player of the Year in baseball (13-0 record, 0.81 ERA), .345 batting average.
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