Cal High’s women’s basketball has been phenomenal, dominating the regular season en route to the top seed in the NCS playoffs.
The Grizzlies are 23-4 and placed third in the EBAL with a 7-2 league record.
As the top seed, Cal earned a first round bye and will host on Friday the winner No. 8 Dublin and No. 9 Clayton Valley.
“I’m excited for NCS because I feel like our competition will be really high,” said senior shooting guard/small forward Kaylee Lawson, who averaged 6.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Head coach Jeff Rodriguez believes the team is the most talented he’s ever had in his 20 years of coaching.
“The average game we had was beating teams by 40 points,” Rodriguez said.
To maintain this level of play, the team practices tirelessly Monday through Friday and looks over anything and everything to improve their game.
“We have Hudl every day,” Rodriguez said of the film app. “We use the film to scout out our opponents, look over our games whether they have been good or bad.”
Cal’s only two league losses this season came to San Ramon Valley on Jan. 12 and to Carondelet on Feb. 8. Neither team is in the NCS Division 1 bracket.
The team has been led by juniors Trinity Chu (11.1 ppg) and Taylor Lim (9 ppg and 3.4 rpg) .
“Most of this season, and our last few practices have all been gearing toward preparing for the NCS,’’ Rodriguez said.
This season the team had added assistant coach Gabriela Edmond, a recent alumni of the Cal women’s basketball program.
“I think [Gabriela’s] ability to connect with the kids in a way us older male coaches couldn’t relate to has been amazing. Rodriguez said. “She’s been fabulous and the kids love her for that.”
– Suhas Chalasani
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team is moving on to the postseason once again.
But this year the Grizzlies will have to adjust to the role of an underdog.
After reaching the NCS semifinals last year and the championship game in 2022, Cal struggled at times this season but still finished 5-3-1 in the EBAL, 6-6-3 overall.
As a result, Cal earned the No. 10 seed and travels to No. 7 Heritage today for the first round of the Division 1 playoffs.
Coach Nina Cefalo said she is really proud of the team, especially in their wins over San Ramon Valley and Dougherty Valley.
“We had a winning mindset,” varsity midfielder Leia Yamada said of those games.
The team likes to play a popular 4-3-3 formation, consisting of four defenders, three midfielders, two wingers, and one striker. Cal also pushes the full-backs to help in the attacks. This allows for great link-up play between the defense and offense and leads to more scoring opportunities.
“I want to teach as much as possible,” Cefalo said.
Cal is a very adaptable and dynamic team, allowing the girls to change formations and tactics depending on their opposition.
“We have played with about four different formations and we change tactics depending on the opposition,” Cefalo said
Cefalo believes the team’s game against SRV was one of Cal’s strongest performances, handing SRV of its only two losses.
Cal scored from a set-piece play on an indirect free kick, and goalie Layla Armas had 18 saves.
– Vihaan Tigadikar
Wrestling
The wrestling team had many accomplishments this season, and many more are expected in the coming weeks with NCS on the horizon.
The Grizzlies won last month the Battle of the Axe tournament, which includes the four schools from the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.
Cal also is expected to have several wrestlers advance to NCS when brackets were announced on Monday. The brackets were released after The Californian went to press.
Check the paper’s Instagram account, @thecalifornianpaper, today for an update about which wrestlers advanced.
Those wrestlers who advance will be prepared as coach Bobby Rios takes practice very seriously given that his athletes count on him to help them improve. The team does calisthenics daily, goes into drills and ends it of by learning new skills.
“I write my practice plans down and change them up often regarding what the players need,” Rios said.
The practices can be tough for the wrestlers as they spend hours running and drilling.
“I would say the conditioning at the first hours of practice is very draining,” varsity wrestler Elvan Erwin, a sophomore, said.
The work has paid off. The team placed fourth at the SRV Invitational on Jan. 20, The competition was fierce, with 47 teams competing from across California.
With countless tournaments and hours of practice behind them, Cal put forth their best effort and finished ahead of league rivals Dougherty Valley, De La Salle, and Foothill.
In addition to the team’s overall finish, five Cal wrestlers placed in the top five across all 14 weight classes, and one wrestlers, junior Troy Nejib, won his weight class.
“I had been wrestling since freshmen on and off season,” Nejib said. “I expected to win all my matches.”
The wrestling team has high hopes this season for the upcoming NCS competitions. Most of the recent practices have been geared toward practicing drills, calisthenics, and improving upon mistakes.
“This year I believe that we can win NCS as our team has been looking extremely strong,” sophomore Arnav Hanspal said.
Rios had always felt that every season was strong, but more importantly, consisted of a lot of improvement from the team as a whole.
“One of our biggest improvements this year was at a first year’s level,” Rios said. “But now he’s one of the best kids in the section. He went to every camp he could, played club, and worked off-season too.”
With amazing performance came bonding moments for the team as Rios said wrestling is more than just a sport for the athletes.
– Suhas Chalasani
Men’s Basketball
While the team did not advance to NCS this season, the Grizzlies had a solid season they hope to build on for next year.
Cal had an overall record of 12-15, but went 2-7 in league play and finished eighth in the rugged EBAL.
Home games resulted in a solid 6-7 record, but the team struggled on the road with a 2-5 record. Neutral site games saw the Grizzlies secure more wins than losses as the team went 4-3.
Despite the up-and-down season, coach Steve Ohlmeyer believes the season is more than just wins and losses. He hopes the team uses lessons they learn in the future.
Senior Arman Martin, who has been on varsity since sophomore year, said the team definitely made progress and improved throughout the season.
“As a team, we have gotten a lot closer and have built a stronger bond with each other that translates on and off the court,” Martin said.
The team’s unity and hard work were evident in a standout performance and victory against Amador Valley High School in Cal’s first league game of the season.
The program, under the leadership of Ohlmeyer and a supportive staff, has been committed to providing resources for player development.
The team also has access to any kind of weights and conditioning that can help players improve. The coaches make sure players have everything they need to thrive. Injuries were a significant issue this season for Cal, which lost top scorer Dane Wallace for the season.
“Other guys [stepped] up in his absence,” Ohlmeyer said.
Sophomore Brayde Kuykendall believes the team embraced challenges as opportunities for growth.
“We were doing pretty bad at the very beginning of the season and we picked it up a bit,” Kuykendall said.
Sophomore Logan Reth and Kuykendall dream of building toward a state title.
– TJ Singh
Men’s Soccer
Despite a rough season, the men’s soccer team had its share of highlights.
During the season, Cal tied some strong teams, including San Ramon Valley, Monte Vista and Montgomery. Overall, Cal finished the season 4-7-6, 0-5-3 in league play, and placed ninth in the EBAL. The team did not qualify for NCS.
“I love seeing my players develop,” veteran head coach Jose Mena said,
Mena employs an unconventional mode of play for his team, called total football, with a 4-4-2 formation. This system, developed by Johan Cruyff, is a free system with no set positions, and everyone touches the ball.
He sees that his players have a high work rate and great chemistry, so it makes sense why they play total football.
“[This playing style] gives us a lot of attacking opportunities,” striker Aryav Dusara said.
Total football allows the players to play simply and move into open spaces.
– Vihaan Tigadikar
