Preps: One milestone reached and another could come this week; latest rankings
Caruthers High girls basketball coach Anna Almeida set a milestone with her 300th career coaching victory.
The Blue Raiders routed Orosi 76-4 on May 5, giving Almeida her milestone win in 17 seasons.
She joins 12 other girls coaches to accomplish the 300 feat, according to Central Section historian Bob Barnett.
Almeida led Caruthers to eight league championships and four section championships.
The Blue Raiders have won 78 in a row in league play — the fourth-longest in section history, Barnett said.
Girls basketball rankings
Records through Saturday
1. Clovis West 10-0
2. San Joaquin Memorial 5-0
3. Buchanan 9-2
4. Clovis 6-1
5. St. Joseph 13-2
6. Clovis North 4-4
7. Caruthers 9-0
8. Clovis East 7-6
9. Roosevelt 8-1
10. Hanford 5-1
Boys basketball rankings
Records through Saturday
1. San Joaquin Memorial 11-1
2. Clovis West 12-3
3. St. Joseph 15-1
4. Clovis North 11-2
5. Arroyo Grande 7-2
6. Central 5-2
7. Sanger 5-5
8. Bullard 7-6
9. Bakersfield Christian 10-7
10. Clovis East 5-4
Baseball coach nearing milestone
Bullard baseball coach Tom Donald needs two wins to get to 500 career wins.
The Knights have three scheduled games this week against Madera in the County/Metro Athletic Conference. Games will be played at Bullard at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and 11 a.m. Saturday and in Madera at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Donald’s career record stands at 498-137-6, Barnett said. In 20 seasons as Buchanan coach, he compiled a 485-135-6 record that included six CIF Central Section and 10 Tri-River Athletic Conference titles and two national championships, according to Barnett.
Baseball rankings
Records through Saturday
1. Buchanan (17-1) Pvs. 1
2. San Joaquin Memorial (14-2) Pvs. 2
3. Bullard (13-2-1) Pvs. 3
4. Clovis North (12-5) Pvs. 4
4. Arroyo Grande (18-0) Pvs. 7
6. Liberty-Bakersfield (8-1) Pvs. 8
7. Centennial (8-2) Pvs. 9
8. Clovis West (11-6-1) Pvs. 5
9. Clovis (9-8) Pvs. 6
10. Madera South (11-4) Pvs. 10
Softball rankings
Records through Saturday
1. Clovis North (11-0) Pvs. 3
2. Clovis (14-2) Pvs. 2
3. Buchanan (13-3) Pvs. 1
4. Clovis East (8-5) Pvs. 4
5. Arroyo Grande (11-2) Pvs. 5
6. Liberty-Bakersfield (9-0) Pvs. 6
7. Stockdale (7-0) Pvs. 8
8. Central (11-8) Pvs. 9
9. Paso Robles (14-2) Pvs. 10
10. Clovis West (9-9) Pvs. 7
Athlete of the Week honors
Dean McCurley of Central baseball and Alyssa Wheeler of Clovis North soccer are the winners of The Bee’s Athlete of the Week for April 26-May 1.
Wheeler got 67.5% of the votes, ahead of Lauren Fowler of Buchanan track and field who received 22.2%. Julissa Avila of Mendota soccer came in third at 9.9%.
McCurley received 62.9% to top the poll. Rounding out the top three were Blake King of Clovis North baseball (19.2%) and Shaan Dhillon of Kerman basketball (14.4%).
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Past winners include:
Will Gagnon of Reedley baseball and Noemi Uribe of Washington Union softball.
Chase Weiner of Bullard soccer and Carys Hall of Clovis North soccer.
Redwood tennis rolling along
The Redwood girls tennis team keeps rolling along in the West Yosemite League.
The Rangers have won 200 consecutive WYL matches after a 9-0 win over Hanford.
The streak dates back to the 2003 season, Barnett said.
Redwood can clinch its 17th consecutive WYL title in its match this week against El Diamante.
Tulare Western hires new football coach
Derek Rosa was named the Tulare Western head football coach.
Rosa was a Tulare Western assistant for the past seven seasons as a quarterback coach and the offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
“Really excited for this opportunity to lead the school I love,” Rosa said in a statement. “It is a dream come true and I’m ready to continue the traditions and culture that Coach Rocha put in place. Elevating a great program like TW is going to be a great challenge that I look forward to.”
Ryan Rocha stepped down to spend time with his family.
Scholar-Athlete awards winners
Tanner Sagouspe of San Joaquin Memorial and Reese Renz of Liberty-Bakersfield were the $1,000 Scholar-Athlete Award scholarship winners, the Central Section announced.
The 16 athletes receiving $500 scholarships include Claire Alford, Righetti; Anna Archibald, Atascadero; Sierra Burror, Bishop; Quaiden Copher, Liberty-Madera Ranchos; Kyle Guinn, Bakersfield Christian; Abigael Ellis, Sanger; Kristilyn Heatherington, Redwood; Jaedyn Kamea Imhoff, Atascadero; Aidan Le Francois, Mammoth; Katie Magni, Pioneer Valley; Aubrey Olson, Independence; Luis Rosas, Riverdale; Makal Ruiz, Dos Palos; Sara Sterner, Morro Bay; Asim Wahab, Kerman and Lochan Zwaschka, Clovis East.
While no awards dinner took place, the section will send a check and certificate of achievement to their respective high schools.
To receive the award, a student-athlete must have participated in at least one varsity sport, show good citizenship and volunteer activities and carried a minimum of a 3.5 GPA.
City/County All-Star baseball game returns
The 54th City-City County All-Star baseball game is returning on June 27.
The game will be held at Chukchansi Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Coaches and rosters and ticket information will be announced soon.
The annual all-star game was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Gasman helps Hawaii to NCAA title
Former Buchanan High standout Patrick Gasman is an NCAA men’s volleyball champion.
Gasman finished with seven kills and one error on 11 swings, helping Hawaii sweep Brigham Young 25-21, 25-19, 25-16 in the NCAA championship in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday.
Gasman was named to the all-tournament team.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 1:28 PM.
