Fresno prep sports notebook: Basketball, soccer rankings, plus football coaching hires
Two weeks remain in the high school basketball and soccer regular season before the Central Section winter sports playoffs begin.
Here are this week’s Bee rankings that will hold from now until the postseason begins (records through Monday):
Boys basketball
1. Clovis West (24-1)
2. St. Joseph (21-2)
3. San Joaquin Memorial (16-6)
4. Clovis East (16-9)
5. Mt. Whitney (24-0)
6. Central (14-8)
7. Clovis North (14-9)
8. Dinuba (21-3)
9. Centennial (14-7)
10. Bullard (11-10)
Girls basketball
1. Clovis West (21-3)
2. Bakersfield (19-2)
3. St. Joseph (15-3)
4. San Joaquin Memorial (15-6)
5. Central (18-5)
6. Nipomo (19-4)
7. Caruthers (17-2)
8. Buchanan (14-10)
9. Liberty-Bakersfield (16-4)
10. Stockdale (16-6)
Boys soccer
1. Clovis East (14-2-2)
2. Sanger (15-2-1)
3. Central (15-2-2)
4. Clovis West (15-5-2)
5. Garces (10-0-1)
6. Clovis North (12-5-2)
7. San Luis Obispo (12-2-4)
8. Kerman (21-1)
9. Lindsay (16-2)
10. Golden West (14-2-1)
Girls soccer
1. Clovis North (15-2)
2. Buchanan (12-2)
3. Liberty-Bakersfield (14-0-2)
4. Redwood (13-0-2)
5. Sanger (16-5-1)
6. Arroyo Grande (14-6-2)
7. Bakersfield (14-3)
8. Clovis (9-5-3)
9. St. Joseph (12-4-2)
10. Stockdale (11-3-5)
Football coaching hires
Buchanan promoted Ross Wood to be the next head coach, succeeding Matt Giordano after he stepped down.
Wood helped the Bears to a Tri-River Athletic Conference championship in early 2021 and in the fall.
Brandon Nagle was named the Clovis East head coach, replacing Ryan Reynolds, who resigned in November.
Selma hired Art Francis, who last coached at Washington Union before taking a position at Clovis East as the strength and conditioning coach.
He attended Firebaugh and played for Fresno State before becoming a graduate assistant under Jim Sweeney.
Rob Thompson was named head coach at Sanger West, an extended campus for Sanger High.
Sanger West will serve ninth-grade students who reside in the Del Rey, John Wash, Lone Star, and Sequoia school boundaries, according to the Sanger High website.
Sanger West’s mascot is the Hornets.
Thompson was an assistant at Sanger. He was also an assistant at Fresno State.
Successful soccer coach back
Pat Evans is back coaching girls soccer in the area, leading Fresno High.
He taught English in China for the past 4 1/2 years.
The Warriors are having a successful season under Evans with a 10-2-1 overall record and 3-0 in the North Yosemite League.
Evans’ overall record is 380-201-86 with 18 league championship and and six section titles, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Recent milestones
Bullard boys basketball coach Tim Amundsen reached 400 career victories on Jan. 21, according to Central Section historian Bob Barnett.
The Knights defeated Madera 73-29.
Amundsen ranks ninth in the section for all-time wins.
Farmersville boys soccer coach Michael Jordan is the second soccer coach to reach 400 wins. He secured that milestone Dec. 9 when the Aztecs defeated Exeter 6-1. Former Porterville coach Francisco Nuno has the most wins at 518, Barnett said.
Record to watch
San Joaquin Memorial boys basketball coach Brad Roznovsky is on the cusp of setting a school record.
In 10 seasons as Panthers coach, Roznovsky has 191 wins, close to tying Tom Cleary’s school record of 195, Barnett said.
Cleary led the Panthers to their first section championship in 1968.
Athlete of the Week winners
Melayna Vasquez of Fowler soccer is The Bee’s Girls Athlete of the Week winner for Jan. 17-22.
Vasquez received 12,830 votes (47%) to finish ahead of Mia Valdez of San Joaquin Memorial soccer with 8,011 votes (29%). Placing third was Kiley Esajin of Sierra basketball (4,040 votes, 15%).
Camden Thompson of Clovis East basketball totaled 63,986 votes (88%) and is The Bee’s Boys Athlete of the Week winner for Jan. 17-22.
He finished ahead of Ryan Chavez of Immanuel basketball with 4,143 votes (6%) and Alan Gutierrez of Central soccer (2,585 votes, 4%).
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 4:33 PM.
