picture. Sokol will play next season for former NBA standout Reggie Theus
at Cal State-Northridge.
Photo courtesy of Raymond Townsend" title="Valley Christian senior Alex Sokol, left, the Warriors' Stephen Curry and"
former Warrior Raymond Townsend -- Sokol's personal coach -- pose for a
picture. Sokol will play next season for former NBA standout Reggie Theus
at Cal State-Northridge.
Photo courtesy of Raymond Townsend" class="lazyload size-article_feature" data-sizes="auto" data-src="" src="https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/sjm-prepcol-0518_2.jpg?w=554"/>
Valley Christian senior Alex Sokol, left, the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and
former Warrior Raymond Townsend — Sokol’s private coach — pose for a
image. Sokol will play subsequent season for former NBA standout Reggie Theus
at Cal State-Northridge.
Picture courtesy of Raymond Townsend
Raymond Townsend is 66 now, greater than 20 years faraway from his basketball teaching days at Del Mar Excessive College and 40-plus years from his enjoying days at UCLA, the place he was an all-conference guard in 1978 who went on to be drafted by the Warriors within the first spherical.
Townsend by no means misplaced the itch to teach, to go alongside what he discovered from a lifetime of basketball to a brand new era.
He returned to the bench this season, taking on from Mark DeLuca at Valley Christian, and on Saturday night time guided his group to its second signature victory in 11 days.
The Warriors ended a 31-game shedding streak to Serra, successful at dwelling 50-49 in West Catholic Athletic League play.
That stunner adopted a 52-47 victory at Bellarmine on Jan. 4, Valley’s first win there since 2005.
“We’re like a field of candies,” Townsend mentioned Sunday. “You don’t know what you’re getting at night time. Might be the sweetest recreation on the earth, or it might be a type of (items) which are ugly and bitter.
“It’s as a result of we’re younger. My youngsters haven’t actually performed collectively.”
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Townsend’s youngsters are rising up quick, studying from a coach who starred at Camden Excessive within the South Bay within the early Seventies earlier than enjoying for the Wizard of Westwood himself, legendary UCLA coach John Picket. Townsend was inducted into the San Jose Sports activities Corridor of Fame in 2016.
“The factor is making an attempt to show these youngsters UCLA basketball,” Townsend mentioned.
Jacob Bannarbie (6-9 junior), Pasha Goodarzi (6-5 junior), and Marcus Washington (6-6 sophomore) are averaging not less than 15 factors per recreation.
Sophomore guard Tzahari Trevino is 6-4, and level guard Nico D’Augusta is 6-5. D’Augusta is certainly one of two seniors on the roster.
“We will go massive, we will go small,” Townsend mentioned. “It’s simply studying the way to play proper now. As soon as they study to play, they’re going to be fairly particular.”
Since going 10-4 in 2004-05, Valley has received two or fewer league video games in 14 of the previous 16 seasons. Within the different two seasons, the Warriors went 5-9 in 2005-06 and 4-10 in 2016-17.
This season, they're 7-5 general and 2-1 within the WCAL.
This afternoon, Valley has its greatest take a look at but. The Warriors play Campolindo, the Bay Space’s top-ranked group, within the MLK Traditional at De La Salle at 2 p.m.
Campo has received 30 of its final 31 video games and hasn’t misplaced to a Bay Space group since falling to Dublin within the semifinals of the North Coast Part Open Division playoffs in February 2020.
“They’re one of many smartest groups that I’ve seen,” Townsend mentioned. “I believed it was good for us to play towards Serra to prep for them. Serra performs rather a lot like them.”
Townsend is wanting ahead to the chance, simply as he seemed ahead to at some point teaching within the league he now calls dwelling.
“I’ve all the time wished to go to the WCAL,” he mentioned. “Seven years at Del Mar. Seven 20-win seasons, turning that program into a troublesome program that beat Mitty twice within the CCS, beat St. Francis in a Christmas match. I wished to teach within the WCAL. I believe they've nice minds within the WCAL.
“That is in all probability going to be my final teaching gig, my final teaching expertise. So for the following 5 to 6 years, I wished one final problem. I’ve all the time been one which builds issues from scratch, be it gamers, be it applications, be it no matter.”
Elsewhere
Fourth-ranked Miramonte ran its document to 15-1, routing No. 17 San Ramon Valley 66-41 on the MLK-John Lewis Memorial on its dwelling courtroom in Orinda. James Frye (16 factors) and Tyler Dutto (15 factors) led the way in which for the Mats. A day earlier, San Ramon Valley received on the highway over No. 2 Dougherty Valley, 63-61. … Bishop O’Dowd, unranked after a 1-4 begin, edged No. 14 Moreau Catholic 53-50 on the MLK-John Lewis Memorial to enhance to 4-4. … Aidan Mahaney scored 22 factors and Cade Bennett added 16 to steer top-ranked Campolindo to a victory at dwelling over St. Mary’s-Stockton 64-46, the Cougars’ fifth consecutive win. … No. 3 Archbishop Mitty improved to 2-0 in WCAL play, successful on the highway over No. 8 St. Ignatius 50-46. Aidan Burke and Derek Sangster every scored 12 factors for Mitty. … No. 12 Archbishop Riordan rolled to a 59-37 victory on the highway over No. 11 Bellarmine as King-Njhsanni Wilhite led the Crusaders with 19 factors. … Soccer standouts Ray-John Spears (14 factors) and Jerry Mixon Jr. (13) helped Sacred Coronary heart Cathedral win at No. 10 St. Francis, 55-51.
DLS MLK Traditional
De La Salle introduced on Sunday night time that a restricted variety of tickets have been made accessible for its twenty fourth MLK Traditional, which will probably be held at the moment on the faculty’s health club. Tickets could be bought right here.
Right here is the schedule:
(Session 1)
Moreau Catholic vs. Vanden, 11 a.m.
College vs. Bishop O’Dowd, 12:30 p.m.
Campolindo vs. Valley Christian, 2 p.m.
(Session 2)
De La Salle vs. Capital Christian-Sacramento, 5 p.m.
Salesian vs. Modesto Christian, 6:30 p.m.
Video games will probably be streamed right here.