Category: Sports

On November 25, 2019, C.K. McClatchy’s Women’s Varsity Basketball team beat Valley High School 82-28 in their first game of the 2019-2020 season. The stands were filled with students and families excited to see the Lions’ debut.

Lead by Coach Ota, McClatchy played wonderfully. Right from the start they secured a strong lead. In the first half, CKM was ahead 47-8, making it clear that Valley was no match for the Lady Lions. Throughout the game, they continued to increase their lead until they won by almost 60 points.

All of the Ladies played extremely well, exhibiting teamwork and skills that will make it difficult for any team to beat them in the future.

Last year, the Lady Lions made it to Norcal Semifinals, and it seems that this year they are well on their way to having an amazing season again. McClatchy is looking forward to seeing how far their Ladies go this season.

Mia Waki (‘21) and Imani Felix (‘21) dominated the court, each contributing greatly to CKM’s victory. Jaidyn Wallace (‘20) stunned the crowd with her many 3-pointers.

“I think that my team was prepared. We worked really hard in practice to make sure we were ready,” said Felix. “This game was just the beginning, and it showed us things we need to work on in order to be better for big games later in the season. I hope that we can make it to Sections and play at Golden 1.”

Each time one of their teammates made a basket, the Ladies would cheer, even rising occasionally for extra encouragement. The sportsmanship displayed was heartwarming, and their support for each other was obvious.

The C.K. McClatchy cross country team participated in four memorable events on Saturday, November 16, during the San Joaquin Section finals. Each individual had to qualify for this meet during Subsections on the previous Saturday, so the team was excited to showcase their talent. However, they were up against tough competition on the hardest course of the season, Willow Hills.

Frosh-soph girls individual qualifiers Larissa Yee and Michele Wee raced from the starting line at 9:20 a.m. After conquering the 2 mile course, they each achieved personal records of  14:45 and 15:33.8 respectively. Larissa outsprinted two competitors to get 18th place and Michele got a solid 40th place.

Twenty minutes later, the frosh-soph boys team took to the starting line. The race official sounded the gun but a few seconds after the boys left the line, the gun went off again, signaling a restart. After two more tries, the race finally started smoothly, but CKM’s second runner Fletcher Lux suffered a bad shoulder wound and other scrapes from getting trampled in the first 200 meters. However, the team prevailed and finished in 5th place with a combined score of 113, completing a goal agreed upon during this summer’s cross country camp. During this race, first runner Jackson Wedel also achieved 3rd place overall.

Next was the varsity girls race. As the second place seed, the team had high hopes of qualifying for the state championship in Clovis on November 30th. But only three teams would get the chance to move on. The race began optimistically, but during the first mile, one of the top runners Louie McNatt fell on her previously injured knee. Unable to continue, she was carried off the course by Coach Warren. It was then up to her teammates to pass as many competitors from Davis and Woodcreek in order to secure their spot in state. At the finish line, the CKM varsity girls nervously awaited the results, thinking that they may come in fourth. However, when the frosh soph boys alerted that they achieved second place, cheers broke out amongst the teammates. Lead by Anna McNatt, the team had a combined score of 79 and a total time of 100:58. 

Finally, the varsity boys race began at 11:00 a.m. There was tough competitors from Jesuit and Davis, but CKM solidly took third place, finishing with a San Joaquin Sections plaque and medals. In addition, sophomore Joe Wiley finished 5th, securing him an individual spot at state for the second year in a row. The varsity boys achieved a score of 122 and a combined time of 86:30. Their hard work and dedication allowed them to close out the season with a successful performance. Each of Joe’s teammates eagerly awaits his race at state.

This is a challenging season for the CKM cross country team, but Coach Watkins always says “hard work just equals more hard work.” The varsity girls team of Louie McNatt, Molly Dreher, Julia Heckey, Anna McNatt, Camille Combrink, Olivia Johnson, and Kary Soubinh can be seen alongside Joe Wiley and will continue to practice for the state meet. 

The city of Sacramento has long awaited for Major League Soccer (MLS) to expand into the city, and finally the wait might be over. Sacramento Republic FC, Sacramento’s professional soccer team, recently got a unanimous city council vote for their $215.2 million stadium. There was a private funding package that totaled up to $1 billion. It will be a 20,000 seat stadium build in a 17-acre site in the railyard district of Sacramento. Mayor Daniel Steinberg and Sac Republic owner Ron Burkle gathered with team supporters and called upon the MLS to make Sacramento the next expansion city. The mayor also expects high benefits from the new team expansion writing a check without city government.

The team will be sponsoring clinics and sports programs for the youth. It is also on the list of potential city base camps for the coming World Cup in 2026. Base cities will serve hosts to the traveling teams in the World Cup hosting their fans and many events. This would be a huge tourist boom for the growing city of Sacramento. With all of this set in place the city and team board along with the supporters, Sacramentans now wait for the MLS board to meet late in May to approve Sacramento to be a host city.  

The owners willing to lead the investor group that will spend more than half a billion dollars to expand into the MLS are Alvarez and Burkle. They will be spending another $200 million to join the MLS on top of the $252 million to build the stadium. When the new franchise started five years ago the expansion fee was down at $70 million, showing that the MLS is a growing sport and won’t be making as much money as the NBA or MLB. But thats why Burkle invested early in the sport, as the fan base is young and will grow and will have made is money back once the MLS has reached that point of success as a major sports corporation.

The team has seen recent success with the new signings gaining them more recognition. They will be the 29th team expanded to the MLS following the past eight teams who have been brought in over the past four years. The Republic hopes to keep the same core team as they make the transition into the MLS, but would make any changes necessary to help move the team forward. In 2018, the attempts to be added into the MLS quieted down as the Republic were building momentum to meet the requirements. They finished their plans agreed with the city of Sacramento, building new offices, making new hires, and making new investments making the move almost official.

McClatchy student Fernando Pelayo (‘19) has waited a long time for his team to make the expansion. “Yeah, I’m happy that there is a team coming to Sacramento, I was hoping we would get into the MLS in our attempts before but the wait was definitely worth it,” he said.

Milo Stibor (‘20) looks forward to the future of the Republic. “Looking at the team now, they’re only gonna get better and I’m glad I’ll be able to see this team rise up in the MLS.”

It will be a struggle for the Republic to gain traction in the MLS and become a big market team, but being able to get in the market now will be better than ever with the future growth of the sport.

The first round of the NBA playoffs is over and brings us closer to the NBA finals. The first round may have been the most entertaining being action packed. Both conferences had very different initial rounds, as the East had a total of 18 games played and the West had a total of 24. In other words, there were more one-sided series in the East than there were in the West.

This wasn’t a surprise however, as this generation of NBA players has consistently had  more power-balanced teams. The fact that the East had very few power-house teams made it a bit easier to try and predict finalist teams.

In the 3rd and 6th seed rounds in the East, the Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers. The teams were very verbal and both extremely competitive. Although the Nets won the first game of the series, the 76ers won the next four games, eventually eliminating the Nets. The 76ers beat the Nets by a difference of ten or more in three of the games.

In the 2nd and 7th seed round the Toronto Raptors took on the Orlando Magic. Game one was a surprising nail biter win by the Magic but would be the only win they would secure in the series. The Raptors dominated the rest of the series, cruising their way into the East semis to face off the 76ers.

In the 4th and 5th seed, the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers faced off. The young Celtics team, lead by Kyrie Irving, took control of the series quickly, holding the Pacers to less than 90 points in the first two games and continuing on to sweep the Pacers.

In the 1st and 8th seed round, the Milwaukee Bucks, led by MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo played the Detroit Pistons. It was a pretty obvious series watching the Bucks beat the Pistons by more than 15 every game. That brought the Bucks to face the Celtics in the East semis round.

Moving onto the the Western Conference, where there was a little bit more competition, the Portland Trail Blazers vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off in a heated battle. This was a very dramatic series as Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook going head to head the whole series. In the end, Damian Lillard took the Trail Blazers to the next round with a buzzer beater three point shot to close out the series.

In the 2nd and 7th seed the Denver Nuggets dualed off with the San Antonio Spurs. This was the only 1st round series that spurred  six more games with both teams playing very good team ball every single game. The Nuggets took out the Spurs in game seven, beating them by only four points. The Nuggets then moved onto the Western semis against the Trail Blazers.

In the 4th and 5th seed round the Houston Rockets vs. the Utah Jazz played one another. Houston, was at the time, being led by another MVP candidate, James Harden and was a fan- favorite team to win the  series. The Rockets didn’t disappoint and lived up to their fans expectations, winning the first three games as well as game five. The Rockets made short work of the Jazz making their move to the next round.

In the 1st and 8th seed round the all-star Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors ultimately won the series in the end, but the Clippers didn’t go down without a fight. Los Angeles  won two games, one of them with a 30 point comeback; making it the largest in NBA playoff history. Nevertheless, the Warriors moved onto the West semis to play the Rockets which is a highly anticipated round and a big money maker for the NBA.

Here’s a brief glance at the second round: in the East, the 76ers vs. the Raptors and the Bucks vs. the Celtics. In the West, the Nuggets are set to take on the Trail Blazers and the Rockets will face . the Warriors. Looking at the new challenges that teams are creating will make this Finals matchup more of a toss up and won’t be dominated.  

The “who’s better? Lebron James or Michael Jordan?” debate has been going around ever since Lebron was first drafted in 2003. During Lebron’s senior year, he became one of the most hyped prospects since Jordan. With all this fame and recognition, Lebron was allowed to enter in the NBA draft right out of highschool. With the number one pick in the draft, the Cleveland Cavalier selected Lebron James.

In Lebron’s first three season in the NBA, they failed to make it to the playoffs. In the 4th season, Cleveland finally made it to the playoffs, marking Lebron’s first appearance onto the stage. With their effort, Lebron carried Cleveland all the way to the finals, but quickly got eliminated in a sweep by the San Antonio Spurs. Next season in the playoffs, they eliminated the Wizards in the first round. Although it looked promising so far, the Cavaliers couldn’t stand up against the Boston Celtics, ending their playoff run. From here on, Lebron would make every single playoff appearance, not missing a single one. And topping that, after Lebron moved to Miami and back to Cleveland, Lebron have made 7 NBA finals appearances in a row. And within those seven finals appearances, Lebron has won three of them.

During this current season in the NBA, Lebron had just passed Michael Jordan in the “All Time Scoring Lists” with 32,311 points in his career while Michael Jordan had 32,292 points. Lebron now ranks 4th on the list behind Kobe Bryant with 33,463, Karl Malone with 36,928, and Kareem Abdul-Jaabar with 38,387. At age 34, Lebron has enough time to surpass Kobe Bryant, taking his spot on becoming the third all time scorer in NBA history. If Lebron scores the same pace each game while staying healthy throughout the seasons, he can even beat Kareem Abdul-Jaabar, becoming the top all time scorers in the NBA.

Now with Michael Jordan, he attended Emsley, A. Laney High School, where his athletic career began, playing basketball, baseball, and football. During his sophomore year, he got cut from his basketball varsity team, not knowing who Jordan will become later in the future. Unlike Lebron, Jordan attended to college at North Carolina. After his junior year at North Carolina, Jordan finally entered into the NBA draft. With the third pick, the Chicago Bulls selected Jordan. Knowing that Jordan is one of the greatest player of all time, this is a draft steal as Akeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie was selected before Jordan.

During Jordan’s rookie season, he averaged 28.2 points while shooting 52% from the field. Jordan was performing to well on the court that he was selected as an all star in his rookie season. Many NBA veterans were jealous of how much attention Jordan is getting, so none of them even passed the ball the Jordan during the all star game. Later down the season, Jordan would win rookie of the year unanimously.

Within Jordan’s first year, they led the Bulls to the playoffs, but felt short to the Milwaukee Bucks. The next season, Jordan broke his foot causing him to miss 64 games. Despite Jordan being absent from the roster, the Bulls still made it to the playoffs. Luckily, Jordan healed from his broken foot and played in the series against Boston. Although Jordan set a new record having “the most points in a single playoff game” with 63 points, Boston still managed to sweep the Bulls. This would happen again the following season in the playoffs. In the 1990-1991 season, the Bulls would make it to the finals, matching up with L.A. While these two teams were going back and forth with each other, the Bulls would win this one declaring them NBA finals champion. This would spark a chain reaction, where the Bulls would ending up winning two more rings, now having three in total. Jordan would soon retire to play baseball which slowed down his stats. The following year after playing baseball, he soon returned to the NBA playing for the Bulls again. Following after, the Bulls would go and win three more championships; totally up to six rings for Jordan.

With this debate, it will never end due to how great they are as their individual talent goes. If you’re arguing for Jordan, you can make a point how he is a greater scorer than Lebron. And how Jordan’s player efficiency rating (a calculation rating the player’s overall stats) with 27.91; is better than Lebron with 27.61. If you’re arguing for Lebron, you can make a case how he can carry any of the 30 NBA teams to the playoffs as he did with the Cavaliers. You can point out how Jordan at his time, played with people who weren’t as built as today’s NBA players. But then you can turn around and say that today’s NBA is softer (having more restricted rules) than the NBA back then. This debate will never end as there are always a counter to each statements. In the end, we should all respect what the players have done on the court.

C.K. McClatchy women’s basketball team has had a tremendous season with an ending record of 28 wins to 5 losses. McClatchy went into the CIF States playoff with a record of 26-4 earning them at seat in the Division I bracket, seeded number 8. With the immense amount of talent on the team, a respectable ranking, and a supportive community surrounding the school, it leaves C.K.M. hopeful to bring the State Championship home next year.

McClatchy faced off San Ramon Valley of Danville on Tuesday, February 26th, kicking off the start of the playoffs. San Ramon Valley, seeded 9, is only one seed behind the Lions, many predicting it would be a close game.

The home court was packed with students, parents, and teachers, offered a sea of red. The game began with McClatchy having a lead early in the quarter before San Ramon caught up towards the end. San Ramon ended the first quarter with a one point lead 18-19. The start of 2nd quarter, McClatchy girls began to dominate on the court with three point shots that became never ending. C.K.M. earned a total of 29 points in the 2nd quarter compared to San Ramon’s 9 points ending with a final score of 47-28 by half time.

Start of the second half, McClatchy continued the grind with another successful quarter. Earning a total of 19 point adding to their 3rd quarter score of 66-36, San Ramon only earning 8 points 3rd quarter.

After an eventful two quarters, C.K.M. seem to release of the tight grip they had on San Ramon. Previous quarters, the points seemed endless but San Ramon was then able to earn some points back. San Ramon came up to 16 points to C.K.M.’s 13 points.

McClatchy won the first game of the playoffs with a total score of 79-52 against San Ramon Valley of Danville. McClatchy faced off their rivals Sacramento High Thursday, February 28th, their next game in the State Playoffs.

Sacramento High School, a neighbor and rival of McClatchy was seeded number one after a successful win in the Sac-Joaquin division 2 playoffs. Nia Lowery (‘19) started the game off with the first 2 point field goal. The game continued to be quick paced the whole quarter ending with Sac High being in a 3 point lead with a score of 11-14.

The two teams continued to bounce back and forth on the scoreboard with both teams being equally persistent. The 2nd quarter ended with Sac High still being in the lead by 5 points and ending the quarter with a score of 21-26.

The 3rd quarter was painfully slow for McClatchy with a total of 5 points being able to be scored by the team. Sac High quickly took a lead with a score of 26-39 and time was dwindling. The Lions had eight minutes to come back from a 13 point defeat.

In the 4th quarter McClatchy seemed to have their defense locked down as they began their comeback. The game became climatic as McClatchy came back quickly and took a lead of 44-43 after two free throws. Sacramento then came back with 2 free throw points leading the game by one point again. With only a few minutes on the clock, the whole gym began to bite their fingers as the game was too close to decide who will take it all. Sac High’s gym filled with hundreds of people all roaring for their team, McClatchy’s fans could be heard echoing throughout when everybody stood up for a 2 point field goal putting McClatchy at a one point lead.

As everybody is in high energy, the Lions made a 3 point field goal putting the team in a 4 point lead with less than a minute left. With 12 seconds left on the clock, McClatchy was fouled and given a 2 point free throw opportunity. The clock stopped and 2 free throw points were earned, the game continued with Sacramento’s possession of the ball. McClatchy held possession of the ball when the shot clock rang, McClatchy had just defeated the number one seed in the playoffs. The final score, 51-45 had proved McClatchy’s hard work had paid off.

The next game took place Saturday, March 2nd against Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland, seeded 4th. With the game being all the way in Oakland, the team still had a big supportive crowd down at Bishop O’Dowd.

The team showed great sportsmanship and held a good fight against the Dragons. The Lions lost against O’Dowd 38-75. Both teams displayed outstanding game strategies and McClatchy fought hard throughout the entire game. Though, the unfairness in the reffing could be pointed out by some spectators. Many of those who witnessed claimed there were many fouls by Bishop O’Dowd that did not get called. Not to undermine their success, they were a tremendously good team the Lions faced off. Bishop O’Dowd went off to play against Bear Creek, and went all the way to the finals before losing to Rosary Academy at the Golden One Center.

This marks the end of a truly successful season and journey that the Lady Lions experienced. Despite not winning the State Championship, the girls were highly successful, ranking 20th in California and a national rank of 105th. Their success should be celebrated by our community.

On Tuesday, February 19th, McClatchy’s boys varsity soccer team fell to Whitney in the section playoffs after a hard fought game, ending with a series of penalty kicks. Nevertheless, the players claim they look back on their otherwise undefeated season with pride and hope for next year.

Despite their optimism, many players  on the team expressed some of their disappointment in their ineligibility to compete for the section title.

“We were a very dominant team overall, definitely worthy of a section title,” said Kyle Helstowski (‘20). Several other players share the idea that, if they had earned the opportunity to compete for a higher ranking, their team would have succeeded.

Robbie Muchowski (‘20) claimed that low-level play caused the team’s failure to proceed in playoffs. “We lost too early. I’m pretty sure if we had played better in the game we lost we would have gone on to win the section championships.”

Jacob Rounds (‘20) even ventured to say that their final game was a “fluke.” “We should have been able to beat them, and it just came down to refereeing and us not really playing our game when it mattered most. We kind of fell apart. Key players were taken out and injured, and finally we lost in penalties,” he said.

After this letdown, many of the juniors on the team hope that they can reproduce the same level of play for a more effective season next year. However, they also recognize that it will be a challenge to do so. “Moving forward it’s going to be hard, but we had a lot of juniors on our team, and it’s about our players stepping up for next season to fill key roles left behind by some seniors,” said Rounds.

Aside from their fall to Whitney, team spirit and companionship supported the team through tough games. “We had a lot of fun along the way mostly because everyone felt they were part of a family,” said Helstowski. Some players believe this bond contributed to the team’s success, allowing each player to reach their potential.

“It’s always cool to see the guys get better individually and come together as a group,” said Kris Brown (‘19), a recent Chico State Commit.

Who’s more likely to be the number one pick for the NBA Draft: Zion Williamson or R.J. Barrett? This is one of the biggest debate for the 2019 NBA Draft as these two college basketball players are playing at a phenomenal level for Duke University. These teammates have proven that each is worthy of the number one spot in the draft, so it makes it even more difficult to determine who should receive the spot.

Barrett has shown a level of skill that is equivalent to NBA talent. He averages 22.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.0 assist, 0.2 blocks, 0.7 steals, 40.8 field goal percentage, and a 31.6% 3-point field goal per game. He’s a well-rounded player, has an efficient scoring statistics, and his style of play compliments that of his teammates. With all of these factors considered, Barrett seems to be the safer pick out of the two.

Zion, however, also has very valuable skills and statistics. He averages 20.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.7 blocks, 1.5 steals, 65.3 field goal percentage, and a 25.0 3-point field goal per game. These numbers collectively are impressive, but are lacking in specific areas. His ability to shoot from deep, for example is only a 25.0 3-point field goal percentage and his average of 2.2 assists per game brings to question his ability to utilize his teammate. The reason he is still seen as a potential number one draft pick is because of his once-in-a-generation athleticism. He lacks certain skills, but his potential to be another once-in-a-generation athlete is off the charts.

In McClatchy’s most recent matchup against rival John F. Kennedy High School, C.K.M.’s Boys Varsity Water Polo lost 11 to 7, while Girls Varsity won 19 to 2. The matches took place at the C.K. McClatchy pool on October 3rd, 2018.

While the boys’ teams were pretty evenly matched and despite their domination in the pool most of the game, they still ended up losing. Even very impressive saves by goalie, Dylan Wood (‘19) and three successful shots by Nick Shideler (‘20), Kennedy came out on top, winning the game by a slim 11-7 margin.

As for the Varsity Girls, C.K.M,’s domination was instantaneous. Within seconds after winning the drop, senior Roisin McMullen, sprinted down the pool and scored. Thirty seconds later, she scored again. Minutes later, more successful plays unfolded, resulting in more goals from Kealani Burke (‘19), Adelina Hernandez (‘20), Ella Culleton (‘20), and Jen Wong (‘19).

It was a very great game for C.K.M., with the majority of players each scoring at least one, if not more, goals.

Both boys’ and girls’ teams had an unwavering, and rather confused, support of C.K.M. Legion throughout both of their games. Dressed in all red, dozens of people crowded the poolside, cheering loudly in support of McClatchy, paying little attention to the rain drops that fell on them.

Ultimately, it was a very successful game day for C.K. McClatchy, and one can only hope that games like this foreshadow our successes for the rest of the year against Kennedy.