ArDarius Grayson led Oakland Tech to a Division II state championship win over Centennial on March 9 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.Dennis Lee/SBLive SportsIn random order, these were the 10 most memorable high school sports stories for the calendar year of 2024.Oakland represents (again): Oakland Tech’s boys (Division 2), led by Metro Player of the Year ArDarius Grayson, and Oakland girls (Division 5) won state basketball titles at the Golden 1 Center in March, giving the six-team Oakland Athletic League a total of seven state crowns earned in the past four seasons. Tech beat Centennial-Bakersfield 79-55 behind 20 points each from Grayson and Caleb Rollins, while Oakland beat Montgomery-San Diego thanks to a near triple-double from Daijha Teague (15 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists). “We’ve had a lot of rough times in Oakland,” said Tech coach Karega Hart. “To be able to celebrate and shine a positive light means everything.”Pittsburg quarterback Marley Alcantara passed for 2,825 yards and 40 touchdowns this fall.Dennis Lee/SBLiveThe Magic of 100: Pittsburg’s football team didn’t win its first state title during its 100th year as a program, but came about as close as it gets. The Pirates (12-3) won Bay Valley Athletic League, North Coast Section Division 1 and Northern California Division 1-AA championships, but came up just short in the state finals, falling 28-26 to Lincoln-San Diego. Led by 5-foot-7 quarterback Marley Alcantara, fabulous two-way game-breaker Jamar Searcy and two UCLA-bound defenders, Juju Walls and Jadyn Hudson, the Pirates overcame a 21-0 deficit in the NorCal finals to beat Folsom 28-27, considered the second biggest win in school history. They were hoping for that first state title the following week, but a two-point conversion run by Searcy in the final minute was stopped short, dropping the Pirates to 0-3 in their state final appearances.Article continues below this adMitty girls basketball: Despite one blemish — losing in the CIF State Open Division to Etiwanda-Rancho Cucamonga on a buzzer-beater in March — this is one of the greatest basketball streaks in Bay Area history. The Monarchs won the nation’s top tournament, the Nike TOC in Phoenix, on Dec. 21, crushing national No. 1 Ontario Christian 59-34. It was their second Nike TOC title in a row, and junior McKenna Woliczko (25 points, 10 rebounds in the finals) was voted the tourney’s top player for the second straight year. Woliczko was named national Sophomore of the Year by SBLive and MaxPreps last season, and coach Sue Phillips was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the Monarchs are 38-1.Two-time Metro Player of the Year McKenna Woliczko is the leader for the Mitty Monarchs, the Chronicle’s No. 1 girls basketball team.Dennis Lee/SBLiveQuarter of hope falls short: Rarely is De La Salle’s nationally renowned football team regarded as an underdog, let alone a 41-point long shot, but the Spartans were considered such against the nation’s No. 1 team, Mater Dei-Santa Ana, in the CIF Open Division championship game on Dec. 14. The spread looked accurate at halftime, as the Spartans trailed 23-0, but De La Salle mounted a third-quarter comeback to cut the deficit to 23-15 before the Monarchs scored twice in the fourth quarter to win 37-15. Behind a quick-strike offense that featured five breakaway backs, the Spartans (12-1) resembled the program that won seven state titles in the first 11 years of the modern CIF State Bowl Championship system. They won a 32nd straight NCS crown.Balboa stands tall: The Buccaneers’ football program solidified its stance as a small-school state power with league rival Lincoln, by first knocking out the Mustangs 26-7 in the San Francisco Section championship in the Turkey Day Game before breezing to CIF Division 7-A regional and state titles over Los Molinos (41-6) and Pioneer-Whittier (55-27). Balboa utilized a run-heavy package led by versatile sophomore Joseph “JoJo” Smith and Mekai Smith, timely passing of Rylen Thien-Jones and big-play prowess by Amar Jacques, to go with a physical, stingy defense to win its second state title in four years. Flag football flourishes: The fastest rising participatory sport in California is girls flag football, and there were some unprecedented titles awarded, including the North Coast Section crown on Nov. 13 when Alameda scored a 26-20 overtime win over 14th-seeded Alhambra-Martinez. Leaira Robinson hauled in a 30-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass from Aaliyah Soderlund to end it.Article continues below this ad“It’s been exciting, it’s been stressful, it’s been hard and wonderful,” Robinson said. NCS Commissioner Pat Cruickshank described the back-and-forth championship game as “amazing,” he said. “An instant classic in our first year.”Alameda quarterback Aaliyah Soderlund (1) scores on a go-ahead 5-yard TD run in regulation in girls flag football.Jim Malone/SBLive/JimMalonePhotosThe San Francisco Section started flag football championships more than a decade ago in the spring, but this was the first year it ran in the fall. That allowed the girls to play the championship game at Kezar Stadium before the boys’ tackle game. Lincoln won the girls game behind two touchdown connections between QB Anya Tom to Kai’Veyh Robinson. “It’s an honor to be the first girls team to play” in the fall at Kezar, Tom said. “I was happy to wake up early to do it, and I’m not a morning person.”Two first-time state title football champions: American Canyon (Division 5-A) and Moreau Catholic-Hayward (7-AA) won their first state football titles, while three other schools — Balboa (7-AA), Vanden-Fairfield (3-A) and St. Vincent-Petaluma (4-AA) won just their second. American Canyon won the highest scoring state-title game ever with a 68-47 win over Palmdale as Andrew Lopez rushed for 135 yards and three scores and QB Mason Harris ran for 117 yards and accounted for three more scores.Moreau Catholic coach Keith Minor took over the program in 2022, a season after the Mariners went 0-10, but they won the 7-AA title with ease, 42-8 over Lindsay thanks to big plays from Jalen Arnold (81-yard punt return) and Peyton Collins (80-yard pick six). St. Vincent won its second straight title despite moving up two divisions behind QB Gabe Casanovas (268 total yards) and Mason Caturegli (136 yards rushing, two TDs).Article continues below this adGranada-Livermore’s storybook baseball season: Everything fit perfectly for the Matadors, as a 6-4 CIF Northern California Division 1 victory over St. Mary’s-Stockton ended a 32-1 season with 16 straight wins. The Matadors were led by Chronicle Player of the Year Parker Warner (now at Stanford), and won the nationally-acclaimed Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas Tournament to go along with first East Bay Athletic League, NCS and NorCal titles.“At the beginning of the season we set goals that we want to win everything we play in,” said Warner, who went 13-0 on the mound with a 0.93 ERA to go with a .383 batting average and 29 RBIs. “We went 4-for-4, and it’s an amazing feeling for sure.”Parker Warner celebrates after Granada-Livermore’s 5-0 NorCal Division 1 semifinal win over De La Salle-Concord.Adam J. Clark/SBLive SportsFantastic 5 at State Meet: Four Metro athletes — Campolindo-Moraga’s Pinkie Schnayer (girls shot put), Acalanes-Lafayette’s Trevor Rogers (boys long jump), Pittsburg’s Jathiyah Muhammad (girls pole vault) and Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland’s Brandon Rush (triple jump), along with Pittsburg’s boys 400-meter relay team — each won gold medals in May at the CIF State Championships in Clovis (Fresno County). Schnayer won Campolindo’s first individual state title, Rogers won his second state title of the school year after taking football gold the previous fall, Rush won on his last of six jumps (47 feet, 5 inches), Muhammad won her second state title and Pittsburg’s relay team of Searcy, Michael Stallworth, La’Rico Tezeno and Tim Edwards surprised all considering it had the ninth fastest qualifying mark coming in.Pinkie Schnayer of Campolindo-Moraga won the state shot put title with a throw of 47 feet, 3¾ inches.Eric Taylor/SBLive SportsPerfectly unselfish: Salesian-Richmond’s boys basketball team came up five points short of finishing off a nearly perfect season, losing in the state Open finals to Harvard-Westlake (50-45), but the Pride (31-2) was among the smartest and most unselfish teams in Bay Area history. None of the Pride’s players averaged more than 10 points per game, instead relying on complete balance led by point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor. Carlton Perrilliat, De’undrae Perteete, Alvin Loving and Elias Obenyah were also all-Metro selections despite relatively small scoring numbers. The team also had a NCS boys basketball best 3.64 cumulative GPA.Article continues below this adSBLive senior editor Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mitch@scorebooklive.com

Top 10 Bay Area high school sports stories of 2024

Article continues below this adDennis Lee/SBLive Sports “At the beginning of the season we set goals that we want to win everything we play in,” said Warner, who went 13-0 on the mound with a 0.93 ERA to go with a .383 batting average and 29 RBIs. “We went 4-for-4, and it’s an amazing feeling […]

Article continues below this adDennis Lee/SBLive Sports

“At the beginning of the season we set goals that we want to win everything we play in,” said Warner, who went 13-0 on the mound with a 0.93 ERA to go with a .383 batting average and 29 RBIs. “We went 4-for-4, and it’s an amazing feeling for sure.”

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Perfectly unselfish: Salesian-Richmond’s boys basketball team came up five points short of finishing off a nearly perfect season, losing in the state Open finals to Harvard-Westlake (50-45), but the Pride (31-2) was among the smartest and most unselfish teams in Bay Area history. None of the Pride’s players averaged more than 10 points per game, instead relying on complete balance led by point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor. Carlton Perrilliat, De’undrae Perteete, Alvin Loving and Elias Obenyah were also all-Metro selections despite relatively small scoring numbers. The team also had a NCS boys basketball best 3.64 cumulative GPA.Dennis Lee/SBLive

Two-time Metro Player of the Year McKenna Woliczko is the leader for the Mitty Monarchs, the Chronicle’s No. 1 girls basketball team.

Oakland represents (again): Oakland Tech’s boys (Division 2), led by Metro Player of the Year ArDarius Grayson, and Oakland girls (Division 5) won state basketball titles at the Golden 1 Center in March, giving the six-team Oakland Athletic League a total of seven state crowns earned in the past four seasons. Tech beat Centennial-Bakersfield 79-55 behind 20 points each from Grayson and Caleb Rollins, while Oakland beat Montgomery-San Diego thanks to a near triple-double from Daijha Teague (15 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists). “We’ve had a lot of rough times in Oakland,” said Tech coach Karega Hart. “To be able to celebrate and shine a positive light means everything.”

Top 10 Bay Area high school sports stories of 2024

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