Colin Gruber selected as a Parade AA

Was looking at the announcement this weekend of the Parade All-America team and noticed four southern California prepsters on the list and but one from northern California. The pick: Colin Gruber out of Harbor High in Santa Cruz.

Saluting Colin Gruber

Caught the Harbor High - Robert Louis Stevenson playoff game last night -- it was over at the end of the first quarter when the score was 19-4. 58-39 was the final.

But the main attraction was watching 6-foot-3 Harbor senior Colin Gruber, who ended up totaling 39 points and 14 rebounds. Next year, he'll be on scholarship at Northern Arizona.

He plays for his Dad, Mike, who is retiring after 28 years at the helm of the Pirates and that 'son of a coach' connection is evident.

The younger Gruber plays with no wasted motion -- every movement has a purpose. "Show time' isn't in his vocabulary. 

One play in particular stood out. After a steal, Gruber came down court on a dribble-drive against a solitary defender. As the opponent retreated to just about under the net, Gruber stopped, took advantage of the wide open look and popped a jump shot from eight feet. 99% of others in today's hoops world would have gone all the way to the rim.

He chose the jumper rather than face the possibility of a charge. Gruber's shot missed but he then grabbed the rebound due to the defender being out of position and scored on a shorter shot.

Also keep in mind that Harbor loses if Gruber is off the court for any period of time. Not that he was in foul trouble at any point in the game but he seemingly calculated all this, resulting in his choice of shot.

Gruber will need to add strength -- as do most freshman entering college basketball -- but Coach Mike Adras run a guard-oriented style and a number of other D-1 coaches are going to rue the day they passed on Gruber. For one, he would be perfect for Stew Morrill's system at Utah State.

Friday northern California high school basketball report

Carl Steward offers a look at Salesian and star Jabari Bird.

Kendall Andrews, Jabari Bird and T.J. Taylor are lauded as the East Bay basketball players of the week by Inside Bay Area.

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Jeremy Balan reports on Riordan's sacking of Seaside High.

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Isaiah Guzman provides the details of Harbor High's swamping of Robert Louis Stevenson, powered by Colin Gruber's double-double of 39/14.

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David Kiefer informs us of the Watsonville High takedown of Gunn.

Watsonville 64, Gunn 61

Watsonville -- Ivo Basor 13-10-36 (10-10 at the foul line plus 20 boards)

Gunn -- Anthony Cannon 8-3-21, Matt Redfield 9-1-19

Harbor's Colin Gruber and Aptos' Nick Grieves are featured

One (Gruber) is headed to Northern Arizona and the other (Grieves) is still deciding.

Head here. 

Sunday's report is all HS

Archbishop Mitty 63, Archbishop Riordan 41

AM -- Kyle Toth 3-1-10 (three treys), Eddy Trang 2-2-8

AR -- Brandon Edison 4-1-13 (four treys), Anthony Castillo 2-4-9, Aaron Anderson 4-1-9

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Serra 60, St. Francis 58 (OT)

S -- Dalyn Pacheco 7-3-18, Connor McGrath 4-5-14, Henry Caruso 6-1-13

SF -- Sean Dawkins 7-4-21 (three treys), Ivan Margaretic 5-5-17

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It was too much Michael Best as Dave Curtis reports on Marin County hoops.

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Harold Abend writes about the McConnell trio who get it done on the court and in the classroom.

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Two seniors (Colin Gruber, Nick Grieves) and a junior (Josh Mooney) are lighting up the Santa Cruz County Athletic League as Ryan Moses reports.

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Go here for the Cal-Hi Sports state stat stars of the 2/10/11 week -- our quick guess is that a quarter of the honorees are from northern CA.

Santa Cruz High bests Harbor High

In Santa Cruz County, two (of the three best teams -- Aptos being the other) matched up and Santa Cruz High topped Harbor High. The latter features backcourter Colin Gruber (Northern Arizona signee) who will be awarded the most valuable player league honor come season end.

Here's the game report.

A Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League preview

Ryan Moses/Santa Cruz Sentinel previews the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic league which features  Northern Arizona-bound Colin Gruber (Harbor High), Nick Grieves of Aptos High and Zen Maki of Santa Cruz High.

The Cal Hi Sports basketball stat stars

Cal Hi Sports has posted its state star as of 12/16 and here are the northern California prepsters listed:

* Mike Davis, Kelseyville (Kelseyville, Calif.)
 
He was the one in shining armor for the Knights, after connecting for 32 points in a 76-48 victory over Lower Lake. 

* Max Fuji, Analy (Sebastopol, Calif.)

The speedy 5-foot-9 sharpshooting guard had 24 points in a 52-46 victory over host Drake of San Anselmo at the 45th Annual Carl “Red” Brown tourney, then came back to solidify the tournament’s MVP, with 31 points in a 69-54 title-game victory over Kennedy of Fremont. 

* Aaron Gordon, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.)

He showed some spark last year as a freshman, but the sophomore 6-foot-7, 200-pound little brother of Drew Gordon is the new Monarch force down low in a 5-1 start, and he showed it in a 79-70 victory over San Leandro in Mitty’s South Bay Classic, finishing with a game-high 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. 

* Colin Gruber, Harbor (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
 
The 6-foot-3 senior had three huge double-doubles in three Pirates’ wins last week. In a 64-41 win over North Salinas, he dropped in 29 points with 15 rebounds, seven steals and five blocks. Two nights later in a 53-49 victory over Watsonville, he dropped in 29 again with 10 rebounds, four steals, four blocks and three assists. Against Scotts Valley, Gruber grubbed up 36 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and four blocks. The next night in the Dad’s Club tourney title game, he had 20 points seven rebound and four assists, but his team fell 61-53 to Salinas.  

* Tajai Johnson, Vallejo (Vallejo, Calif.)

The junior guard led the Apaches past Vintage of Napa 80-68 in the title game of the Wine Valley Classic. He scored 36 points and also had 11 rebounds and seven assists. Johnson is averaging more than 26 ppg.

* Matt Mareno, Redwood (Larkspur, Calif.)

This 6-foot-5 junior is making a name for himself. Last week, he tossed in 41 points with seven rebounds but the defending NCS Division II champion Giants lost 77-73 to Pittsburg. Two weeks ago,  in a 57-44 win over Dougherty Valley of San Ramon, Mareno had 31 points. 

* Brandon Wilhite, Woodside Priory (Portola Valley, Calif.)

After going for 30 points and 10 rebounds in a 49-30 win over St. Lawrence of Santa Clara last Saturday, the small school star came back Monday night to duplicate the effort in a 65-55 win over Mid-Peninsula of Menlo Park.