Prep notes: District football stars lead VGT at Best of the West

Modesto Christian High School running back Chris Brown bounces between defenders with a ball cradled in his right arm.

Ceres quarterback Chris Lubinsky drops back, scanning the action downfield as his internal clock counts down.

Downey wide receiver Calvin Grover bursts off the line of scrimmage, cutting into open space.

The blossoming young stars of the fall have come together this spring to help captain Valley’s Got Talent Elite, a 7-on-7 team that competes for Bonsu Elite Athletics, a performance training facility in Ceres.

VGT was one of 18 teams invited to the Passing Down Elite 7-on-7 Best of the West tournament in Southern California over the weekend. VGT won its first two games, trouncing Team Apex 28-6 in its opener. VGT then edged highly touted Mater Dei quarterback prospect J.T. Daniels and Lids Team Sports 19-18.

VGT’s run came to an end against eventual runner-up Pro-Way, a team with a national roster.

“It was encouraging, especially since this is a new team,” said VGT coach and Bonsu Elite Athletics owner Les Bonsu. “It was great to qualify for Best of the West. The competition was like nothing I’ve ever seen. The talent pool was so great.”

In addition to Brown, Lubinsky and Grover, the VGT roster includes: sophomore quarterback Bobby Avina of Gregori, junior cornerback Braxton Howze of Downey, junior wide receiver/safety Cole Petlansky of Central Catholic, junior linebacker Alex Velasquez of Downey, junior running back/safety Noah Preuss of Calaveras, sophomore cornerback Miles Lewis of Downey, junior cornerback DaRon Bland of Central Catholic, sophomore safety Kane Rodgers of Sonora, junior wide receiver Emoni Karriem of Modesto Christian, sophomore linebacker Coleby Garrett of Central Catholic and junior running back/linebacker Montell Bland of Central Catholic.

VGT will compete this Sunday in the TMP Showcase at Inderkum High in Sacramento.

Bonsu said the purpose of the 7-on-7 season is to boost the athletes’ recruitment.

“At a lot of these tournaments, there are scouts and coaches and write-ups,” Bonsu said. “That’s the reason I started this, so they could get that exposure.”

Chuck Hayes Basketball – Chuck Hayes Basketball’s 17-and-under AAU team went 4-0 at the NorCal Spring Showcase in Oakland over the weekend, defeating an international lineup.

The roster for the 17-and-under team reads like an All-District honor roll.

Central Catholic junior Jared Rice and Modesto Christian junior Darrian Grays were named to the large-school first and second teams this past winter. Ripon teammates Cole Stevens and Aaron Paschini were small-school first- and second-team picks.

Playing in front of more than 40 college scouts at Jamtown, the 17s strung together wins over Seaside’s Finest (80-54), AthElite from Canada (75-67), the Nevada Wolverines (75-62) and NorCal Jump Squad (85-68).

The 17s are 10-0 during the NCAA live viewing period, according to coach Brice Fantazia, with a tournament victory at the Golden State Showcase as well.

Fantazia said Grays, Rice and Stevens were named among the top players at the NorCal Showcase.

Other locals playing for 17s include: Enochs’ Wes Burse; Modesto Christian’s Josthin Dawkins, Nico Rojas Rojas and Juan Morales Vargas; and Sonora’s Nate Patterson.

New Ripon Christian volleyball coach – Jocelyn Benziger has been hired as the Ripon Christian volleyball coach, replacing Tiger Shelton.

Benziger is a Ripon native and teaches special education at Great Valley Academy. She played collegiately at Oral Roberts and has been a member of the Ripon High coaching staff the last four years. She also coaches with Pulse, a club team.

The Ripon Christian volleyball program has won a record 15 Sac-Joaquin Section championships, including five straight Division V titles from 2007-11 under Shelton. The Knights also had a run of four D-V banners from 1999-2002.

Shelton leaves Ripon Christian for the second time in four years. In 2013, he was named the volleyball coach at Modesto Junior College, where he was 34-21 with one playoff appearance in two seasons.

He returned to Ripon Christian in the fall and led the Knights to a share of the Southern League championship. Ripon Christian was eliminated in the first round of the D-V tournament by Golden Sierra-Garden Valley.

In a news release, the school said Shelton is stepping down to spend more time with his family. His daughter, Andie Shelton, a former Bee All-District Volleyball Player of the Year, is a freshman setter at Pacific.

Tweetables – Former Bee All-District Baseball Player of the Year Micah Hall won his first collegiate start for Stanislaus State on Sunday. The Beyer product gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings as the Warriors blanked San Francisco State 5-0. ... Hughson has named Vince Brown as its new football coach. Brown takes over for Reyn Franca, who came out of retirement and led the Huskies to a Division V playoff appearance in 2015.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Prep notes: District football stars lead VGT at Best of the West."