Cajon’s Nicolas Wilson not seriously injured

Cajon also suffered a key injury in the game against REV that didn’t turn out as bad as first feared.
Running back Nicolas Wilson injured his hand when he was tackled hard late in the fourth quarter before REV rallied. Wilson wasn’t in for Cajon’s final two offensive plays after REV took the lead.
Wednesday coach Nick Rogers said Wilson will play.’
“He’s going to play,” Rogers said. “It’s not broken. It’s just a sprained hand. For precautionary reasons, he might wear a glove and we’ll limit him in practice It was swelled up pretty good.”
It is Wilson’s left hand and he carries the ball with his right hand, but even so, Wilson isn’t facing contact in practice this week and Rogers will monitor him during Friday’s key game against Redlands to see if he can keep playing.

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Cajon’s Darren Jones denied eligibility by CIF

Four high profile football transfers from Upland to Corona Centennial were ruled ineligible by the CIF Southern Section, but Centennial wasn’t the only school to have transfers from Upland denied.
Darren Jones, a sophomore who led Upland in receiving as a freshman last year with 19 receptions for 437 yards and five touchdowns, had transferred to Cajon and hoped to be a big part of the Cowboy offense. That won’t happen anytime soon as CIF-SS also ruled him ineligible for football and basketball until next July. Rogers said Upland contested Jones’ transfer.
“I think he’s going to file an appeal with the state (CIF), as far as I know,” Cajon coach Nick Rodgers said. “But that would take several weeks.”
Rogers doesn’t agree with Upland contesting the transfer.
“I’m like Kim (Battin, former Cajon coach). If a guy doesn’t want to play here, let him go,” Rogers said.
Unlike other schools, Cajon has not been a destination for many transfers Rogers said. He notes that he lost three varsity players to transfers (two to Pacific and one to San Gorgonio) and got only one varsity player back, receiver Tre’veon Wellmaker from Jurupa Hills.
“If this is a recruiting competition, I’m not doing a very good job,” Rogers said.

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Darren Jones could be filling void for Cajon football

Cajon football could be getting a big-time transfer that would help the Cowboys for the next three years.
Darren Jones had 19 catches for 437 yards and five touchdowns as a 6-foot-7 freshman last year. He lead the Highlanders, who went to the second round of the playoffs, in all three categories.
Cajon coach Nick Rogers confirmed that Jones is at Cajon, but said that his transfer status is still pending. The CIF Southern Section web site lists Jones’ transfer status as “under review.”
I have no idea whether or not Jones’ transfer will go through, and if so, if he’ll have to serve the sit-out period.
But I’m interested if the transfer goes through, how things will work out between Jones and Cajon’s standout sophomore quarterback, Jayden Daniels.
A year ago, Daniels, The Sun’s Newcomer of the Year, completed 169 of 301 passes for 2,694 yards and 35 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. That was to a largely experienced receiver crew. And when one of his top returning targets, Phillip Ryan, transferred out to Pacific, the question was, “who will Daniels throw to?”
It could be Jones, which could make for a very intriguing QB-WR combo for the next three years.
Cajon isn’t putting all of its eggs in Darren Jones’ basket. Tre’veon Wellmaker, who was second at Jurupa Hills last year in receptions (45), yards (328) and receiving touchdowns (three), has transferred in. Wellmaker, who is a senior this year, has been approved by CIF-SS to play immediately.

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Videos from Cajon’s State Championship game

Here are videos from Cajon’s state championship game, postgame interviews as well as final seconds:

Kayla Washington talks:

Turner twins talk:

Taylor Goldsberry talks

Continue reading “Videos from Cajon’s State Championship game” »

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Cajon has a different challenge against Elk Grove

Cajon's Kayla Washington (24), right, puts up a shot over Mater Dei's Allyson Rosenblum (22), left, during Saturday's CIF Southern California Regional Division II Championship at The Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA Saturday, March 19, 2016. (Photo by Mark Dustin for the San Bernardino Sun)

Unlike last week’s Regional Final against Santa Ana Mater Dei, Saturday’s CIF State Division II championship game against Elk Grove won’t be an issue of size disadvantage.
“They have a decent point guard and a couple of wings who are pretty good,” Cajon coach Mark Lehman said. “They only start one girl who is 6-foot (junior Sydnee Kilbride) and she’s not a big scorer (3.1 points per game).”
Early in the week, Lehman wasn’t sure what kind of defense he was going to run, but seemed to like the zone that was successful against Mater Dei.
“I don’t know what we’ll do. They only have one outside shooter and chasing around takes energy,” he said.
The zone against Mater Dei was very successful, not only in slowing down the Monarchs, but also keeping the Cowgirls out of foul trouble, which can be Cajon’s Achilles’ Heel. Cajon committed just five total fouls in the 51-30 win against Mater Dei:

Elk Grove’s top players:
Mira Coleman, 5-8, Jr., G, 18.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.1 apg
Madison Wong, 5-6, Sr., G, 14.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.2 apg
Paiton Demps, 5-7, Jr., F, 12.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.9 apg

Cajon’s top players, stats through 1st CIF-SS playoff game
Kayla Washington, 6-0, Sr., F, 22.7 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 3.0 apg
Tyla Turner, 5-5, Sr., G, 13.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 7.3 apg
Tyra Turner, 5-5, Sr., G, 11.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 8.3 apg

Cajon isn’t limited to those players as fellow seniors Dezarae Embry (4.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Taylor Goldsberry (9.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg). Junior Deja McBath a 5-10 forward came off the bench had some big baskets down the stretch against Harvard-Westlake in the state playoffs.
But, if Cajon doesn’t need to substitute like it was in the Mater Dei game, the Cowgirls will win. That’s a big if. And remember, Cajon will be coming off a whole week of rest, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

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Cajon girls basketball ready for long layoff before state playoffs

For the second year in a row, the Cajon girls basketball team was selected to play in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.
And for the second year in a row, the Cowgirls bowed out early.
But there are several differences this time around.
A small difference is that last season Cajon went 1-2 in the CIF-SS playoffs and this year went 0-2. Unlike last year, any team in the CIF-SS Open Division is guaranteed a spot at state. “It’s nice knowing we’ve got at least one game at state,” Cajon coach Mark Lehman said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
Last year, Cajon went to Division I for state and won its first two games before falling to Ventura in overtime. This year, by losing its first two CIF-SS Open Division games, Cajon will be placed in Division II for state.
“I think we should be No. 1 (in Division II),” Lehman said. “At least No. 2. If not, (that’s) disrespect.”
Cajon, which was seeded seventh in CIF-SS Open Division, could be battling with Santa Ana Mater Dei for that No. 1 seed in the Division II Southern Regional. Mater Dei, which also lost its first two Open Division games, was seeded sixth in the CIF-SS playoffs.
Cajon, which was eliminated on Wednesday, won’t play again until March 9. CIF-SS Open Division teams that are eliminated early are permitted a scrimmage against another team before the state playoffs start, but the Cowgirls aren’t planning on that.
“I have a basketball class, and we’ll scrimmage against the boys, which would be better preparation than scrimmaging against girls,” Lehman said.
Cajon, which has five senior starters, doesn’t want to see its season end early.
“This group has never lost three games in a row, and they’re not willing to do that now,” he said.

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Nominations due for Cajon all-star basketball games

As in previous years, Cajon will host the San Bernardino County vs. Riverside County all-star basketball games. This year the games are on April 8, with the girls game at 6 p.m. and the boys game at 7:30 p.m.

Coaches who have not already nominated seniors for the game should do so immediately. For girls nominees, e-mail Mark.Lehman@sbcusd.com and for boys nominees, email randy.murray@sbcusd.com.

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Yucaipa’s Courtney Coleman returns; will it be enough vs. Cajon?

Yucaipa hopes to challenge Cajon in Citrus Belt League girls basketball and the Thunderbirds are off to a solid 8-2 start this season. They’ve done it without their best player, senior guard Courtney Coleman.
Coleman tore her anterior cruciate ligament in a travel ball game in June, and was cleared to rejoin the team on Monday. Today, Yucaipa faces Cajon in the Thunderbirds’ first league game.
“We’ll see how she does,” Yucaipa coach Jeremy Hoch said. “She’s not going to be in shape. Hopefully, she’s able to create her own shot, but that will be tough against the twins (Tyla and Tyra Turner).”
Coleman, a second-team all-Sun player and Yucaipa’s leading scorer last year, had hoped to return a few weeks ago, but didn’t get clearance until Monday.
“I wish we’d have a couple of more weeks (to get her ready for Cajon) but we’re happy to have her back,” Hoch said.
I am going to the game tonight, and although I don’t give Yucaipa much of a chance to win, I am curious to see if the Thunderbirds can keep it to be a closer game than it was last year, when Cajon blew out Yucaipa by at least 30 points each time. Yucaipa went on to finish third in the league.

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