Schools

Though this was AJ Crosby’s first year head-coaching a high school varsity team, it was by no means his first coaching experience. “Last year I was a JV coach at Rancho Cotate,” he said. “And for the past four-and-a-half years I’ve been a head coach for North Bay Basketball Academy for AAU seasons.”

This year locals are proud to find both boys and girls soccer teams in the NCS playoff, both in Division 4 in line with their size. And the girls basketball team is in the playoffs as well, in the tougher Division 2. (Unfortunately, all three teams lost on Wednesday night, so Healdsburg High's winter sports season is officially over.)

Senior Ruby Leffew had her best game of the year, scoring 21 points to lead the Healdsburg Greyhounds to their third consecutive NBL-Redwood championship tournament trophy.

By halftime Tuesday night the Healdsburg Greyhounds basketball team seemed to have things well in hand. After a relatively quiet first period that ended 7-6 to the home team’s advantage, the Lady Greys exploded for 19 points in the second quarter, doing what they do best with a smothering defense and rapid, accurate shooting from inside the key—and beyond the arc. Then it turned around.

The boys team has not been able to get much traction in the rain-soaked field, and neither have most of its opponents. The NBL-Redwood league standings show many of the teams have more tie games than either wins or losses. The Greyhounds, for instance, have two wins and no losses, but four tie games—Piner High, just ahead of them in the league standings, is 3-0-3.

The saga of Healdsburg’s basketball seasons, boys and girls, continues to be played out, though hopes for a repeat league championship for the girls have been damaged by the dominance of Ukiah, a new addition to the NBL-Redwood division, which remains undefeated in league play.

When last we checked in with the boys soccer team, they had just begun their league season with a tie game against Piner, 1-1, on the Healdsburg field. The following Saturday,  Jan. 19, they headed up to Lake County to meet Kelseyville, and came home with a 5-0 win in their non-league column...

Perhaps for the first time in its young life, the new Drew Esquivel Hall on the Healdsburg High School campus boasted a bleacher full of fans—wrestling fans, drama fans, fans of the school district and of Drew Esquivel himself—all come to recognize the dedication...

Weight classes have a meaning, and a strategy, although judges today are pretty strict in their weight calls. The technology of measuring weights is so sophisticated these days, there are few if any ways to “nudge” the scale. “So if you go to a competition and you step on a scale, and you are a 10th of a pound over, you are disqualified” in the weight class, Scott Weidemier said. “There’s no leeway. They’re all digital scales these days, that are certified every year.”

Not everyone is glued to the NFL playoffs this year, for obvious reasons. The NBA has its disappointments, too, and that college football season was even longer than usual. What’s a sports fan to do? The answer is obvious: watch the Greyhounds play.