The schedule for the CIF Northern California Championships is announced in February.
CIF has six regions belonging to Northern California. Based on the rankings determined by the competition system of each region, plus the committee's inspection of record and field performance, more than 60 teams have entered the state championship.
Among them, the stronger batch belongs to Division 1 and the competition location is San Jose. The second batch belongs to Division 2 and the competition location is Sacramento. The rest belongs to Division 3 and the competition location is Reading.
The tournament uses a single-elimination system. After a round, half of the teams are missing. If you win, you stay and continue until the finals. If you lose, you pack up and go home.
After the competitions in Northern and Southern California are over, on March 1st, the Northern and Southern champions will compete for two California championships (Division 3 does not have a California championship game).
Among them, the California championship of Division 1 is the most eye-catching, because this is the first California championship between the north and the south in 60 years, and the TV station is expected to broadcast it live.
The Water Bell Team took a bus from San Francisco on the morning of February 10 and arrived at the venue of the competition - the Civic Auditorium in San Jose - in just over an hour.
In the 1980s, many modern sports venues had not yet been built, and many basketball games were held in these old-fashioned multi-functional auditorium-type venues.
The facilities in these venues are relatively old, the ventilation and lighting are not very good, and the air-conditioning performance is poor. Cold winters and hot summers are the norm, making the game experience very unpleasant.
The schedule of the tournament is also unfriendly. Four rounds of games must be played in one week, which is a big test for the players' physical fitness and team rotation.
All the players were accommodated in the Sheraton Hotel across the road from the Civic Auditorium - this hotel is as old as the Civic Auditorium and is a product of the urbanization period in the 1920s and 1930s.
The other side of the long history is of course that the conditions are relatively poor, with small rooms, outdated facilities, and the sanitary environment can only be described as so-so.
The only good thing is that it's in the heart of downtown San Jose, the food is pretty good, and it's an easy walk to shop or just relax.
While eating in the hotel's cafeteria, Gan Guoyang met players from Washington High School and Fremont High School, both of whom had also entered the Division 1 state championship.
When they saw Gan Guoyang, the players from both teams walked around unconsciously or avoided as much as possible without making eye contact with Gan Guoyang.
Gan Guoyang's coercion on the court has been brought to life. When these high school students meet him, they are like herbivores on the grassland seeing a lion.
Originally, Gan Guoyang was quite happy to see his old acquaintances, but why did they all avoid him? I've always been a very easy-going person and very easy to make friends with.
Finally, he saw the round-headed Quentin Stephenson in the dessert area and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello.
Stephenson's eyes looked a little frightened. He looked left and right, looking for his teammates.
"I...I got separated from my teammates. I...you...where are the people on your team?"
"I've just been training in the gym for a while, and they've already finished eating. Why don't we go together."
"Uh...I want...you know...who..."
Stephenson's eyes almost flew away, but he couldn't find his teammates so he could find a reason to leave.
In the end, he had no choice but to be pulled by Gan Guoyang to sit down and eat together. Stephenson had no appetite now. He saw that Gan Guoyang had a bit of PTSD.
Athletes eat a lot of food. Gan Guoyang opened his mouth to eat. Seeing that Stephenson didn't move much, he asked: "Quentin, eat. What's wrong with you today? Do you feel bad?"
Hearing Gan Guoyang's question, Quentin lost his appetite even more, and he even felt like vomiting.
"If you feel you have a bad appetite, I recommend you go to my restaurant for a meal. My father is a good cook. Of course, the premise is that you are interested in Chinese food, the kind of authentic Chinese food."
Gan Guoyang tried to chat with Stephenson and let him relax, but it seemed to have no effect. His eyes were a little dull.
It wasn't until a group of people in purple sweatshirts passed by the table that Stephenson's eyes became active and he stared at them until they left the restaurant.
"Do you know them?" Gan Guoyang asked.
"Yes, from Sacramento High School. We had a game last year and lost."
"Are you afraid of them?"
"Oh no, I'm not afraid. But they play crazy, and you...well, it's just crazy offense anyway."
"Are they your main targets?"
"It doesn't matter. Players on the high school team come in and out every year, and their strength changes a lot. But their point guard is very good and is the top scorer in California."
Hearing what Quentin said, Gan Guoyang became interested. Who would be California's top scorer and a point guard?
"What's his name."
"Kevin Johnson. He's fast, really fast. We'll call him Purple Lightning."
------------------
Purple Lightning Kevin Johnson, whose reputation in San Jose is quickly becoming apparent.
In the first round of the tournament on February 11, Kevin Johnson led the Sacramento Dragons to defeat Condeco's De La Salle Spartans.
In this game, he scored 37 points single-handedly, almost single-handedly piercing the Spartans' defense, and the team successfully entered the next round.
Then in the second round, Kevin Johnson led the team to defeat St. Joseph's Notre Dame High School in Alameda with 35 points in a single game and reached the semifinals.
Their opponent in the semi-finals was Beiqiao Middle School.
It was not easy for Beiqiao Middle School to win the first two rounds.
Chen Xing and Wu Zhihao in the team developed diarrhea symptoms due to poor living conditions and eating expired food, and the team's main players were reduced.
The substitute Shui Zhong had gaps in defense and was outscored by more than 70 points in two consecutive games.
Fortunately, Gan Guoyang supported the inside and offense and ensured rebounding.
The second round match against Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland went into overtime.
In February, the highest temperature in San Jose is about 16 degrees, which is a relatively comfortable temperature.
However, the air circulation in the Civic Auditorium was poor and the humidity was high, so the players felt stuffy after a lot of exercise.
The sweltering heat caused the players' physical fitness to decline faster. Only Gan Guoyang ran faster and faster in overtime, scoring consecutive counterattacks and helping the team seal the victory.
Watching the game from the sidelines after the game, Quentin, who has become Gan Guoyang's friend, asked him, "Why can you run faster and faster in overtime? Aren't you tired?"
Gan Guoyang replied: "I'm tired, but it's too hot. I'll run faster so that I can have some wind to cool me down."
"...We are going to play Sacramento in the next game, and I heard people say that Kevin Johnson wants to score 40 points on you."
"Who did you listen to? You couldn't have made it up to sow discord and reap the benefits, right?"
Washington High School also successfully reached the semifinals. They were actually very strong, but they didn't perform well in the finals.
"No, no, no, I didn't mean that. I really heard what people said. We all live in the same hotel, and if anything is said, it will be easily spread."
"Then wish him good luck. If he can't get 40 points, I will help him."
[...In my short life, there are three things that I have tried hard to achieve but have not been able to achieve so far. The first thing is to win the NBA championship, and the second thing is to score 40 points in a desperate situation. , the third thing is to become the mayor of Sacramento. The second thing I made was the earliest one, but it seemed to be the most difficult. 】
—————Excerpts from Kevin Johnson’s 2008 Sacramento mayoral campaign speech.
