Casa Grande's Callan basketball tournament 'wide open' this year

It’s holiday basketball tournament time and one of the gems of the Redwood Empire will be on display starting today as Casa Grande High School hosts the 13th annual Brett Callan Memorial Tournament featuring eight teams, including four from Sonoma County. The tournament continues Friday and wraps up Saturday.

Today’s opening round features Montgomery vs. Napa at 3:30 p.m.; Northgate (Walnut Creek) vs. Del Campo (Fair Oaks) at 5 p.m.; Washington (San Francisco) vs. Analy at 6:30 p.m. and Windsor vs. Casa Grande at 8 p.m.

Seven of the eight teams are returning from last year’s tournament. Only Northgate is new this year, replacing Tamalpais.

“It’s really hard to find teams for a varsity tournament, so the fact that seven teams are returning shows the interest in this tournament,” Casa Grande coach Jake Lee said. “Returning teams know what this tournament is all about.”

Teams that win today will move into the championship bracket, while losing teams will go into the consolation bracket. The championship game will be held Saturday at 6 p.m., with the consolation bracket final Saturday at 3 p.m. After all games are completed Saturday, an all-tournament team will be selected.

Montgomery (4-3) won the tournament last year and has a strong crew of returning players under veteran coach Zac Tiedeman, giving the Vikings a legitimate shot at repeating as champions.

“Zac has done an amazing job of keeping the Montgomery tradition going. His teams play insanely hard for him,” Lee said. “Montgomery is athletic, disciplined and they can shoot.”

Analy (3-4) and Windsor (6-3) are both developing their identities under new coaches, Jason Carpenter for the Tigers and Jared Greninger for Windsor. Both Analy and Windsor traditionally have a lot of height and a bevy of athletic players.

Casa Grande (4-3) didn’t fare well in last year’s tournament, going 1-2. Lee said he is encouraged by the Gauchos’ start this season and is hoping for a good showing in this year’s tournament behind his team’s tough defense.

“It’s always a goal for us to finish on top of our own tournament,” Lee said. “The ship is headed in the right direction.”

Lee and tournament director Rick Duarte both said they didn’t have much knowledge of the four out-of-the-area teams. Based on records, Napa (5-2) and Northgate (4-1) both appear to be playing good basketball. Del Campo ?(3-3) has been competitive in the tournament in past years. Record-wise, Washington (1-6) is the weakest team in the field.

“Based on the preseason going in, this year’s field is not as strong as last year,” Duarte said. “It’s not a weak field, but the tournament is more wide open this year.”

The tournament is hosted by Casa Grande annually in memory of Brett Callan, a former Gauchos player who died as a passenger in a crash caused by reckless driving in 2004. Each year, Callan’s parents, LJ and Julie, along with Brett’s sister, Heather, visit each team’s locker room to tell Brett’s story in hopes it will help prevent a similar tragedy for other students.

Former Gauchos coach James Forni began the tournament in Callan’s name the year after the player’s death. Forni, a popular Casa Grande coach and teacher, died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 36. Lee, in his fourth year coaching the Gauchos, played for and eventually succeeded Forni as Casa Grande head coach.

“This tournament, year after year, is one of the toughest in the North Bay,” Lee said. “I don’t remember a pushover game in any of the previous tournaments in the previous three years I have been here.”