MOST Basketball TEAMS ON the verge of making history would be maximizing their time on the Basketball court. Not so the McClymonds High girls under coach Dennis Flannery.
The first-place Warriors (18-4, 6-0 Oakland Athletic League) bring a 13-game winning streak into Wednesday's home showdown (4:30 p.m.) with second-place Oakland Tech (16-7, 5-1 OAL). A win for Mack would all but clinch the regular-season crown and a top seed in the Oakland Section playoffs. The Warriors haven't won an OAL girls Basketball title since 1976. That has Flannery's team excited, but both the coach and his players said they understand there's more to life than just success on the court.
"We can be very intense in Basketball," Flannery said. "But it's still only a game."
That's why Mack took a day off practice last week to cook and serve dinner for women at A Friendly Place, a women's transition housing unit in West Oakland.
"We're doing fabulously well Basketball-wise, but this is really what life is about," Flannery said.
The entire team was on hand to serve a meal of lasagne, salad and garlic bread. Ice cream sandwiches were served for dessert.
The players interacted with the women, trading life lessons and also making "Go Lady Warriors" signs that were held up by some of the women who attended Mack's game against Oakland on Friday.
"It was really positive, there was lots of laughing," Flannery said. "Because it was so positive, we set up another night (Feb. 25) to go play bingo with them."
Flannery, in his second year as Mack's varsity head coach, also had his teams do similar events when he was coaching at Holy Names. This was the second straight year he's taken the Mack players to A Friendly Place.
"Last year when we did it there was a little bit of apprehension because we didn't know what the clientele was going to be like," Flannery said. "This year (the players) were really looking forward to it."
Flannery also said that part of the added inspiration comes from President Barack Obama.
"This plays in mind with what President Obama is asking, for people to give back to the community," Flannery said.
The off-the-court deeds blend well with a program that has been on the rise since Flannery took over last year. The Warriors last season made the playoffs for the first time in a decade. This year, they have their minds set on a deep postseason run behind the guard play of Robbie Brigham and Kendra Burl and the post presence of 6-foot-3 Cal State Northridge-bound center Felicia Walker.
"This is a really a special group," Flannery said. "They come to practice every day and work hard and just come out and do the job."
Radford, SIMPSON to be honored: Castlemont's Tyrone Radford and Bishop O'Dowd's Che'Rod Simpson are among 24 Northern California athletes who will be honored by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame as scholar-athletes.
An awards dinner will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Burlingame on Feb. 19 and both will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
Radford, a wide receiver/defensive back who caught a touchdown in the Knights' 13-0 Silver Bowl victory over Fremont, carried a 3.4 grade point average. Simpson, a running back who gained more than 1,000 yards this season for the Dragons, carried a 3.07 GPA.
SPRING SCHEDULES PLEASE: The spring sports season is rapidly approaching with practices already under way. That means its a good time to make a call for all athletic directors and coaches to send in your teams' schedules for all spring sports. E-mail them to www.ibabuzz.com/prepcorner.
