Talent at Callen Tournament

If either Petaluma or Casa Grande High School boys basketball teams are thinking title in this weekend’s Brett Callan Memorial Tournament they are thinking big.

The bracket for this year’s tournament is one of the strongest in the 11-year history of the event. Included in the lineup, along with the two local teams, are Cardinal Newman, Miramonte, Washington from San Francisco, Analy and Tamalpais.

The tournament starts with a bang with Petaluma meeting Montgomery at 3:30 on Thursday afternoon in a matchup of hopeful league title contenders, Petaluma in the Sonoma County League and Montgomery in the North Bay League.

Montgomery was 5-2 going into this week’s play and coming off the championship of the Arcata Invitational Tournament.

Starting this week’s play, Petaluma has overcome several injuries and absences to compile a 3-2 record. When all the pieces are in place, the Trojans are expected to compete for the SCL title.

Cardinal Newman follows against Miramonte at 5 p.m.

Cardinal Newman is coming off a sweep to the championship of its own Rose City Tournament last weekend, beating Averroes from Fremont, 62-7; Dougherty Valley from San Ramon, 69-54, and Windsor, 48-36, in its run to the title.

Miramonte is the defending Callan Tournament champion. The Matadors were 4-0 starting this week’s play and are coming off a sweep to the championship of the Taro Kobara Optimist Tournament in Arroyo Grande.

Analy, the pick to repeat as Sonoma County League champion, takes on George Washington from San Francisco, an annual tournament favorite, at 6:30 Thursday evening.

Starting this week’s play, Analy was 6-1 on the season, with its only loss coming to sacred Heart from San Francisco in the semifinals of the Red Brown Tournament hosted by Drake High School.

Washington’s Eagles were 2-6 at the start of this week’s play, but always bring an athletic, up-tempo team to the Callan Tournament.

Host Casa Grande concludes the first night against new tournament entry Tamalpais at 8 p.m.

The Red-Tailed Hawks from the Marin County Athletic League were 2-3 going into this week’s play with losses to Sonoma County League teams Healdsburg, 70-36, and Analy, 65-64.

The host Gauchos started this week’s play with a 2-3 record that included a 1-2 showing in the McKinleyville Rotary Tip-Off Classic.

The tournament continues Friday with games at 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Games Saturday are at 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., with the championship game at 6 p.m.

The tournament is hosted by Casa Grande annually in honor of Brett Callan, a former Casa Grande player who died in a car crash in 2004.

It serves as a reminder to students of the dangers of reckless driving. Each year, Callan’s parents, LJ and Julie Callan, and sister, Heather, visit each team’s locker room to tell their son’s story in hopes it will help prevent a similar tragedy to other students.

The tournament is especially significant to Casa Grande coach Jake Lee, who played for, and eventually succeeded, tournament founder James Forni as Gaucho head coach. Forni, a popular Casa coach and teacher, died of cancer in 2005. He was 35.