SANTA ROSA >> After coaching his last season for the Willits Wolverines in 2015-16, former Upper Lake High School boys’ basketball coach Duane Nelson will be on hand Saturday night during the fourth annual Redwood Empire All-Star Basketball Game at Rincon Valley Christian High School in Santa Rosa.
Boys’ action tips off at 7:30 p.m. following the girls’ game at 5:45 p.m. Graduating high school seniors from Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties are invited to participate.
Lake County players included in the field are Middletown’s Ashlyn Welton, Kelseyville’s Nick Pfann and Lower Lake’s Jerod Alexander. According to game director Ted Nelson, other Lake County players could be added before Saturday.
The revised boys’ roster as of Thursday includes Mike Veregge and Dakota Woltering of Archbishop Hanna; Jordan Luna and O’Bryon Simmons of Laytonville; Erin Perez and Cesar Soto of Anderson Valley; Himansu Singh of Technology; Mike Award, Liam Galten and Will Tarrant of St. Vincent; Jack Greenburg of Sonoma Academy; Abel Ortiz, Francisco Valdez and Pablo Avendano of Roseland Prep; Anthony Sorace of Willits; Paul Gorman Jr. and Tyler Baker of Fort Bragg; Adrian Bernardi and Marcus Poe of Cloverdale; Kelseyville’s Pfann and Lower Lake’s Alexander.
The revised girls’ roster as of Thurdsay includes Jenny Eggers of Sonoma; Krystal Wood and Savanna Dilks of Point Arena; Kaitlin Wayland and Casey Castro of Technology; Olivia DeGraca of St. Vincent; Claudia Silva of Roseland Prep; Caroline Hogan of Rincon Valley Christian; Teanne Edens and Angel Bernardi of Cloverdale; and Middletown’s Welton.
Nelson said there has been no decision as to how the squads will be separated for game play – as an example east vs. west or north vs. south.
The girls will be coached by Richard Higgenbottom of Rincon Valley Christian and Scott McKeon of Technology. McKeon also will serve as a boys’ coach along with Duane Nelson of Willits and Josh Firks of Laytonville. Nelson coached Firks during his playing days at Laytonville.
One of the All-Stars will be participating in her second All-Star game of the day. Cloverdale’s Edens, a standout pitcher for the Eagles, will be playing the NBL-SCL All-Star Softball Game on Saturday afternoon.
The Redwood Empire All-Star games are sponsored by Oilstop and the officials are provided by the North Coast Officials Association. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Children age 6 and younger are admitted free. A snack bar will be open for both games.
Rincon Valley Christian High School is located at 4585 Badger Road in Santa Rosa.
