Sports
Boxing had the “Thrilla in Manila.” Football had the “Immaculate Reception.” Baseball had the “Shot Heard Around the World.” And now basketball has Kennedy High Lady Eagles’ “Three Against Five.” In what might be the most famous basketball game ever played at Coach Dolly Felix Gym, the Lady Eagles defeated the Hercules Lady Titans Friday night on a last-second shot while playing the last 55 seconds of the game with only three players. With the score knotted at 70, and…
For a team struggling to win soccer games, the smallest successes can become highlights of a season. For the Richmond High School girls’ soccer team, the week provided two of those highlights. On Thursday night, in the Oilers’ final match of the regular season, the girls did something they had not done all season: They had a lead. In the ninth minute of the Richmond High Oilers’ match against the St. Joseph-Notre Dame Pilots at the College of Alameda, junior…
For 15 seconds after a Richmond Oilers basketball win, there’s no happier place in the world than in the boys’ locker room. That’s when head coach Rob Collins shows his players the Saturday Night Fever dance moves. And on Wednesday night it happened again. After thumping the De Anza Dons by 28 points, Coach Collins did his best John Travolta impersonation. Players went nuts and jockeyed for position to see their head coach lose himself in disco bliss. Before the…
A 2-1 road loss to De La Salle High School in Concord ended a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Richmond High boys’ soccer team on Saturday night, but the players and coaches viewed the match as an opportunity to build for the end of the regular season and the playoffs. Early on in the season, the Oilers seemed to have trouble jelling and working together on the field. Coaches stressed the importance of playing as one, and players cited the…
On Friday, the Richmond Oilers boys’ basketball team defeated their cross-town rival, the Kennedy Eagles, 58-44. The game was held at Richmond High and was the Oilers third victory of their last five games. The contest was thoroughly guarded by law enforcement officers, both in and out of uniform. Prior to entering the gymnasium fans were separated into two lines, one for women and another for men, and searched for weapons. Last October the two schools experienced gunshots during the fourth…
On Saturday afternoon the girls’ soccer teams from Mt. Diablo and Richmond High Schools faced off against each other. The two teams last met in late November at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord, when Mt. Diablo’s Red Devils defeated Richmond’s Oilers 3-2. This time, they were playing at Richmond High School in the final home game of the 2012-13 season for the Oilers. But much was the same: The Red Devils took an early lead in the game, and…
With offensive plays called “Gator,” “Black,” “Indiana,” “Shallow” and “5-Out,” it’s easy to understand why the Kennedy High School Lady Eagles average 69 points per game. On Wednesday night the most exciting show in Richmond high school sports took their scoring artistry to another level and defeated John Swett High 84-28. It took only three seconds for the Lady Eagles to score their first bucket of the game. On the opening play, guard Raven Caldwell took the jump ball from…
With the Richmond High School boys’ soccer team clinging to a 2-1 lead, a strong attack by Richmond forward Eduardo Bramvila set up a corner kick for the Oilers during Tuesday’s match at El Cerrito High School.
Erik Lopez is not your ordinary San Francisco Giants fan. By day he’s your regular good guy from Hercules. By first pitch he saves the day as Giants-Wolverine; a five-foot-something wolf-like creature wearing a black and orange Giants cape, mask and foam knuckle blades. The baseball fan-superhero hybrid said his idea to become a “badass character” evolved during the 2010 postseason when he decided to combine his favorite team with his favorite Marvel character. “It’s all about the black and…