Ben Saunders is one the better players in the Auburn area that you probably have never heard of. In fact, do you even know where Maidu High School is? The answer from most is no. But when Saunders took the court in the North-South Optimist game June 15 at

?That was beyond cool, it was such an honor,? the 6-foot-4, 175-pound shooting guard said of his Optimist game experience. ?It was really unexpected, it was just out of the of the blue. I though they must have the wrong guy, I?m not supposed to be picked for it. I didn?t believe at first, I still can?t believe it.?Maidu High School, which is on the campus of the Chana High School continuation school in Auburn is an independent study high school. There, students only show up once a week to meet with their instructors, and do the rest of their class work at home. The basketball team is comprised of students from Chana and Maidu, and compete in the 12-team Sacramento Athletic Conference. The team faces off against such schools as Adalante of Roseville, Sierra Foothill, and Cache Creek in Woodland just to name a few. Even though most of the schools in this league aren?t members of the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports in the state, Maidu is a member. Because the school combines the continuation and home school students, sometimes the team size and participation wanes, even though it might start out strong.?We usually start out with about 26 before tryouts and field a team of 10 normally,? Maidu basketball coach and photography teacher Jim Geddes said. ?Unfortunately we go through some attrition in the 10 we have on the team.?Breaking out of AuburnLocal focus, By Andrew DiLuccia, Joural Assistant Sports EditorDespite sometimes only having four players ?Saunders included? at some practices, the team has done extremely well the last three years. This season the club finished with a record of 18-6 and finished second in league. The two previous seasons Maidu had won 20 and 21 games and only lost three in those two years. One of the reasons for the great success is the graduated Saunders, who scored 22 points a game and grabbed 15 rebounds per contest in 2002. Saunders picked up the game in the third grade, and has been honing his skills ever since. The Alta resident has been home-schooled since the fourth grade, spending three years at Applegate Christian School before coming under the tutelage of his mother, Dena, who taught him through his freshman year of high school. The 18-year-old had followed in the footsteps of his sister, Ruth, who was also home-schooled. But Saunders did long to go to high school like his brother, Josh, who graduated from Colfax High.But Saunders parents decided he would be home schooled. And at first the teen was upset. But not because he wanted to play high school basketball.?At first I hated it,? he said. ?Because I wanted to play football so bad. At first it wasn?t even about basketball, it was football I wanted to play. I didn?t play anything my freshman year, I was going nuts.?But when playing in his front yard in a friendly pickup game of basketball with his dad, Scott, and Saunders friend Troy Brewer and his dad Kenny, the idea of playing high school basketball emerged. During the game the idea of playing at Maidu was brought up, and to Saunders? delight, his father suggested they look into the matter. His sophomore year, Saunders transferred to Maidu High and began his high school basketball career. ?As a sophomore he was kind a young lose cannon,? Geddes said. ?He made a lot of bad passes, but he had a lot of potential. Ben was superior in his potential to the rest of the kids.?For being a lose cannon his sophomore year, the 6-4 shooting guard averaged a double-double of about 10 points and 11 rebounds per game.At a school like Maidu, where talent is sometimes limited, say for instance in size, it?s hard not to put big kids where they are needed. At 6-4, Saunders could essentially play the postposition, but Geddes had it in mind to keep his player at the position that would serve him best down the line. The guard position.?He doesn?t like the postposition, he?s a 6-4 guard,? Geddes said. ?I really tried to keep him to play guard, because it would prepare him for college. We allowed him to do that as much as possible.? Saunders?s junior year saw him improve to 18 PPG and 12 RPG, and this season area high schools knew about the talent level of the incoming senior. Around Christmas time according to Geddes, a local high school took a high interest in Saunders? ability. A question that one would ask is, was Saunders being challenged, would his basketball skills measure up? Saunders and his coach both agree that has been an issue, but that the question has been answered. ?In the years that I?ve coached in that league (SAC), I would say that the top three teams we?ve had could compete with any team around here,? Geddes said. ?Placer or Colfax. They may be continuation kids, but they know how to play basketball. The competition would not be a knock against him (Saunders). So talent level would not be a problem.?But Saunders did have those questions. ?I wondered how my fundamentals were playing in this league (SAC),? he said. ?Set offenses, we had them, but we didn?t run them all the time. It was more run and gun and shooting off the hip. So at the next level I didn?t know. Now that I think about it now, I know I?m good enough to play at Colfax.?The optimist selection committee thought Saunders was good enough too, and the Maidu player was the first athlete from a home school to be selected to the team. And at the first practice North team coach Norm Ryan of Casa Roble High School didn?t know what to expect. ?I didn?t know who he was. He came up and he introduced himself,? Ryan said. ?We had a couple of open gyms and he was the first person in at open gym. Open gym was at 7 p.m. and he was there at 6. In the two weeks of practice, Ben was the first player there and the last out everyday. Part of that tells you about Ben Saunders. Also it tells you how much fun it was for him. He was playing with four of the best players in Sacramento, and scrimmaging with 14 of the top players in the area. As far as they knew, he played at some school above Auburn.?The first practice was also quite and experience for Saunders, who with his friendly disposition, quickly was acquainted with the members of his team. ?See for me I never played against any of them,? Saunders said. ?Pretty much all of them played against each other at some point. They had an idea of who people were. For me it was like I felt a lone I guess. They were all real cool. They would ask, ?What high school do you go to,? and I would tell them. And they were like ?What????You went where?? That was everybody?s comment. Then you have to explain it to them. Finally by the middle of the last week of practice I got to explain it to them.?Saunders did not disappoint in the game, scoring five points and playing in both halves of the game. Saunders also threw down a few dunks and played strong defense against one of the area?s best players in Josh Davis of Elk Grove, who is headed to UC Santa-Barbara on an athletic scholarship. A fitting way to end a high school career. Saunders, who is Christian, has traveled the world teaching the gospel. Places such as Fiji, Mexico and Ireland dot the list. In Ireland, Saunders, who was nominated as a Christian Athlete All-American, went oversees to teach basketball and the gospel. A highlight of the trip was playing against the Irish 18-and-under national team and winning. Saunders will attend Simpson College in Redding in the fall where he will walk on at the NAIA Division II school and major in Pastoral Ministries. His father is the pastor of Sierra First Baptist church in Alta. No matter what Saunders does with his athletic career, basketball will most certainly have some roll in his life. ?Basketball, it?s always been kind of my getaway. If I was ever mad or sad, I would go out in the front yard and play,? he said. ?Any other sports you need someone else, with basketball you still need to get the ball in the hole.? ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ? Ted Lilly made an outstanding first impression for the Oakland Athletics. The left-hander did not allow a hit for 4 2-3 innings in his Oakland debut as the A?s beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-0 Monday night. Lilly, acquired from the New York Yankees on July 5 as part of a three-team, seven-player trade, made his first appearance since a June 29 loss to the New York Mets in which allowed six runs in four innings. Lilly (4-6), who pitched a one-hitter and a three-hitter this season for the Yankees, didn?t allow a hit until John Flaherty singled to left with two outs in the fifth inning. He left after the first two batters reached in the seventh. ?Fantastic,? Oakland manager Art Howe said. ?And for such a long layoff, that was an outstanding performance.? In all, Lilly allowed three hits with four strikeouts and two walks. ?I felt pretty good throughout the game,? Lilly said. ?I wasn?t sure how long I was going to be out there, so I didn?t try to overthrow and I think that?s one of the things that was effective for me.? Chad Bradford, Mike Venafro and Billy Koch finished the four-hitter. Miguel Tejada had two RBIs for Oakland, which has won eight of 11. The Athletics are 7-1 against Tampa Bay this season, and have won 11 of their past 12 against the Devils Rays. Tampa Bay starter Ryan Rupe (5-10) lasted just 2 1-3 innings ? allowing three runs, four hits and three walks ? in his first start since June 19. The right-hander aggravated a right knee injury that landed him on the 15-day disabled list last month. ?If I was guessing, it would probably look that way,? said Rupe, when asked if he thought the injury would put him back on the DL. ?I tweaked it pretty good again. It?s frustrating. There?s nothing I can do about it. You keep your head up, and keep going.?