EBAL & DFAL PREDICTIONS 2/13

[NorCalScout]

Monte Vista over De La Salle: I think Monte Vista is the better team, better inside play with LaShells and their guard play is much better then the Spartans. By the way, someone has had Allocco's number over the past few years.

San Ramon over Foothill- Smith, Fuca, Anderson are playing well and if Spackman & Polosky can chip in, this team will have a say in who wins the league title. Next three games are all at home, huge advantage for the Wolves, as they have the best 6th man and crowd in this league.

Amador Valley over Granada- I am sure this will come back to haunt me but Granada has been and will continue to be a one man team. Johnson has carried them for a 2 years now with little to know help. 38 last game against Foothill and it still wasn't enough. In front of their home crowd, might push a few others to step up but I won't believe it until I see it. Ruotolo & Chaffee have been very consistent and they have been getting solid contributions from Chambers & Hajian, so this is why I am going with the Dons.

California over Livermore- If ever there was a game for Livermore to win, here it is. Both teams are soft and basically only score from the outside. Whoever can work a little inside game & create turnovers, will win this game. I think that will be Cal but I would love to see the Cowboys win on senior night in front of their home crowd.

Dougherty Valley over Las Lomas- Dougherty is playing better and with much better balance and Las Lomas is coming off a blowout loss to Campo and another heart breaking loss to Dublin at home. Dougherty is very tough at home and this should be enough to offset Wood and company.

Dublin over Miramonte- I would expect a little let down after another great win against Las Lomas but I this think they should have enough in their tanks to beat Miramonte. Miramonte beat them earlier and Dublin plays little to no defense so I think this should be another close game but Costello should lead them to another tough victory.

Alhambra over Acalanes- Other then 2 blowout losses at Dublin and Campo, this team has been in just about every game this year. Acalanes is a one man show and not much else. They rely and Hewitt to carry them each and every game and why I do think he might be the best pure scorer in this league, he can't carry the load at both ends of the court. Lozow and Rameriz have been solid all year and there non stop pressure, size and strength on the boards will wear down the Dons and lead them to victory.

 

[observer22]

The DFAL games were held last night. Miramonte did beat Dublin in a tight game, and DV beat LL. Not sure about Alhambra-Acalanes game.

 

[beatenpath2]

Alhambra Acalanes game was interesting. Alhambra strangely without #4 Fragoso and they still managed to push a 15 point halftime lead. Early in the 3rd Ramirez went down with an ankle injury and Alhambra was still up 19 in the 4th. Acalanes came roaring back with big shots from Kinnear and Hewitt and ended up making a game out of it, Alhambra 72-68. I however am more interested in how a team that looked slow and small in DV managed to get pummeled by Alhambra but has swept Dublin and Mira?

 

[NorCalScout]

I guess I need to wake up and smell the coffee but why did they play on Thursday?
These leagues are tough to figure out. Dougherty sweeps Dublin & Miramonte but loses to Alhambra. Dublin sweeps Las Lomas but gets swept by Miramonte? I guess Campo is the only consistent team that we can count on. Good wins for Alhambra, Miramonte and Dougherty.

 

[observer22]

No School today in the Lamorinda area schools. Nice 4 day weekend, so they played last night.

 

[observer22]

Monte Vista beat DLS 52-49 to take a huge step towards the EBAL championship and NCS top seed. MV led pretty much the whole game from between 4 and 7 points. MV was up 10 at one point late and DLS came back to get within 4 in the final minute after having to foul, but the Mustangs hit enough free throws to keep the lead. DLS was down 6 and hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer to get the final margin to 3.

This post was edited on 2/13 11:17 PM by observer22

MV Beats De La Salle Again

 

[NorCalScout]

I hate to say that I told you so but I did. I've seen De La Salle a bunch of times this year and have been greatly disappointed each and every time. They have ZERO inside game, they shoot 30 plus 3's a game, they have no toughness or defensive stopper. They have lost their identity and they are not what we have all been use to seeing. They even switched and played zone last night which you never see and their zone defense is worse then their man to man and that's saying something. They have no concept of what's going on, in their zone, they kept losing Mitu, who might be the leagues MVP. If you are looking for a way to beat De La Salle down the road, look at some of the Monte Vista games, they have done something that no other program has done and that is to have Allocco's number and in a dominating way. I think we are seeing the tides turning and a new coach who could end up dominating this game for years to come. Who would have thought they could win the state championship, lose 3 very talented players and a few other serious role players and would come back and dominate this league the way they have. I am not overlooking San Ramon at all cause that will be a game for the ages and I think they are the two best teams in this league. Granada, congrats on a great team win without Johnson dominating the scoring. Just when I counted you out, you pulled me back in. Amador, what in the heck happened? Not sure what happened to Ruotolo, hoping he didn't get hurt and if not, you surely didn't come to play after a huge game on Tuesday night.

 

[1storm]

..and yet they are 21-3! two of those losses against last years state champs. Dont think Dls is ready to throw in the towel just yet!

 

[NorCalScout]

Storm, great point. They are good, don't get me wrong but elite, no chance at all. They haven't beaten an elite team in a while. Look at their schedule, soft as it has ever been. Allocco knew this was coming and his schedule is set up for success.
How many times has he lost to Monte Vista this year and last? I would say 4 and possibly even 5 times. State Champs last year, every knew Monte Vista was good but nobody thought state champs. This year, after everything they lost and they are in the mix again, remarkable in my eyes and I've seen a ton of high school basketball in my time. Please don't count San Ramon out, I think they are peaking at the right time and if Monte Vista isn't careful, they will have a repeat of what happened last year.

 

[observer22]

SRV has their chance if they can come together this week. They host both DLS Tuesday and MV Friday. If they win both they will win the EBAL (I believe the EBAL still breaks a tie by who won the last time they played). If they lose to DLS but beat MV then MV wins the tiebreaker over DLS by sweeping the head to head.

Then comes the playoffs. All 3 will be tough outs at NCS and could be the top 3 seeds in D1. Looking at the Open for NorCals, I see only one of them getting in as the limit is 4 for a section, and the NCS already should have BOD (D3), El Cerrito (D2) & Moreau (D4) if they win their divisions. I don't think SRV qualifies for the Open should they win D1, but if MV or DLS takes D1 I see them in the Open.

 

[Positive Influence]

Moreau is D3

 

[observer22]

True, and I forgot Campo too. 1 spot each for the winners of NCS divisions 1-3, and then 1 runner up from either D1 or D3 depending on who gets upset along the way.

 

[NateThe great]

Hard to understand the logic of NCS placing 4 teams in the Open Division. With O'Dowd playing a national schedule with major D-1 kids why would teams opt out of divisions that they could win. I get El Cerrito and the D-1 champ If it's DLS or MV. But why would Campo opt up into Open without having won a section title. Moreau has a junior/soph team who could be the best team in the Bay Area next year. With O'Dowd out of D-3 Campo and Moreau could compete for the Nor Cal title this year.

 

[observer22]

That's why I said it depends on the upsets along the way. If Moreau were to somehow upset BOD and be D3 champs, I could see both of them going to the Open. Or if DLS were to beat MV in the D1 finals, I could see both of them going to the Open. There very well may be 3 NCS teams, but it really depends on who wins their divisions and how many teams will be placed in the Open this year. I'm not sure who all is qualified this year, but suspect that BOD, EC, MV & DLS all would be. Not sure about Campo or Moreau.