Enough of who should be in or out. Enough of who will win the other divisions, the right to be the best can be claimed by winning the Open. The four years we have had four different nor cal champions. Bishop O'Dowd defeated St. Mary's Stockton in 2013, Salesian defeated Miramonte in 2014, St. Mary's Stockton defeated Miramonte in 2015 and Miramonte defeated Pinewood in 2016.
Who will claim the 2017 open championship. Here are my picks for round 1 only.
Mitty over Sacred Heart
Mitty is probably more upset than SHC over this seeding and will be out to prove once and for all who the WCAL best is and will always be. Mitty by 17
St. Mary's over Salesian
Overtime and it will take a 20 rebound performance by Decosta to get it done. Salesian is the hot hand right now and will give Stockton everything they have and a slight slip up and I can see Salesian winning. SMS by 3 in OT
BOD over Pinewood
first upset special. BOD will not make the same mistake three times, losing to Pinewood last year, losing to Salesian this year in NCS. Both of those games BOD rallied to fall short. They come out strong and limit the open looks for Pinewood who emptied the tank against Mitty. BOD By 5.
Cardinal Newman over Carondelet
Before you call me a homer, someone tell me the last big game Carondelet won? Let's think about it, 2016 untested in sections, first round loss in Open. 2015, upset in sections to an inferior Dublin team and they waste the gift of a #2 seed and lose to Presentation after getting a first round bye in d2. 2014 upset at home in the Open semifinals against Miramonte. 2013 lost at St. Mary's Stockton in the Open Semi-finals. 2012 (pre open) upset by Mitty at home in quarterfinals (beat them during the regular season). 2011 Lost in the NCS D1 section to Berkeley and again in the Nor Cal final. I don't see Carondelet as great team and in the last seven years I can't find a meaningful win and definitely they have not upset anyone but they have been upset on a number of occasions. They lose all the games they are supposed to lose and win most of the games they are supposed to win but if the team is anywhere near their talent they lose. Someone tell me that I am wrong.
CN By 7 on the road.
Who will claim the 2017 open championship. Here are my picks for round 1 only.
Mitty over Sacred Heart
Mitty is probably more upset than SHC over this seeding and will be out to prove once and for all who the WCAL best is and will always be. Mitty by 17
St. Mary's over Salesian
Overtime and it will take a 20 rebound performance by Decosta to get it done. Salesian is the hot hand right now and will give Stockton everything they have and a slight slip up and I can see Salesian winning. SMS by 3 in OT
BOD over Pinewood
first upset special. BOD will not make the same mistake three times, losing to Pinewood last year, losing to Salesian this year in NCS. Both of those games BOD rallied to fall short. They come out strong and limit the open looks for Pinewood who emptied the tank against Mitty. BOD By 5.
Cardinal Newman over Carondelet
Before you call me a homer, someone tell me the last big game Carondelet won? Let's think about it, 2016 untested in sections, first round loss in Open. 2015, upset in sections to an inferior Dublin team and they waste the gift of a #2 seed and lose to Presentation after getting a first round bye in d2. 2014 upset at home in the Open semifinals against Miramonte. 2013 lost at St. Mary's Stockton in the Open Semi-finals. 2012 (pre open) upset by Mitty at home in quarterfinals (beat them during the regular season). 2011 Lost in the NCS D1 section to Berkeley and again in the Nor Cal final. I don't see Carondelet as great team and in the last seven years I can't find a meaningful win and definitely they have not upset anyone but they have been upset on a number of occasions. They lose all the games they are supposed to lose and win most of the games they are supposed to win but if the team is anywhere near their talent they lose. Someone tell me that I am wrong.
CN By 7 on the road.