With league play upcoming shortly, it might be worth a peek at what's in store for the 17 schools in the PAL. In the North, it's all Half Moon Bay, a defending CCS Division 4 champion, all the time. Again. If the Cougars (7-1) lose a league game in 2022, it will be a serious surprise. They have too much talent for the rest of the division. In the South, the picture is much more iffy. Hillsdale (9-1) and Burlingame (7-1) have had the most impressive pre-seasons thus far. The former is a smooth-shooting mix of experienced kids who move the ball and play well as a unit. The latter features the best high-low post combo in San Mateo County, 6-1 Elana Weisman and 5-11 Ava Urich, a pair of outstanding underclass prospects. BHS has to be considered in the title mix. Aragon, with powerhouse Megan Grant (a world-class softball player _ she's a member of the USA teen national team) back in the lineup, should be right there with the Knights and Panthers. At Capuchino, it all hinges on the health of big-time 6-2 center Mele Afeaki. She's been nursing a knee injury. If she can't play, the Mustangs, who lost just one game this past spring, are in very deep doo doo. With her in the lineup along with long-distance bomber Hailey Hoff, look out. Menlo-Atherton is another championship contender if the breaks go its way in the South's decidedly unbalanced schedule (the Bears will play title contenders Hillsdale, Aragon, Capuchino and Burlingame just once each). Sequoia, a defending CCS Division 1 champion, lost three key starters and its coach, Steve Picchi, a state Coach of the Year (for the second time), in the spring. The rest of the South ranges from questionable to no way, no how.