CCS public programs

[colhenrylives]

It's that time of year again. Time to ask the annual question: Even in the ever-fluid Age of Equity, is there a CCS public school girls' hoops program that can reasonably be seen as a potential CIF state champion?. We ask this every year because, since 1988, no team in this category has managed to snag a state final game. It's been a drought of historic proportions in a section utterly dominated by two private/parochial leagues, the WBAL and the WCAL, which vacuum up talent like a pair of hyper-active Hoovers. Those two leagues have captured just over 30 CIF crowns. All of the CCS public leagues combined have managed a grand total of one, Burlingame from the PAL, 37 seasons ago. Ronald Reagan was president back then. There were no smart phones. Taylor Swift wasn't even born. You get the picture. It's grim.

 

[Peninsula Pete]

Is it possible that Half Moon Bay, Watsonville, Los Gatos or Menlo Atherton get assigned a high seed in a D4 or 5 state bracket and emerge as champion? Yeah. Possible.

Other NorCal sections have public schools like Acalanes, Clovis, Folsom, SRV, Vanden, Grant that are each currently ranked in the NorCal top 20 (according to MaxPreps) whereas the highest CCS public school is currently HMB at only #93. There is the Open and five divisional state tiles so just 6 chances a year and half of those (at least) will be won by SoCal teams. I think NorCal Public could easily win a D2 title this year, just not from CCS. Sadly.

 

[TheHillZ]

This year it's a particularly emphatic NO. I don't think a public school will make CCS Open. Los Gatos is the best candidate with two D1 bigs, but it has dropped games to Priory (close), Riordan (close), SI (not close) and Pinewood (not close) and has more tough games before it gets into the comfort of its league. Who else is even in the conversation? Menlo Atherton? Christopher? Hillsdale? Mills? Half Moon Bay? Why would any of these schools want a spot? They're much better off making a bit of a run in D2 or D4 and hoping for a generously low placement for states.

 

[letsski]

This year it's a particularly emphatic NO. I don't think a public school will make CCS Open. Los Gatos is the best candidate with two D1 bigs, but it has dropped games to Priory (close), Riordan (close), SI (not close) and Pinewood (not close) and has more tough games before it gets into the comfort of its league. Who else is even in the conversation? Menlo Atherton? Christopher? Hillsdale? Mills? Half Moon Bay? Why would any of these schools even want a spot? They're much better off making a bit of a run in D2 or D4 and hoping for a generously low placement for states.

Interesting side note and question: Of the schools you mentioned, M-A, Hillsdale, Mills and HMB all play in the PAL Bay division along with Carlmont (CCS D1 semifinalist), Does this make the PAL Bay the toughest public school league in CCS?

 

[Marcskit]

It's that time of year again. Time to ask the annual question: Even in the ever-fluid Age of Equity, is there a CCS public school girls' hoops program that can reasonably be seen as a potential CIF state champion?. We ask this every year because, since 1988, no team in this category has managed to snag a state final game. It's been a drought of historic proporations in a section utterly dominated by two private/parochial leagues, the WBAL and the WCAL, which vacuum up talent like a pair of Hoovers. Those two leagues have captured just over 30 CIF crowns. All of the CCS public leagues combined have managed a grand total of one, Burlingame from the PAL, 37 seasons ago. Ronald Reagan was president back then. There were no smart phones. Taylor Swift wasn't even born. You get the picture. It's grim.

The last Girls Public school from the North Section was Modoc, 1998.

Here's wishing you great hoops

 

[colhenrylives]

One of the more blatant yearly CCS seeding hose jobs is its fixation to force a public school or two into Open Division hoops playoffs just to fill out an eight-team bracket. Then, when they are eliminated, the NorCal seeding gurus wind up placing those publics (or public) into the Division I NorCal playoffs as a very low seed, all but guaranteeing a swift boot out of the tournament before you can blurt, ".Hey, this is malpractice, people!"

 

[colhenrylives]

Oh, one more note on this tender subject: Since the CCS Open Division was created in 2013, a public school girls' team has never played for that title. Mitty has played another private/parochial outfit every year for 12 years running, losing only once (to Pinewood) during that stretch. The deflated publics can only sit back and watch. More of the same is fully anticipated in 2025. Painful.

 

[Peninsula Pete]

One of the more blatant yearly CCS seeding hose jobs is its fixation to force a public school or two into Open Division hoops playoffs just to fill out an eight-team bracket. Then, when they are eliminated, the NorCal seeding gurus wind up placing those publics (or public) into the Division I NorCal playoffs as a very low seed, all but guaranteeing a swift boot out of the tournament before you can blurt, ".Hey, this is malpractice, people!"

I think you're onto something colhenry. Using Los Gatos as a case study, domination of their league and a gaudy regular season record has resulted in some tough seeding placement; a 22-2 regular season record in 2023-24 and wound up with a D1 13 seed. A 21-3 regular season record in 2022-23 and wound up with a D2 16 seed. So maybe the answer is scheduling much tougher, accumulate more losses, avoid Open, emerge with a toughened team and a maybe a top 4 seed in D2 or 3 and make a run. If this is the way we're gonna seed teams, play the system.

I don't know where you look up strength of schedule but I imagine there is not a CCS public school with anything close to the LG SOS what with Riordan, SI, Pinewood, SMS, C-let and Priory.

 

[kiddman32]

What do you need when you need mo medical care? Modoc.

 

[colhenrylives]

What do you need when you need mo medical care? Modoc.

What do you get when your HMO says no? Lessdoc.

 

[keepitreal.32]

Oh, one more note on this tender subject: Since the CCS Open Division was created in 2013, a public school girls' team has never played for that title. Mitty has played another private/parochial outfit every year for 12 years running, losing only once (to Pinewood) during that stretch. The deflated publics can only sit back and watch. More of the same is fully anticipated in 2025. Painful.

colhenrylives, The CCS Public schools pushed for the top CCS Privates to be put in an Open division they said that they didn’t care about State championships they just wanted a shot at a Section title. At least that’s what I remember reading in the San Mateo Times or San Jose Mercury at the time. They now get a shot at CCS div 1-5 titles is that no longer good enough?

 

[colhenrylives]

This thread is discussing CIF titles, not CCS crowns. But you are pretty much correct on the section issue. The CCS Open Division typically includes the top six or seven private/parochials, giving publics in lower divisions a better shot at section championships. It doesn't always work, however. But it's a better CCS setup now. Still, it has yet to translate to a CCS public CIF title.