Jim Soden Tourney at Terra Nova

[TheHillZ]

Finals: Sacred Heart Cathedral 57 Riordan 55 OT (spirited back and forth down to the wire)
Semis: SHC 60 Priory 47 (wasn't that close. SHC was up 25 and sat its starters in the 4th quarter)
Semis: Riordan 58 Menlo 39 (didn't see this one).
Consolation: Priory 71 Menlo 33 (a rout from the start)

Irish, now 6-0, have weathered the loss of Inez Gallegos well. Their guard play, again, was excellent. Reza Po won tourney MVP. I don’t know anyone in NorCal that I’d rather have shooting free throws late in a game. She must have had eight. Riordan, 7-1, will definitely compete in its first year in WCAL. Its guard tandem of Senior Ashanti Dias and Freshman Tallyah Nasol was nearly the equal of SHC. Will be fun to watch these teams play at least twice more.

Priory thrashed Menlo by forcing and capitalizing on a ton of turnovers.

 

[ClayK]

Riordan's JVs are very good as well, so that program seems solid.

Of course, Mitty's JVs are like an above-average varsity team so don't be surprised if the margin is 20+ when those two meet.

 

[iamgearyblvd]

Finals: Sacred Heart Cathedral 57 Riordan 55 OT (spirited back and forth down to the wire)
Semis: SHC 60 Priory 47 (wasn't that close. SHC was up 25 and sat its starters in the 4th quarter)
Semis: Riordan 58 Menlo 39 (didn't see this one).
Consolation: Priory 71 Menlo 33 (a rout from the start)

Irish, now 6-0, have weathered the loss of Inez Gallegos well. Their guard play, again, was excellent. Reza Po won tourney MVP. I don’t know anyone in NorCal that I’d rather have shooting free throws late in a game. She must have had eight. Riordan, 7-1, will definitely compete in its first year in WCAL. Its guard tandem of Senior Ashanti Dias and Freshman Tallyah Nasol was nearly the equal of SHC. Will be fun to watch these teams play at least twice more.

Priory thrashed Menlo by forcing and capitalizing on a ton of turnovers.

Maddie Eade has elevated her play early this season with a more polished and fluid offensive game compared to last year. For SH to go further she will need to avoid getting into foul trouble as SH doesnt have another big like her.

Yesterdays gave vs Riordan for sure showed Riordan has closed the gap and will be in the mix for 2nd or 3rd in league.

Anymore insight on Gallegos? Was this the same injury that saddled her in the playoffs last year? If so seems like a terrible injury.

 

[TheHillZ]

I don't know that it is an injury. She played this summer with Cal Stars. But she has not been on the bench.

 

[colhenrylives]

It would be refreshing if the late Jim Soden's name had been spelled correctly. How soon we forget.

 

[TheHillZ]

You know I actually thought about that and checked the spelling on MaxPreps. Fixed!

 

[colhenrylives]

You know I actually thought about that and checked the spelling on MaxPreps. Fixed!

Thank you. For those of us who go way back to the Jurassic Era of post-Title 9 CCS girls' hoops, Soden was a legend, a pace-setter, an early visionary, an outspoken advocate for girls' athletics. He brought his Terra Nova teams into the forefront of the CCS picture early on. Those were days and nights when the private/parochials had not yet discovered the benefits of strong female athletic programs. Public schools like TN, Los Gatos, Homestead, Menlo-Atherton, Harbor, Mills, Burlingame and some others regularly took the private/parochials to the woodshed for a spanking. Not always, of course, but often enough to send a strong message. That began to change in the very late 1980s and early 1990s after SI, Sacred Heart (Cathedral) and Menlo School decided to admit girls (Palma and Riordan are the latest to do so, by the way). At about the same time, SHP, Mitty and Pinewood started to get serious too. As did St. Francis. Presentation came along for the ride too, followed by Woodside Priory and Valley Christian. We all know the end result. It hasn't been pretty for the publics beginning at the close of the 1987-88 season (30 CIF crowns for the private/parochials, 1 for the publics). Jim Soden, who had his two daughters play for him at TN, was not thrilled with the stark turnabout. RIP. It's a different world.