Nor Cal Girls Rankings week of 1/30/17

[NCG-Ranks]

1. Archbishop Mitty 14-2
2. Carondelet 16-4
3. Bishop O'Dowd 14-3
4. Miramonte 17-2
5. Cardinal Newman 18-3
6. Pinewood 15-2
7. Salesian 15-6
8. Sacred Heart Cathedral 10-6
9. Lincoln-Stockton 16-6
10. Vanden 16-5
11. Eastside College Prep 14-5
12. St. Mary's 14-7
13. Heritage 16-4
14. Sacramento 14-7
15. Campolindo 15-5
16. McClatchy 18-3
17. West Campus 16-3
18. Folsom 19-3
19. Pleasant Valley 12-6
20. Modesto Christian 13-3
21. Palo Alto 14-3
22. James Logan 16-4
23. Santa Clara 19-0
24. Brookside Christian 17-4
25. Elk Grove 17-4

Lincoln-Stockton may have scored the biggest upset in their history with 48-40 win over crosstown archrival, St. Marys. No record of when the last time LS beat SMS, but it was the first defeat by a section foe since 2006 for SMS. St. Mary's gets a much needed break from action this week, enough time to hopefully recover and get prepared for the now very intriguing game vs. West Campus next Tuesday. Mitty solidified their grip on the top spot with convincing wins over #2 Carondelet and Saint Francis in a league matchup. Sacramento rode a hot start for a wire to wire victory over McClatchy. Most reports are claiming the game wasn't as close as the final score indicated, as CKM never really threatened in this one. Pinewood overcame a slow start to beat a limping but gritty Salesian on Saturday in a potential Open showdown. Heritage traveled to St. Mary's and took a 10 point loss in a questionably officiated game in which SMS hardly seemed to foul, well at least to the refs, then headed down south to take on the Clovis West machine and were throttled 75-37.

James Logan lost a tough one to Modesto Christian, who take on Vanden on Saturday and look to improve on whats has been a low key successful season, with them sitting at 17-3. Rising Folsom beat up on Oak Ridge 71-50 with a now healthy team. Undefeated Santa Clara makes their debut in the top 25 this week.

With the confirmation of the Kalahi sisters leaving Menlo-Atherton, they're no longer in the rankings. They have an upcoming schedule that they should win out, however, not sure how far they can advance in the playoffs. That is a huge loss, one which I was hoping was untrue. We'll keep an eye out for them, but I don't really think they are one of the top 25 teams in NorCal at this point.

On the bubble:
California, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Oak Ridge, Saint Francis, Menlo-Atherton, South San Francisco, Lincoln (SF), Los Gatos, St. Ignatius, Valley Christian, American, St. Francis (Sac).

Big games week of 1/30/17:
1/31 Del Oro @ Folsom
1/31 Pinewood @ Eastside College Prep
2/1 Berkeley @ Bishop O'dowd
2/1 Salesian @ Carondelet
2/1 Elk Grove @ St. Francis
2/3 AM @ Sacred Heart Cathedral
2/3 Campolindo @ Miramonte
2/4 Sacred Heart Cathedral @ Salesian
2/4 Vanden @ Modesto Christian
2/4 Saint Mary's (Berkeley) @ Brookside Christian

 

[colhenrylives]

Unfortunately, you are probably correct re M-A. The departed sisters weren't just two of their top three players (Hoyem is still there and terrific in the post), but their presence solidified everyone in their rotation and increased their depth. Now, M-A's chances in NorCal Division I are greatly reduced. CCS has not had a public school girls' team in a NorCal final (let alone a CIF title game) since 1988 when Burlingame captured the CIF Division III crown. All other CCS state title teams have been private/parochials, about 30 of them. And what about unbeaten Santa Clara? It remains to be seen. Playing in the CCS Open Division playoffs would be a sobering experience for them for sure since their schedule so far has not been especially stressful.

 

[Paytc]

NCG-Ranks,

Thanks for continuing to provide such an impartial and unbiased ranking system and review.

 

[SouthBayHoopFan]

Santa Clara is in the SCVAL, which has an upper division (De Anza) and a lower division (El Camino). Santa Clara's girls are in the lower division, so even though they are undefeated, they are not likely to be a factor in the playoffs. They will not be placed in the CCS Open division, and even in the CCS division 2 playoffs they will have trouble with teams like St Francis, Presentation, and Mountain View. And not to be mean, but they are not even close to one of the top 25 teams in NorCal. Valley Christian should be off the bubble and on the list however, probably in the 18 - 20 range. On that note, Valley Christian's game at home tomorrow against SHC will be very competitive.

 

[RespectBBGame]

How does Campo 15 and they lost Brookside. The same with West Campus the first meeting Brookside won by 23 and lost the second by 8. Did you do the math??????

 

[Paytc]

Santa Clara is in the SCVAL, which has an upper division (De Anza) and a lower division (El Camino). Santa Clara's girls are in the lower division, so even though they are undefeated, they are not likely to be a factor in the playoffs. They will not be placed in the CCS Open division, and even in the CCS division 2 playoffs they will have trouble with teams like St Francis, Presentation, and Mountain View. And not to be mean, but they are not even close to one of the top 25 teams in NorCal. Valley Christian should be off the bubble and on the list however, probably in the 18 - 20 range. On that note, Valley Christian's game at home tomorrow against SHC will be very competitive.

Good points ! And Valley Christian should in my opinion also be included in the top 20.

 

[Paytc]

How does Campo 15 and they lost Brookside. The same with West Campus the first meeting Brookside won by 23 and lost the second by 8. Did you do the math??????

That is why ranking systems are not always correct. But we still have to appreciate the time taken to gather each list. I think feedback is needed and should be appreciated and acted upon promptly when things are not known or accidentally over looked. I presented my top10 in the nation. And though I got all ten, and got them in the right order, there was a chance I could have accidentally missed something too. Smile.

 

[jazzpt55]

Anybody know the correct time of the SMB at Brookside Christian game Saturday?

 

[NCG-Ranks]

How does Campo 15 and they lost Brookside. The same with West Campus the first meeting Brookside won by 23 and lost the second by 8. Did you do the math??????

Yes, I did do the math, and more importantly I took the emotion out of it.

At this point in the season with Brookside basically playing with 6 players, they are not the same team that beat Campo early December. West Campus beat Brookside, later on down the line, after injuries. Again, not the same team.

To be 100% real with you, I have no problem with Brookside, they play whomever, whenever, wherever and they play hard as hell! But I don't think Brookside will make it out of the second round of the SJS D1 playoffs this year. I believe they got screwed being forced into a loaded D1 field in SJS. I'm pulling for them, thats for sure, they're fun to watch and they're fearless. I just think the section didn't take into account that they lost a player of the caliber that A. McDonald was. If you watched them last year, they were McDonald leading with Starks and a bunch of hard playing role players. Nothing wrong with that. This year its pretty much Starks, but she isn't McDonald. We can all agree to that. They'll bounce back, but I just don't think this year is their year. On the flip, I like the coach, he's good and has them ready. I hope they prove me wrong. We shall see in about a month, but until then I wholeheartedly stick with my ranking and assessment.

Think about this, since 12/19 Brookside's most significant win is against Berkeley (let that sink in for a sec). Furthermore, the same Christian Brothers team they beat by 34 in early December, they barely squeaked past 76-71 the next time they played them on 12/30. I'm afraid if they played Campo again, they'd probably lose by over 20. Just a down year, it happens, just look no further than SMS for proof to that theory.

In regards to Santa Clara, I mixed up an opponent on their schedule and thought they had a couple of quality wins but was wrong. I don't have much insight into the lesser known schools in the South Bay area. Live and learn.

I dropped VC for them but was going back and forth with it. VC has a tough schedule going forward, so we'll see how it plays out.

 

[ClayK]

Folsom is an interesting case ... their only three losses came with Forbes out, and though they haven't played any top-ranked teams, their schedule is full of solid teams that must be taken seriously. So if you discount M-A because of the loss of the sisters, do you balance that with the fact that Folsom lost without Forbes and thus move them up?

SJS Division I will be very interesting, and I would not be surprised if SMS won. Let's just say SMS beats Folsom by a few points in the finals -- do both teams move to the Open? Or neither, leaving only the D2 champ to move up? But what if Sacramento wins D2 and SMS wins D1, so the top two SJS section champs each have seven losses? Does that mean no one goes Open?

 

[Paytc]

Folsom is an interesting case ... their only three losses came with Forbes out, and though they haven't played any top-ranked teams, their schedule is full of solid teams that must be taken seriously. So if you discount M-A because of the loss of the sisters, do you balance that with the fact that Folsom lost without Forbes and thus move them up?

SJS Division I will be very interesting, and I would not be surprised if SMS won. Let's just say SMS beats Folsom by a few points in the finals -- do both teams move to the Open? Or neither, leaving only the D2 champ to move up? But what if Sacramento wins D2 and SMS wins D1, so the top two SJS section champs each have seven losses? Does that mean no one goes Open?

Yes, I do think you take into account certain players were missing. You can still rank teams based on wins and losses. But just as on my list Tom Brady has an asterisk next to his name to mark a notification that Tom played during the flag football NFL era, where you could only hit a quarterback just above the waist, and no higher than the pecs. And not pick them up and slam them, spear and dog pile on them etc...Of course Brady's challenge is nowhere near that of the challenge Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach and others who played during the tackle football NFL era had to go through. So you make note of these things.

All players believe it or not are not the same. SMS missing Aquira, Murry, and/ or Johnson are not gonna be the same. Just as if you took Clair, and/ or Elle out of the Miramonte lineup they would not be the same. You also take into account certain match ups and certain coaches get the better of others. Those things have to be taken into account if you're a betting wo/man.