Never underestimate a rivalry game. St. Ignatius has been ranked No. 2 in NorCal throughout the year.
Sacred Heart Cathedral 60 St. Ignatius 50
- Thread starter Streak One
- Start date
Sacred Heart Cathedral is maybe the toughest team to rank in NorCal. Under .500, but played a tough schedule and have played just about everyone close. Have wins over Brookside, SI, BOD (also lost to Dragons).
Clay,
I do agree with you. I have Sacred Heart ranked high in spite their win/loss record. Many things have to be considered when ranking teams. I would just move Miramonte up from three to the number two slot. And move SI from number 2 to number 3.
So the power four would look like this .
1. St. Mary's (Stockton)
2.Miramonte
3.St. Ignatius
4.Pinewood
Because remember any good team can upset another good team.
I do agree with you. I have Sacred Heart ranked high in spite their win/loss record. Many things have to be considered when ranking teams. I would just move Miramonte up from three to the number two slot. And move SI from number 2 to number 3.
So the power four would look like this .
1. St. Mary's (Stockton)
2.Miramonte
3.St. Ignatius
4.Pinewood
Because remember any good team can upset another good team.
So how will the rankings go this week with SMB and SI losing. SHC had a significant win over SI by 10 points but lost to St. France and O'Dowd this week. It looks like SI has problem when teams that love to push the tempo of the game up. SMS and SHC love to run and press full court. Salesian is the same type of team love to push the tempo and press which they did in the end of the 3rd and made a run and never looking back. It seems this year that teams the love the slow tempo having problems with the teams that love to run and more athletic.
1) SMS
2) MM
3) Carondelet
4) SI
5) Pinewood
6) Mitty
7) Vanden
8) Brookside
9) Salesian
10) Eastside Prep
11) Dublin
12) SMB
13) Berkeley
14) Oak Ridge
15) James Logan
16) Modesto Christian
17) Antelope
18) Sac
19) BOD
20) SHC
These is my opinion how is see it !!! Its only opinion
1) SMS
2) MM
3) Carondelet
4) SI
5) Pinewood
6) Mitty
7) Vanden
8) Brookside
9) Salesian
10) Eastside Prep
11) Dublin
12) SMB
13) Berkeley
14) Oak Ridge
15) James Logan
16) Modesto Christian
17) Antelope
18) Sac
19) BOD
20) SHC
These is my opinion how is see it !!! Its only opinion
This pattern has played out almost every year in the WCAL, except for the years when SHC was "untouchable". The top three or four teams beat each other up, while the other good NorCal teams sleep through their league schedule. It usually has a slightly negative impact on the teams' rankings, and a vastly positive impact on their playoff readiness. Good trade off I'd say. Just to stir the pot, here's what I think the final WCAL standings will be:
Mitty (11 - 1) - They lost by 2 at SI, but will run the table with the deciding game being at Mitty Feb 20 (mark your calendar)
Saint Ignatius (10 - 2) - Winner-take-all game at Mitty in last league game. SI players intimidated by the banners.
Sacred Heart Cathedral (7 - 5) - Good win over SI, but will lose at SI. Will also lose twice to Mitty and at Valley Christian.
Valley Christian (7 - 5) - Good team, would be the champion in half of the leagues in NorCal.
Saint Francis (5 - 7) - No disrespect intended, but Coach Harrigan misses Oscar.
Presentation (1 - 11) - Great coach, but most elite players don't want to attend an all-girls school.
Notre Dame Belmont (1 - 11) - Another great coach, but most elite players... oh you know the rest.
P.S. There are no WCAL playoffs this year. Along with countless others, I will miss the WCAL championships at Foothill College. That was always the highlight of the basketball season for the WCAL teams that made it there. The atmosphere was significantly more energetic than any NorCal or State Championship game at Arco. In Aaron Gordon's senior year, there were hundreds of people lined up to get in when they reached (exceeded?) maximum capacity. Archbishop Mitty won both games that night. Alas, maybe we can petition the WCAL to bring it back in the future?
Prediction - Pinewood will avoid NorCal Open by losing to SI and SHC in the CCS Open tournament. That will allow them to win their 123rd Div 5 state championship. Doc Sheppler will resign, to take the head coaching position at USF. Wade Nakamura will be named the new girls head coach at Pinewood, and the train will keep on rolling. (I'm just having some fun here, and don't mean to imply that I know anything, or that any coaches are unhappy in their current situation.)
Mitty (11 - 1) - They lost by 2 at SI, but will run the table with the deciding game being at Mitty Feb 20 (mark your calendar)
Saint Ignatius (10 - 2) - Winner-take-all game at Mitty in last league game. SI players intimidated by the banners.
Sacred Heart Cathedral (7 - 5) - Good win over SI, but will lose at SI. Will also lose twice to Mitty and at Valley Christian.
Valley Christian (7 - 5) - Good team, would be the champion in half of the leagues in NorCal.
Saint Francis (5 - 7) - No disrespect intended, but Coach Harrigan misses Oscar.
Presentation (1 - 11) - Great coach, but most elite players don't want to attend an all-girls school.
Notre Dame Belmont (1 - 11) - Another great coach, but most elite players... oh you know the rest.
P.S. There are no WCAL playoffs this year. Along with countless others, I will miss the WCAL championships at Foothill College. That was always the highlight of the basketball season for the WCAL teams that made it there. The atmosphere was significantly more energetic than any NorCal or State Championship game at Arco. In Aaron Gordon's senior year, there were hundreds of people lined up to get in when they reached (exceeded?) maximum capacity. Archbishop Mitty won both games that night. Alas, maybe we can petition the WCAL to bring it back in the future?
Prediction - Pinewood will avoid NorCal Open by losing to SI and SHC in the CCS Open tournament. That will allow them to win their 123rd Div 5 state championship. Doc Sheppler will resign, to take the head coaching position at USF. Wade Nakamura will be named the new girls head coach at Pinewood, and the train will keep on rolling. (I'm just having some fun here, and don't mean to imply that I know anything, or that any coaches are unhappy in their current situation.)
I don't know about your rankings, but surely SHC has to be higher than 20...I would put them from 12-16, they had a brutal schedule and lost to all the good teams by like 15 points combined. Next year, the SHC will even be better, they have 9 freshman on the SHC JV team.
I would put SHC in the 7 - 10 range in the NorCal rankings.
But that's just me -- I give more credit for playing a tough schedule than for getting several easy wins. Props to LyRyan for setting up a first class schedule. That's how you build a top notch program. Watch this team, they are primed to be very good. Maybe not until next year, but be afraid if you have to meet them in the playoffs this year.
But that's just me -- I give more credit for playing a tough schedule than for getting several easy wins. Props to LyRyan for setting up a first class schedule. That's how you build a top notch program. Watch this team, they are primed to be very good. Maybe not until next year, but be afraid if you have to meet them in the playoffs this year.
SI beats BOD by 14. SHC beats BOD by 15. BOD beats SHC by 16. SHC beats SI by 10.
"Clearly the better team" is a tough statement to make based on a single game.
"Clearly the better team" is a tough statement to make based on a single game.
I would agree with personalogic. Plus it is not as if the SI ranking was a Pre- season ranking and SHC was one of the first games. SI earned their ranking on the court and either had a bad night or ran into a match up problem in a battle tested SHC team.
It probably was a match-up problem because it was not a sloppy or carelessly played game. Irish just pulled ahead and maintained their lead.
SI will be fine but they historically have match up problems with SHCs faster teams. They are just too slow to maintain a full game effort against SHC. Losing one of their point guards to injury hurt them in depth department. SI has lost twice to teams with up-tempo attacks. Once Sectionals/NorCal begins SI will have no problem against teams from inferior leagues and that dont have the luxury of scouting and playing them regularly. Do they go Open and face Mitty/SMS or stay D3 and play SHC?
Under any case, this is SI's last chance to get that coveted NorCal title with this formidable class of seniors.
This post was edited on 1/16 11:18 AM by CityVibesII
Under any case, this is SI's last chance to get that coveted NorCal title with this formidable class of seniors.
This post was edited on 1/16 11:18 AM by CityVibesII
SI is D2 this year.
P.S. Mitty and SI will both be in the NorCal Open this year. Pinewood could be also, but I think they'll struggle in CCS Open and remain D5.
This post was edited on 1/16 12:29 PM by SouthBayHoopFan
P.S. Mitty and SI will both be in the NorCal Open this year. Pinewood could be also, but I think they'll struggle in CCS Open and remain D5.
This post was edited on 1/16 12:29 PM by SouthBayHoopFan
On my opinion, Pinewood will beat Mitty 10 plus points on any given day this season, if they ever play
I would agree if we were talking about the preseason. But because of Pinewood's easy league schedule, they're just not as prepared for postseason, especially the CCS Open playoffs where they have to play WCAL teams. From the little bit I've seen of them so far this year, I could believe this is Pinewood's best team in several years. Likewise this year's Mitty team doesn't look to be as good as the teams a few years back. Mitty does seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses, and after a two-year experiment of trying to win with a "dominant" player, they're back to playing team ball again. Don't worry though, the silver lining for Pinewood is that they'll be able to cruise to another D5 state championship, instead of getting crushed in the NorCal Open like the other CCS teams that have the misfortune to make NorCal Open.
If Southern Cal with the quantity and quality of basketball programs they have will only put 6 schools into their Open bracket, then the North would be justified in only putting in 4. Time to quite letting the Norths top programs knock each other out while the South sends a lot of theirs into the other brackets.
Will talk, I agree with your suggestion. How do we get the powers that be to stop damaging the chances of NorCal teams in the state championships?
Couple examples:
As the MaxPreps rankings are right now, and if the NCS continues to send 4 representatives, it's conceivable that the NCS could send both Salesian and SMB to the open? These teams are ranked 3 and 4 in the state for D4. Either of those teams would give us a fighting chance at a state title. There is a significant drop off for NorCal representation after those two teams, and the field is predominantly SoCal centric
Also if NorCal sends the top 8 to open, it's possible that both the number 1 and 2 D2 schools, both from NorCal, could go to open as we'll, Carondelet and Mitty. Again, a huge drop off in talent after those two D2 schools for NorCal.
Let's follow SoCal lead and thoughtfully consider how many and which teams are placed in the open.
Couple examples:
As the MaxPreps rankings are right now, and if the NCS continues to send 4 representatives, it's conceivable that the NCS could send both Salesian and SMB to the open? These teams are ranked 3 and 4 in the state for D4. Either of those teams would give us a fighting chance at a state title. There is a significant drop off for NorCal representation after those two teams, and the field is predominantly SoCal centric
Also if NorCal sends the top 8 to open, it's possible that both the number 1 and 2 D2 schools, both from NorCal, could go to open as we'll, Carondelet and Mitty. Again, a huge drop off in talent after those two D2 schools for NorCal.
Let's follow SoCal lead and thoughtfully consider how many and which teams are placed in the open.
Last year, Northern California entered six teams in the boys' Open and Southern California entered eight, so the conspiracy theory doesn't quite wash.
I'm hopeful that both groups have realized they need to enter eight in each, but you never know.
I'm hopeful that both groups have realized they need to enter eight in each, but you never know.
