Teams of the Year: Mitty volleyball and Yates boys basketball

It's quite probable – almost certain, in fact – members from Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) girls volleybal team have never met players from Yates (Houston, Texas) boys basketball squad.

Yet the 30 combined boys and girls from the nation's two most populated states share loads in common. Such as:

- Both finished respective seasons undefeated.

- Both won state titles going away.

- Both were rarely challenged – Yates winning 34 straight games by an average margin of 50 points per game, while Mitty won 34 of its 39 matches via sweep for a total game count of 87-8.

- Both were voted unanimous national mythical champions by all media outlets, including both the MaxPreps Xcellent and Freeman rankings.

Add it all up and the two squads were obvious choices for MaxPreps.com's top boys and girls teams in any sport for the 2009-10 season.

Yates set big goals prior to the season and treated every opponent like an extremely unwelcome threat to their dream. Head coach Greg Wise took fire as lopsided scores piled up and his team attacked for 32 minutes every night out.

“We feel like we are the best team in the country,” Wise told MaxPreps last November. “That is our mindset. We want to go out every night and not only beat teams, but teams decisively.”

The philosophy resulted in a win streak that now spans 58 games, back-to-back state championships and a signature number for the NFHS Record Book – 116.2 points per game, a new national record.

It also produced late-game surges against Pennsylvania state champion Neumann-Goretti and Lancaster in the Texas 4A title game that seemed to validate Wise’s decision to never take the foot off the gas.

“That was our mindset from the first day of practice,” Wise told MaxPreps basketball editor Jason Hickman after the season. “We wanted to prove we were the best team in the country. We were fortunate enough to participate in two national tournaments in Hawaii and Alabama. That provided us the opportunity to showcase our team on the national stage.”

The Lions beat Neumann-Goretti in the finals of the Iolani Classic in Hawaii, 97-96. Yates trailed by double-digits late in the fourth quarter, but roared back against the team ranked No. 4 in today's final Xcellent 25.

The next week, Yates crushed defending Alabama 5A state champion Butler of Huntsville in the nationally-televised final of the T-Mobile Invitational in Birmingham. Senior guard Joseph Young poured in 29 points in the first half and wound up with 43 en route to tournament MVP honors.

Young, a 6-foot-2 sharpshooter headed to Providence, averaged a team-best 25.6 points per game with Western Kentucky-bound senior guard Brandon Peters close behind at 25.5. Both were Texas Association of Basketball Coaches 4A All-State selections. Five other players were regular double-digit scorers as the pressing defense and quick-shot offense resulted in point totals of 170, 163 and 154 among 14 games of 120 points or more.

Much print was devoted to victory margins that routinely reached 50 and 60 points, and peaked with a controversial, 135-point beating of Houston Lee on Jan. 5.

“The system that we have, you have to play hard,” Wise said. “No one else in the country is doing what we are doing for 32 minutes. We play hard from the beginning to the end.”

The arguments about sportsmanship and running-it-up can be saved for another day. This team is held up as something very positive at a school where students eligible for free lunch have been reported as high as 70 and 80 percent in recent years.

“Being a Yates Lion, it’s special,” Young said. “All the hard work we did from the beginning of the season, all the way back to the beginning of our 11th grade year … we wanted to be the best team in the country.”

“You wouldn’t believe all the support that we’ve been given,” Wise said. “It’s been unreal at times.”

Yates' final game was played in front of a state-tournament record 16,755 fans at the Erwin Center in Austin. The Lions provided a fitting end to a history-making season, rattling off a 21-1 run in the final three minutes against Lancaster to take a 92-73 victory.

Mitty's girls ended in similar dominating fashion with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 sweep over a very good Redlands East Valley (Redlands, Calif.) team at the Bren Center on the campus of UC Irvine.

Mitty coach Bret Almazan-Cezar had a much different focus than Wise. It had nothing to do with a national prize, but winning another state title.

"The national rankings are nice and it’s fun to follow, but it’s not what we play for,” Almazan-Cezar told MaxPreps senior writer Kevin Askeland. "Our goal is to hang banners. We have to keep our eyes on the prize, and the prize is that trophy right there."

The state championship was the second in a row for the Monarchs, who finished the year 39-0, and the eighth overall in the program’s history. The eight titles ties Mitty with St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) for the most state volleyball championships in CIF history. The Monarchs are 8-4 overall in the state finals and have appeared in the last seven Division III championship matches.

"We planned on being here, and the girls overcame a lot of obstacles to get to this point," Almazan-Cezar said. "We had some injuries and we played a really tough schedule, but it was pretty much smooth sailing. When you plan a dream and you can get a group of girls to commit to the same values, good things can happen."

It helps to have a ton a talent.

Four girls made the MaxPreps All-State Division II team, including the MaxPreps National Player of the Year Rachel Williams. The high-flying Stanford-bound star had 19 kills in the title match and 387 for the season.

Other All-State performers were outside hitter Kristina Graven (373 kills, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo-bound), libero Ryan Shaffer (650 digs, 51 aces) and setter Joan Caloiaro (971 assists).

Countless other championship squads deserve mention, but here are some of the other finalists for the top team award.

Boys

Desert Ridge (Mesa, Ariz.) baseball: Earned the No. 1 spot nationally in the Freeman rankings after going 30-4 and taking the Arizona 5A-1 championship.

Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) football: The unanimous national football champions went 12-0 and outscored opponents 553-131.

Garden Grove (Calif.) football: Overcame the death of teammate Kevin Telles in Week 1 but won 13 straight games before losing in the CIF Section finals.

Pace (Fla.) baseball: Won the Florida 5A state championship, finished 29-2 and placed second in both the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 and Freeman rankings.

Sumrall (Sumrall, Miss.) baseball: Though it had a 67-game win streak snapped, the Bobcats finished 35-1 and No. 1 for the second straight year in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25.

Shelby Valley (Pikeville, Ky.) basketball: With an enrollment of 589 students, the team shocked Louisville Ballard, 73-61, to capture the state title before a crowd of 15,048 at the University of Kentucky’s Rupp Arena. Senior point guard Elisha Justice earned MVP honors. 

Summit (N.J.) lacrosse: Won its second straight Tournament of Champions crown while increasing its current national-best win streak to 45 games.

Girls



Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) basketball: Went undefeated (28-0) for the second straight year and has now won a state record 58 straight games.

Cape Henlopen (Lewes, Del.) lacrosse: Became the state's first public school girls lacrosse team to win a state championship.

Coal City (Coal City, Ill.) softball: Completed the state's first unbeaten and untied record in 25 years by going 40-0 and winning a state 2A title.

Dunnellon (Dunnellon, Fla.) softball: Claimed its second straight Florida 4A state title and was national champions according to at least two publications.

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) basketball: Despite missing three starters, the Monarchs were the MaxPreps national champion according to the Freeman rankings.

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) softball: Ten days before the season, the Monarchs were rocked by the death of preseason All-American sophomore pitcher Bri Matthews. Mater Dei somehow persevered and finished 24-3.



Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.) softball: Not only finished 58-8-1, but broke the national record by whacking 60 home runs.

St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) basketball: The Rams (34-1) won their second straight state Division III championship and its first mythical national championship, ranking No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25.

Senior writers Jason Hickman and Kevin Askeland contributed to this report.