By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
Perhaps the most improved boys basketball team in the state continued to streak along as St. Francis (Mountain View) improved to 15-0 with a breakout 88-76 West Catholic Athletic League home win over highly-regarded Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) on Saturday.
The Lancers, who won a state Division II championship under Steve Filios in 1995 and back-to-back NorCal titles starting in 2001, have struggled in the rugged WCAL of late, going a combined 13-43 in league play the last four seasons and 50-62 overall.
After 16 seasons, four WCAL and NorCal titles, Filios resigned after last season and was replaced by longtime assistant Mike Motil.
We heard rumblings that Filios was forced out which would be a crime considering he’s one of the state’s true gems personally. Beside that, the game hadn’t by any means left him, it’s just that the WCAL’s talent base had soared the previous four seasons.
There were Division I talents from top to bottom, highlighted by the remarkable run of Archbishop Mitty, which featured among others Drew Gordon (now at UCLA) and Collin Chiverton (St. Mary’s).
This season, the league isn’t nearly as talented, though as usual, it is more than formidable with Sacred Heart Cathedral (12-3, 4-1) leading the charge. The Irish have largely underachieved since reaching the state Div. IV finals, led by then freshmen Jerry Brown and Kevin Greene.
But in Saturday’s first-place showdown, Kyle Hypes, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, came off the bench to score 24 points helping the Lancers to offset a 25-point outburst by Fresno State-bound Brown.
According to this San Francisco Chronicle report by David Saunders, St. Francis fell behind just once over the last three quarters thanks also to 21 points from Shawn Grant, a 6-4 senior and the team’s leading scorer on the year.
Motil obviously deserves a lot of credit for turning around the Lancers. He’s likely already a finalist for state Coach of the Year.
But just as obvious, Filios didn’t leave the program bare. According to longtime standout Peninsula scribe and Palo Alto Daily News staff writer John Reid, the St. Francis freshmen and junior varsity programs have lost a combined one game.
“They should be really good the next two years,” he said.
St. Francis is No. 20 in California according to the MaxPreps/National Guard computer rankings.
WESTCHESTER, BACKCOURT PREVAILS: Old-school thinking is that you need a big man to win championships. It certainly doesn’t hurt, but Westchester proved the new guard is in order with a 78-73 win at Fairfax in a much-anticipated Los Angeles City Section between nationally-ranked squads.
The guard trio Dominique O’Connor, Jordin Mayes and Denzel Douglas combined for 51 points for the Comets (17-0, 4-0 Western League) who couldn’t really stop Shaq-like Renardo Sidney (34 points, nine rebounds).
No matter. According to this report by Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times, the Comets simply controlled tempo behind its backcourt. It’s nice too that Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani has a frontcourt specimen like USC-bound Dwayne Polee, who had 11 points and four blocks.
Sondheimer said the Fairfax gym was packed by 5:30 p.m. and featured such VIPs as USC coach Tim Floyd, former NBA standout Chris Mills (a Fairfax graduate) and UCLA assistant Donny Daniels.
Westchester came in No. 5 in the MaxPreps/National Guard computer rankings and No. 17 in Dave Krider’s Xcellent 25. Fairfax was No. 25 and 11, respectively. See preview.
SAN DIEGO STANDSTILL: Another hearing to resolve eligibility issues for three San Diego High boys basketball players hit a standstill and Cavers coach Kenny Roy is becoming increasingly incensed.
When we saw Roy at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic, he seemed confident that the three players — Terrence Boyd, LaBradford Franklin and Zechariah Smith — would be cleared of any transfer issues by next week’s nationally-televised game against Fairfax.
But after a six-hour closed-to-the-public CIF state appeals meeting, Roy isn’t so sure.
Boyd, one of the nation’s top 50 seniors according to most recruiting services, and the 7-foot Smith moved from Oklahoma. Franklin, a junior guard, moved from Temecula.
“All were above-the-board and clear cut,” Roy told late last month. “It should be a slam dunk. The kids moved and they have legitimate addresses.”
Undue influence and pre-enrollment contact, tricky issues, seem to be at the crux of this debate.
Already blessed with arguably the nation’s top junior in Jeremy Tyler, an extremely athletic 6-10 post, the Cavers (7-4) have the talent to make a state title run if the transfers go through.
“This is the biggest witch hunt I’ve ever seen,” Roy told the San Diego Union-Tribune last week.
MLK SHOWDOWN: Another national boys basketball showdown highlights the 12th Annual Martin Luther King Classic at Haas Pavilion on the campus of Cal today.
Defending state Div. I champion McClymonds (Oakland), riding a 49-game win streak, takes on De La Salle (Concord) in a 7:30 p.m. showdown in a rematch of 2007 and 2008 NorCal playoff games, both won by the Warriors.
McClymonds (17-0) is led by Montana-bound guard Will Cherry and one of the state’s most dynamic players, 6-6 Damon Powell.
De La Salle (13-1), riding a nine-game win streak, is No. 20 Dave Krider’s Xcellent 25 national rankings. The Spartans are led by 6-foot Cal-bound point guard Brandon Smith and coach Frank Allocco, whose teams always play outstanding defense.
This may be his best defensive squad. The Spartans have allowed a scant 32.8 points per game, including less than 30 six of their last eight games. The most impressive was a 41-20 strangling of two-time defending state champion Campbell Hall (North Hollywood) in the finals of the Merv Lopes Holiday Classic in Hawaii.
Their only loss, however, was 54-50 to another Oakland Athletic League squad Oakland Tech exactly one month ago. McClymonds schooled the same Tech team 74-40 on Friday.
The Warriors haven’t missed a beat under new coach but longtime assistant Brandon Brooks, who took over for Dwight Nathaniel who resigned after last year’s remarkable state run.
Other than a nine-point win to open the season against San Leandro, no one has come within 15 points of McClymonds, which defeated De La Salle 44-42 and 50-37 last season.
MORE MLK ACTION: The McClymonds-De La Salle match-up isn’t the only intriguing matchup. At 5:45 p.m., undefeated Monte Vista (Danville) takes on defending Div. IV NorCal champion St. Mary’s (Berkeley).
Monte Vista (15-0), ranked 12th in the state, is led by one of Northern California’s most consistent but unheralded stars, 6-1 guard Brian Barbour, who makes every one on his team better, including sharpshooter Taylor Brewster and Stanford-bound football player Zach Ertz.
St. Mary’s (15-2), No. 47 in the state, is led by four sure-fire college players, Santa Barbara-bound Chris Brew, San Jose State-bound Aalim Moore and twins Demetrius and Dominique Lee, both juniors.
Monte Vista beat St. Mary’s 67-56 on Dec. 29 in the Marin Catholic Tournament.
GOLD NUGGETS: One of the biggest girls basketball tournaments today is at Marin Catholic (Kentfield), a seven-game affair highlighted by defending national champion Sacred Heart Cathedral (12-1), No. 8 in the state, taking on Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland (14-1), ranked 12th in the state. … In an interesting boys basketball match-up of big against small, Rocklin (18-2), ranked 11th in the state, upended San Francisco power Mission 83-65. See Sacramento Bee story. … At the Hoops Classic 2009, a girls basketball one-day event at Sacramento State, Central Section power Hanford (14-3) pulled out a 70-68 victory over Sac-Joaquin Section power Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills (15-3), which got a mammoth 38-point effort from 5-10 guard Sara James. Hanford just had too many weapons. … Martin Luther King’s memorial extends athletically further than the basketball court. In Fresno, there is the Run for a Dream Track and Field event featuring four prep teams in a unique showcase. See Fresno Bee story.
California Confidential runs weekly at MaxPreps.com. E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
