Crackback: Who's best in California basketball?

Martin Henderson was born in Northern California but built a highly successful journalistic life in  Southern California.

Me, I was born in Hollywood, Calif., but have made my professional bed in Northern California.

With such resounding credentials, the tags of Mr. South (Henderson) and Mr. North (yours truly) have been born.

Besides, we needed something "fresh" and fun to break down this weekend's CIF State Basketball Championships at Bobobank Arena in Bakersfield. 

Mr. South and North will be on hand all weekend to offer their "fresh" takes, game stories and statistics. Look for live updates throughout.

Here's our light-hearted analysis heading into the 10 games that after being flushed out really do figure to be highly contested.

Unlike our banter.  

Division I boys

Newark Memorial (30-3) vs. Westchester (Los Angeles) (31-3), 8 p.m. Saturday

Mr. North: Just so you know, Newark, as in Memorial, ain't located in New Jersey. Though the Cougars play like it. Tough, resilient, fearless. I know they'll need all those attributes and more - about four inches more at every position - against the biggest and baddest from Los Angeles - the defending champion Comets. Without a dude taller than 6-4, I know no one is giving the Cougars a prayer. But no one gave them a shot against SoCal heavyweights Taft and Price either and both went down to the vice grip that is Newark's defense, 48-41 and 43-42.

 
Mr. South: Westchester is going to feel like they've landed in Oz. We're talking Munchkins. The Comets only have three players shorter than 6-4, and one of those is Arizona-bound Jordin Mayes (6-2). They play without conscience, they've got size (Reggie Murphy, 6-9) and talent (Dwayne Polee Jr., City Section POY), and I'm betting they're just as scrappy as as the Jersey boys. They are, after all, from Westchester.
 
Mr. North: They might wish they were in Kansas by the third quarter when the score is 22-18, shots aren't falling and the Comcast television crews are giving the twirling index finger for "speed it up." The Comets will feel grounded in wet cement and all that talent and all the poise will relent to 6-4 Khion Sankey and Kendall Andrews, a pair of putback machines, and hardwood hardboys Isaiah Clark, Jisuan Randle and Casey Norris.  
 
Mr. South: Shots aren't falling? Since when do dunks not fall? Polee is a real deal highlight reel.

Boys Division II
 
St. Francis (Mountain View) (30-3) vs. Lincoln (San Diego) (28-2), 8 p.m. Friday

Mr. North: Ever traveled around Southern Florida in the summer or fall? Hot, warm, tropical conditions. Calm and peaceful even. Then boom, all of a sudden, the winds blow, lightning strikes, torrential rain pours. That's what it's like playing St. Francis. Coach Mike Motil brings in players by the bushels and one minute you're sitting pretty and comfortable and the next, the Lancers have dropped four 3s on you and Fresno State-bound Tyler Johnson has sent down a pair of flushes after fearless dribble drives.
 
Mr. South: Speaking of unexpected rainstorms, ask Compton Centennial what it's like to have Lincoln rain on your parade. One minute Cinderella is up by six points, and then they're drowning under Lincoln's 75 percent shooting percentage in the third quarter and suddenly it's a washout. Lincoln upset San Diego Section favorite Hoover, and they have a winning streak of 29 games. San Diego may not be a basketball town, but it will figure out a way to celebrate a rare state victory.
 
Mr. North: Well, there's a ringing endorsement. If it indeed does come down to figuring and tricking, then it's hard to go against Motil, who stepped into a program that was 50-62 the previous four years with one winning season and has gone 60-6 since. Using unorthodox methods, little size or vertical abilities, the Lancers simply know how to share the ball, score in droves, make stops when they need to and win. No better case than last week when Patrick Crowley, a 6-5 post, grabbed a rebound and swished a five-footer at the buzzer over a 6-10 kid to win the regional title, 48-47 over Woodcreek.
 
Mr. South: St. Francis needed a buzzer-beater. That's not an endorsement, that's a pick 'em. Junior forward Normal Powell & Co. averaged 72 points a game for Lincoln. St. Francis scored that many points only six times.

Division III boys

Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) (30-3) vs. Serra (Gardena) (33-2), 3:30 p.m. Saturday

Mr. North: From the first quarter I watched Bishop O'Dowd this season at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic, my gut said the Dragons are the best team in Northern California. And they were definitely a work in progress. So young and raw, but also well-schooled and disciplined, it was just a matter of time before O'Dowd put all the pieces together. With probably the best sophomore tandem forwards in the state - perhaps the country - in 6-8 Brandon Ashley and 6-6 Richard Longrus, to go along with 6-5 muscle man Jordan Barton in the middle, all the Dragons have needed was adequate guard play to get them through. Now, with a fantastic four-guard rotation, O'Dowd appears to be peaking just at the right time. The Dragons have the state's longest win streak at 25 game.  

 
Mr. South: Interesting that you should describe O'Dowd as well-schooled, because they're going to be well-schooled by Serra. It's one thing to have talented players, which Serra does in Keith Shamburger, Vaughn Autry and Marqis Lee, but this is a team that is driven by two things: Serra has a chance to become the first school to win a Bowl championship in football and a state championship in basketball in the same year, and the memory of Stephen Autry, the father of Vaughn, an avid supporter who died on the eve of Serra being named the top-seeded team in the Southern Section playoffs. In the regional finals, they broke out black uniforms for the first time. Mr. Autry always wore black. A lot of teams claim they're driven. This one is.
 
Mr. North: I believe they are too, and it's almost impossible not to root for Vaughn and his family. Knowing the O'Dowd family like I do, they too will say sincere prayers for Autry and the Serra community. But once that ball goes up, I'm fairly certain, all teens will be on equal footing. This will be the best game of the two days and remarkably, the most maligned group - O'Dowd's guards - will step up and be the difference. J.T. Thomas and Anders Haas will hit key 3s and their dynamic backups, Nick Capiti and Terrence King will deflect Serra's gallant attempt to take home back-to-back state school crowns.
 
Mr. South: Serra has four football players on its roster who bring a special kind of intensity to the program, which has been tested and succeeded at almost every turn. This last turn may be difficult, but it's not worse than what the Cavaliers have already been through.

Division IV boys

St. Mary's (Berkeley) (26-9) vs. Price (Los Angeles) (32-3), 3:30 p.m. Friday

Mr. North: I get the feeling St. Mary's-Berkeley boys coach Manny Nodar was tapping his toes all season, just waiting and waiting and waiting for his Panthers to emerge. They have nine losses for turnovers' sake. They went 8-4 and finished fourth in their own league. And now they're in the state title game? Patience boys, patience, is likely what Nodar - no stranger to this level - preached to his team. St. Mary's has been stupendous on defense all year, it gives up 46.1 per game, but they've finally figured out a way to get the ball in the rim behind the Lee twins, Utah-bound Dominique and Demetrius, a pair of 6-4 leapers, and guards Justin Pollard and Glenn Baral.

Mr. South: Berkeley, meet your future. Richard Solomon, a 6-foot-9 forward, is going to California. Allen Crabbe, a 6-6 guard, is going to California. With two Golden Bears in its starting lineup, and a Montana State Bobcat at point guard, Casey Trujeque, how can Price lose? Crabbe was recently named Gatorade State player of the year. What kind of further analysis does this game need: Price isn't college preparatory, it's college ready.

Mr. North: Well, that's what the defending state champs Salesian Pride thought not just once, but twice, and those prep kids beat them for the North Coast and Northern California championships, 52-49 and 54-50. The Panthers are on a roll and besides that, it's the year of St. Mary's. Three of the 10 teams share her name and there's that men's college team - also in Northern California - that has shocked everyone to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Mr. South: It might be the year of St. Mary's, but Price has been right the last decade: This is the Knights'  sixth finals appearance since 2001, and it has lost only once. With championships in 2001, '02, '03, '05, this will be the fifth title in 10 years. That's not half bad.

Division V boys

Branson (Ross) (25-6) vs. Lutheran (La Verne) (26-8), 11:30 a.m. Saturday

Mr. North: Hey, lookie who's back in this little big dance? That's right, the boys from Ross. That doesn't bode well for you Southerners. After a year off, Branson is making its fifth title-game appearance in six years and with its best player fully healthy - 6-3 Tyler Gaffaney - the Bulls look ready to bring home a title they won three straight seasons. As usual, they won't blow you over with athleticism. Second-year coach Bob Donlan, who has done a remarkable job taking over for legendary coach Jonas Honick, has Branson doing what they always do - lock teams down defensively and win.

 
Mr. South: Facing Branson, I'm guessing Lutheran will invoke the spirit of Buck Owens -- or perhaps Buck Owens AND Roy Clark (whose spirit is still with us, fortunately) -- to take down the division favorites. Grant Jerrett is a 6-8 sophomore averaging 18.8 points who's gonna be a big star. This squad has done well against some very good opponents, and it has only one senior, so you know what that means: They're too young to know they're supposed to lose. Don't be surprised if they're pickin' and grinnin' when this thing is over. Well, at least grinnin.'
 
Mr. North: Well that's a big Hee-Haw. Oh, I'm being flip. Looking at Lutheran's lineup and body of work, the Trojans appear more than capable this year - and years to come. But Branson has a history of turning away more talented and bigger teams. This Bulls squad has many outstanding moving parts, led by Gaffaney, who leads the team in about all categories. With 6-6 Adam Boone (10.7 ppg) and 6-5 Marco Viti, Branson can pound it down low, but, as always, 3-point shooting is a specialty. Add it all up, and I'm afraid the Trojans will be under Branson's spell again.  (For all you non-country fans, that's a Buck Owens callback and ode to one of his greatest hits).

Mr. South: Branson's past means nothing to Lutheran, which swept away defending champion Windward twice in the playoffs. The Trojans will return home some happy Buckaroos.

Division I girls

Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) (31-3) vs. Poly (Long Beach) (31-2), 6 p.m. Saturday

Mr. South: Long Beach Poly is trying to become the first team to win five consecutive girls' basketball titles. Sorry, did I say trying? They will become the first team to win five straight state championships. The Jackrabbits have a Division I college stopper in Brittany Wilson (Colorado), they're quicker overall and they have wave after wave of athletic talent coming off the bench. Oak Ridge plays something like six girls. No way six girls can keep up with Poly for 32 minutes.

Mr. North: That's what everyone was saying last week against a 28-3 Berkeley squad that the Oak Ridge Girls defeated going away, 52-42. The Trojans also have another significant notch in their belt, a 66-64 win over Brea Olinda, a team that defeated Long Beach Poly 48-46. Now we're not suggesting that makes this small, but mighty group from El Dorado Hills the favorite against the queens of California basketball. But it could happen. Especially when you have a 5-10 Stanford-bound guard like Sara James, who fills up a stat sheet like Californians fill up their gas tanks.

Mr. South: Brea who? Brea didn't have an inside presence (Jeanier Olukemi missed the game) in that early season contest that Oak Ridge won, 66-64. Poly has an inside presence. And, by the seven three-point baskets (in 15 attempts) in last week's victory over Clovis West, Poly has an outside presence too.

Mr. North: Oak Ridge has its own inside presence, 6-foot Caitlin Welsch, who had 19 points last week in the regional finals, and outside threats galore led by point guard Carly Bettencourt.  And James - she'll be outside, inside and every where in between.

Division II girls

Carondelet (Concord) (27-5) vs. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) (31-1), 6 p.m. Friday

Mr. South: Last week was the coup in which Mater Dei won the real state championship game against defending champ Brea Olinda. This week is simply the coronation. Mater Dei has two of the best age group players in the nation in junior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (Connecticut) and sophomore point guard Jordan Adams. There's a reason Geno Auriemma comes to Mater Dei's games: It has all the talent.

Mr. North: So in other words, the Cougars of Carondelet have the Monarchs just where they want them. That's music to coach Margaret Gartner's ears, in fact. It's also what a couple of Mater Dei boys' teams thought heading North a couple years back and both went home empty-handed. Carondelet is more than capable. They have two fantastic and active block players, Erica Payne and Erin Boettscher, who combined for 22 points, 26 rebounds and eight blocks last week, and a premier athletic sophomore point guard, Hannah Huffman. So Mater Dei doesn't quite have ALL the talent.

Mr. South: OK, Mater Dei doesn't have ALL the talent, but only because there are so many colleges out there trying to catch up to UConn. Mater Dei is so dangerous because they don't have just two players to focus on. Jessica Duarte is SoCal's most valuable player. She scored 16 against Brea, had 21 in the regional quarterfinals against Villa Park, and 29 in the semifinals against Hanford -- which gave Carondelet all it could handle. And she's mostly an afterthought.

Mr. North: Carondelet's MVP, Ricki Radanovich, will be sitting on the bench. The Santa Clara-bound bull's-eye 3-point shooter broke her arm three weeks ago. Now, the Cougars are playing more passionately than ever to win for their emotional leader.

Division III girls

St. Mary's (Stockton) (32-1) vs. Bishop Amat (La Puente) (27-7), 1:30 p.m. Saturday

Mr. South: OK, I might relent here and say that St. Mary's is an ever-so-slight favorite. Bishop Amat was never supposed to be here anyway. The Lancers were beaten by 15 points in the section semifinals by Inglewood, but behind Arielle Wideman (Nevada Reno) and Leticia Galarza, in the regional playoffs KO'd the No 4, 1 and 2 seeds in succession, including a victory over Inglewood in which there was a 17-point swing from the first game. Inglewood coach Tony Scott said Richard Wiard, the BA coach, might be the team's best player. You know why? He's good. He has already hit up Kevin Kiernan for advice. Kiernan is the coach of the Mater Dei team that beat St. Mary's this season. Let's face it, St. Mary's has all the pressure on it to A) not choke, and B) put up the kind of performance that won't allow it to be passed by Mater Dei in the rankings.

Mr. North: After 135 games - 123 wins - I don't see the likes of Chelsea Gray (Duke-bound) and Cal-signee Afure Jemerigbe choking. They are both McDonald's All-Americans and no team in America can claim two. I have no doubt Mr. Wiard is a brilliant coach and that Mr. Kiernan gave him fantastic, worldly advice, but the problem is, the Rams are bulletproof. They can have the worst shooting night of their careers collectively, they could miss every one of their 3-pointers, but that defensive full-court pressure will eventually bring foes to their collective knees. And Gray - she's the closest player to a female Magic Johnson we've seen. She simply will not let the Rams lose.

Mr. South: I . . . regrettably . . . concede the point.

Mr. North: Gray and the Rams even made you wilt, which is no small feat.

Division IV girls

St. Mary's (Berkeley) (31-3) vs. Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) (33-1), 3:30 p.m. Friday

Mr. South: Harvard-Westlake keeps pumping out solid basketball programs year after year, and this season Coach Melissa Hearlihy's squad reached the state final for the first time since 1999  behind a pair of Nicoles. Nicole Hung and Nicole Nesbit always seem to have what it takes to bring the Wolverines victory. Nesbit is averaging 14.5 points, and Princeton-bound Hung is averaging 17.5 points. They've been so tough to beat, their only loss was to Mater Dei. After a four-point victory over Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) in the section finals, Harvard-Westlake won by 13 in the regional finals by shutting out the Knights for seven minutes in the first quarter.

Mr. North: Did we mention somewhere that this is the year of St. Mary's? Everywhere? Well forget that, because it just doesn't matter. That's all sheer coincidence. What isn't is the no-nonsense, full-speed ahead approach of the Panthers' Danielle Mauldin. The St. Mary's College-bound senior personifies this tough, talented team, that is built from the inside out. That's good news when you get to this point in the season, with the big gyms and backdrops in which no one can make a perimeter shot. Mauldin, a 5-11 senior and fourth-year starter, is relentless in all endeavors and with the big help down low from 6-foot Cody Sims and 6-1 post Emily Vann, the Panthers are solid as Kern River gold.

Mr. South: Speaking of gold, perimeter threats are worth a king's ransom. HW's leading three-point shooter, junior guard Skylar Tsutsui -- whom I hereby christen Queen Tsut -- has been averaging 11.7 points in the playoffs after averaging barely 9 in the regular season. Big 3s are backbreakers at this time of year.

Mr. North: Well, christen all you want. The Panthers, on the other hand, are serious about capturing the school's first state girls championship in any sport.

Division V girls

Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) (26-6) vs. St. Anthony (Long Beach) (25-9), 9:30 a.m. Saturday

Mr. South: What an outstanding opportunity for Coach James Anderson, an alumnus of St. Anthony. He built Harbor City Narbonne into a national power and won two Division I state championships. Now, in his third year at St. Anthony he has them on the verge of a Division V title. Even if the Saints don't get it done this season, their future is plenty bright: Kendall Cooper (11.1 points, 8.6 rebounds) is a freshman, and sister Jourdan Cooper (58.4 percent from the field, 8.1 rebounds) is a junior. They also have a good mix of experience with Rina Towne (8.3 points) and Taylor Hixon (6.5 points).

Mr. North: There's no arguing about Anderson and his pursuit to build St. Anthony into a power. Doc Scheppler and his Pinewood Panthers are already there. This is their fourth state-title game and they're looking for their third win utilizing a patented full-court pressure defense with long-range shooting. Hailie Eackles, a 5-8 junior, is the team's top player who not only had 24 points in the regional finals but 10 rebounds. Scheppler instills a fun, but no fear approach that the Panthers respond to year-after-year. They won't back down from a physically superior team. The key for them will be 5-10 junior Jenna McLoughlin and how she contends with Kendall Cooper.

Mr. South: It's comforting to know that when Pinewood fans drop over from the shock of a gutty little Saints victory that when the collective yell goes up, "Is there a doctor in the house," Sheppler will already be there.

Mr. North: And with that, you've officially been gonged from all analysis.

Mr South: Martin Henderson began covering Southland preps in 1993 for the Los Angeles Times. He contributes to the Orange County Register, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and San Bernardino Sun, and offers up motorsports opinions at Racescribe.com. You can reach him at southlandpreps@yahoo.com.

Mr. North: Mitch Stephens has been covering high school sports in Northern California since 1984, spending 15 years in the Contra Costa Times newspaper chain and the last nine at the San Francisco Chronicle. He is a senior writer and columnist for MaxPreps. You can reach him at mstephens@maxpreps.com.