La Costa Canyon Leads With The Most Academic Team Titles

Wed, 9 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The CIF-San Diego section has been awarding academic team titles since 2006-07 and La Costa Canyon has won the most, 16, with Canyon Crest Academy’s 14 titles close behind.

The academic team title goes to the team with the highest unweighted grade point average by all the players on the team.

In this fourth year of academic team titles Canyon Crest Academy boys’ volleyball is the only team to have won the title all four years; and CCA has only been playing boys’ volleyball for four years.

Five different schools and nine different teams have won a section title and academic team title in the same year; La Costa Canyon has had five teams when both in the same year.

La Costa Canyon girls’ volleyball is the only team to have won both the section and academic team titles in the same year twice; done back-to-back in 2006-07 and 2007-08. And LCC girls’ volleyball won the mythical national title the following year in 2008-09.

In sports in which there is a playoff bracket (not counting track & field, cross country, etc.) only five teams did not qualify for the playoffs while winning the academic team title; meaning those teams that excel in the classroom are almost always competitive. And one of those teams that did not qualify for the playoffs, 2006-07 Canyon Crest Academy girls’ water polo, was in their first year of play.

About a quarter of the section, 26 schools, have won at least one academic team title.

The North County conference has won more than twice as many academic team titles than any other conference; the Coastal conference has the second most with 24 titles.

The Grossmont and Metropolitan conferences have yet to win an academic team title.

Is Hoover Badminton Too Good?

Fri, 28 May 2010 15:13:15 -0700

Hoover has not lost a badminton match since the 2003 final vs. Mission Bay, and the final score was 9-8.

In a sport that is played exclusively by city conference schools and most of the players are asian badminton is already a sport that is having difficulties maintaining interest and support.

This year the championship was moved from the Federal Building in Balboa Park to Serra because of budget cuts.

Only about 15% of the section’s 120 schools play badminton, all city conference schools.

Most glaring is the fact that the north county conference participates in every CIF sanctioned sport except badminton.

And on the CIF-San Diego section website badminton is the only sport that does not have their own page under the “Sports” section; although there is a badminton record book.

From 2001-2006 badminton was not a CIF-San Diego section sanctioned sport because there were not enough schools playing (at least two leagues are required) so badminton was played as a club sport.

Hoover has won every CIF/Club championship since 1999 and every match since 2004, which is tremendous for Hoover but gives little hope for schools and players who want to compete for a championship.

Many potential players who are on the fringe levels of skill may not want to be on the many current teams that have no chance at a section title. As opposed to other more popular sports in which players just want to be a part of a potentially winning team even as a role or reserve player.

Badminton must compete with other spring sports for players and spring has the most sports of the three seasons.

And unlike most other “minor” sports there is not a significant college and/or professional presence on TV to promote the sport.

Schools like Point Loma, Lincoln, Madison and Clairemont which struggle to compete on the court would have no struggles dropping the sport in terms of gender equity because badminton is the only co-ed sport in the section.

Badminton is still the flagship sport of Hoover but CIF may be forced to take that flagpole away from Hoover for lack of interest section wide.

Boys Basketball Playoff Preview

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:30:50 -0800

Yesterday the playoff seedings were released for boys’ basketball.

The Bucs Nearly Have a Losing Record as the # 2 Seed
Mission Bay received the # 2 seed in D-III with a 12-11, 5-7 record. But the Buccaneers defeated # 1 seed Mt. Miguel 83-54 in the second game of the season. And Mission Bay defeated D-III # 3 seed La Jolla (17-10, 7-5) three times while finishing behind La Jolla in the Western League.

Christian Loses Everything But Reputation
Christian had to forfeit their entire season because one transfer, from outside the country, had pre-enrollment contact with the coach. Christian self reported the violation this week and then Christian forfeited their final home game Friday vs. Crawford.

Kudos to Christian for self reporting the violation but thumbs down to Christian for forfeiting their final game (senior night). Yes, Christian may have received a bad reception from their own fans but Crawford’s players and fans were not able to enjoy their last game of the season, knowing they would not make the playoffs.

McDonald’s All-American Nominations

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The McDonald’s All-American nominations were released this week with about 1,700 boys on the nation’s list. The game takes place in Columbus, Ohio at the Value City Arena on Wednesday, March 31st at 8:00 pm ET and will be on ESPN. The rosters will be announced in mid-February.

There are 84 California nominations (see below) with the Southern section leading with 51 nominations followed by the Los Angeles City section with 11. The San Diego section’s five nominations are fourth best in the state.

Any head coach can submit a senior player to the list and any of the 33 selection committee members (see below) can submit a player’s name.

For the second year in a row San Diego coaches were realistic with their nominations because in 2007 and 2008 too many players who were not even close to all-section players were submitted.

Only three San Diego players, Michael Pitts ’79 (Sweetwater), Jelani McCoy ’95 (St. Augustine) and Chase Budinger ’06 (La Costa Canyon) have been McDonald’s All-Americans since the game’s inception, 1978.

Foothills Christian’s Troy Leaf has the best shot at making the team as San Diego’s all-time scoring leader, but he’s a long shot at best. If history is any indication Leaf will be left at home to watch the game because he is not a BCS player like nearly all past players. Crawford’s Tyrone Shelley ’07, who had the San Diego scoring record, and Horizon’s Jeff Withey ’08 (Kansas) were not selected in the recent past.

The one player that would have been a lock is playing pro ball in Israel this year, San Diego’s Jeremy Tyler, who became the nation’s first player to skip his senior year in high school.

Ironically, the second best shot of a San Diego nomination may have been James Johnson of Elinore (Wildomar), who transferred from Morse this year. Johnson is Virginia bound and considered a higher college prospect than Troy Leaf.

Westchester has an entire starting lineup of nominations and the Comets are one of the nation’s best teams but five nominations is absurd. What happens is two or three players may be worthy of a nomination on a team and then the other players and/or parents pressure the coach to nominate players who are simply not worthy, which diminishes the worthy nominations. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and Serra (Gardena) each have four nominations but Mater Dei may in fact get two players on the team, Keala King and Tyler Lamb.

There is one set of California brothers on the list, St. Mary’s (Berkeley) Demetrius and Dominique Lee.

La Jolla Country Day’s Ariana Elegado and Granite Hills’ Sabrina Jimenez are the two girls from San Diego nominated.

Two cities have hosted the game twice, New York and Philadelphia.

The game benefits the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the local area of the game, Columbus, OH.

Full Weekend of Hoops Capped Off By Leaf Breaking Scoring Record at Elite EIght

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Monday: San Diego Elite Eight Showcase
In the marquee game of the year # 1 Hoover faced # 2 Foothills Christian before a capacity crowd at the University of San Diego Sports Center. Foothill’s Troy Leaf needed two points to break the all-time scoring record by Crawford’s Tyrone Shelley ’07, now playing for San Diego State.

Off the opening tip Leaf attempted a quick lay-up but Hoover’s Angelo Chol ’11 who set the nation’s single season block record last year added another block to his career total to deny Leaf the quick record breaking bucket. But on a broken play moments later Troy Leaf sank a three-point shot and became San Diego’s all-time scorer.

Hoover was able to sustain a lead all game behind Dame Ndiaye’s six 3-pointers but Foothills countered with Kalob Hatcher’s five 3-pointers keeping the Knights close. Foothills senior trio of Leaf (21 points), Hatcher (20 points) and J’Vonte Brooks (21 points) led the Knights but Ndiaye led all scorers with 23 points.

Troy Leaf’s 21 points was well below his game average partly because he separated his non-shooting shoulder with about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Leaf returned to the game right away but admitted “I couldn’t lift my left arm without excruciating pain”. The shoulder had popped out of place and Leaf was in a sling for the post game press conference and later found out that he would miss several games, which would deny him any chance at the state scoring record.

Leaf’s injured shoulder certainly hampered his ability as he missed a shot and clutched his left shoulder after making another shot in the fourth quarter. Foothills Christian was only able to score three points in overtime as Hoover secured their # 1 ranking with a 74-71 overtime win.

The day started with Torrey Pines vs. Parker as the Falcons Nick Kerr scored on a lay-up in less than one second. Well, the tardy game and shot clock still had not shed a second even after Nick Kerr had received a pass and scored on a lay-up off the opening tip (see video above). Torrey Pines went on to defeat Parker 57-52.

In the second game El Camino cruised past Horizon 51-38. The game would have been more competitive but Horizon’s Devyn Iglehart ’10, one of San Diego’s top guards, injured his knee on Friday night and was not available; he is likely to miss at least a few games.

Maranatha has a great team with power forward Chen Cai ’11 and point guard David Porter ’10 but La Costa Canyon was too much for the Eagles as the Mavericks coasted to a 64-45 win before a subdued crowd.

Monday: 3rd Annual Mark Hall Memorial Classic
Oceanside’s football star J.J. Whitaker decided to prepare for his SDSU football career rather than play basketball and the Rock Academy wasn’t able to field the team they wanted this season which took the shine off of this game but there was still one player to watch, Rock’s Tyler Cross.

Oceanside used a 15-7 edge in the third quarter to erase a 34-27 halftime deficit before defeating Rock Academy 63-54. In most games, like this one, Rock Academy scores more points (54) than the school has students (51).

Saturday: 4th Annual “I Have a Dream” Classic at Horizon
Crawford’s senior point guard Hassan Farah stunned Army-Navy in the first varsity game of the day by making thirteen 3-pointers, second most in San Diego history, tied for ninth in state history.

As soon as Farah passed mid court he would be positioning for a long-range bomb. Army-Navy has a 7’ 0” freshman, two 6’ 8” forwards and a terrific senior point guard in Rafael Rodriguez ’10 but Army-Navy coach John Maffucci, a Hall of Champions “Coaching Legend”, was pressed and impressed by Farah’s shooting prowess.

The Warriors were able to come away with a 63-54 win but Maffucci admitted that they would have won by 30 points if Hassan Farah, who finished with 43 points, had just a normal day shooting.

A few days later Farah said that he would like to make twenty 3-pointers in a game before his high school career is over. Fifteen is the San Diego record and 21 three-pointers is the state record for one game.

Rancho Bernardo’s 6’ 9” senior Tanner Clayton was too much for Santa Fe Christian as he scored a game high 16 points in the Broncos 51-42 victory.

The Rock Academy was able to hang with Parker in the first half as Parker led 26-24 at the break but the Lancers used 20 points from sharp shooter Andrew Greenberg and 12 points from Dalante Dunklin to coast to a 64-46 win.

Without injured Devyn Iglehart Horizon was unable to successfully deal with Lincoln’s pressure defense as the Hornets won going away 67-45. Norman Powell (20 points) had a nice dunk (see video) in the second half that brought down the house and grid-hoop star Victor Dean had a game high 21 points.

Saturday: 7th Southern California Coaches Shootout Classic at Carlsbad
The top player at the showcase came from the Southern section school Chaparral (Temecula). In the opening game Chaparral’s Xavier Johnson ’12, who is considered one of the top sophomores on the west coast, had a pedestrian type game scoring 13 points with one 3-ball. Chaparral jumped out early in the first quarter and settled into a 16-10 first quarter lead before holding on for a 50-45 win.

What happens when a good Southern section program meets a good San Diego section program? If the first game of the day at Carlsbad wasn’t enough of a clue then the second game proved why San Diego schools have an inferior complex against the Southern section as St. Augustine was no match for Mayfair (Lakewood) as the Monsoons blew away the Saints 71-51.

In the third game north met south as Otay Ranch won a game for the South Bay as they downed Oceanside 72-60.

Saturday: 2nd Annual Bennie Edens Memorial Classic at Point Loma
In the first game of the day San Diego met a win-less El Cajon Valley squad. Because of injuries and ineligibility El Cajon Valley has become the home of the brave as the Braves continue to battle each opponent along with their first year coach Marty Ellis.

Just recently, the Braves lost a triple OT game at Steele Canyon Charter after a Cougar player who had never attempted a three-point shot made one at the end of regulation to send the game into OT.

With only two players on the bench the El Cajon players and coach gave their all and had the ball at the end of the game with a shot at their first win but were unable to convert the basket as San Diego won 43-42.

In a defensive struggle it took overtime for Scripps Ranch and Mira Mesa to each score over 40 points as Mira Mesa was able to come away with the neighborhood rivalry game 43-41 in overtime.

The host school was only able to muster 11 points in the second and third quarters combined as University City used a 19-5 edge in the second quarter to pull away and defeat Point Loma 54-31.

In the finale Southern section school Dos Pueblos (Goleta) drove over three hours to face Mission Bay and were able to hold off the Buccaneers with a 53-49 victory to give the Southern section a perfect 3-0 record vs. San Diego section schools on Saturday.

St. Patrick Proves Why they Are the Nation’s Best

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

National Division
St. Patrick (Elizabeth, NJ) came to San Diego to play in the 20th Annual MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines as the # 1 ranked team by USA Today. The Celtics are led by Duke-bound senior Kyrie Irving, who was a little under the weather all week, and the # 1 junior in the nation, 6’ 7” Michael Gilchrist. “Role players” include Western Kentucky-bound junior Derrick Gordon (highlights above) and senior Chase Plummer (highlights above) who is headed to Maryland-Baltimore County.

In the national division 1st round Ironwood Ridge (Tucson, AZ) got run over by the Celtics from New Jersey as St. Patrick led 23-7 after one quarter and 46-18 at the half.

Even 7’ 0” senior center Jan Maehlen (one of two seven-footers in the tournament) provided very little resistance for Ironwood Ridge as St. Patrick won 83-35.

Because of New Jersey state rules St. Patrick could only play three games so they got a bye into the semifinals where they faced a very good state ranked Centennial (Corona) team who is led by USC-bound junior Gelaun Wheelwright and New Mexico-bound junior Dominique Dunning.

St. Patrick jumped out to a 25-15 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 28 points to the delight of some Duke fans who waved a Duke flag after every great Irving play. Kyrie Irving did it all with two slam dunks, two trifectas, multiple drives to the basket and he even mopped the court when it got wet.

Newark Memorial (Newark, CA) upset Taft (Woodland Hills) in the other semifinal 48-41. Perhaps Taft overlooked Newark Memorial or it may have been the foul trouble early on by Taft’s Texas-bound junior De Andre Daniels. Or maybe the strong play by Newark Memorial and refusal to lay down to the L.A. city power created the opportunity to meet St. Patrick in the finals. Newark senior Khion Sankey led all scorers with 24 points but it was the fourth quarter play by junior Kendall Andrews that propelled Newark Memorial at the end of the game.

Perhaps everybody assumed St. Patrick would face Taft in the finals but if you want to see that matchup it will take place at the 2010 Nike Extravaganza on February 6th at Mater Dei (Santa Ana).

Like the other two games St. Patrick played in the finals were before a capacity crowd of fans and tournament players.

Newark Memorial was ahead at one point 9-4 and won the first quarter 11-10 but Michael Gilchrist and Co. took over the game as St. Patrick led at the half 32-20. Gilchrist had a game high 25 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots. Kyrie Irving scored 22 points and was awarded the tournament MVP award.

American Division
La Costa Canyon, which hosts the american division, was more than willing to leave the comfortable confines of their own gym to play in the american division finals vs. Los Osos (Rancho Cucamonga) at Torrey Pines.

Although Kendall Williams of Los Osos scored a game high 21 points he did very little in the first half. La Costa Canyon had balance scoring led by sophomore sensation Matt Shrigley with 15 points, division MVP James McCann scored 13 points and USD-bound senior Dennis Kramer scoring 12 points.

Arizona Guard Wows The Crowd For One Night
Mesa (AZ) has a 5’ 11” junior guard, Jahii Carson, that stole the show in the opening round. Everybody came to see St. Patrick (the following game) and L.A. city power Taft (Woodland Hills, CA) who played a team from Arizona. But the Oregon State-bound guard from Mesa high school showed why he can play with the best L.A. has to offer and the PAC-10.

A lightening fast point guard with nimble dribbling and a quick pass Jahii Carson had the crowd on their toes all night with his game high 25 points.

But Taft may have their deepest team ever with possibly two teams in one and Mesa was missing Tulsa-bound Blondy Baruti who was injured. Taft simply wore down Mesa and easily won the first round game 87-55.

The capacity crowds that came to see the marquee night games missed Carson after the opening round because Mesa played in two 9:30 am games and then headed to Rancho Bernardo for a cross division game and Westview for their final national division game.

Mesa was 2-2 in the National Division while losing losing a third game to Catalina Foothills (Tucson, AZ) in the governor’s division cross over game; although the Catalina game was their second game that day after defeating Fairfax (Los Angeles, CA) 60-57 that morning.

Bock-to-Bock
Last year Eisenhower’s Andrew Bock ‘09 (Creighton) made six 3-balls in Eisenhower’s only game vs. a team from San Diego in the National Division, San Diego High. This year Andrew’s younger brother, Bryan Bock ’10, made six 3-balls in Eisenhower’s only game vs. a team from San Diego in the National Division, Foothills Christian.

5’ 2” And He’s Got Game
The tallest players in the 77-team tournament were Brea Olinda’s junior K.C. Caudill in the Governor’s Division and Ironwood Ridge’s senior Jan Maehlen in the National Division, both top out at seven foot.

The shortest player in the tournament, by three inches, is Leuzinger’s (Lawndale) sophomore guard Lance Booker, who is listed at 5’ 2”, but may be shorter. And he is one of the first off the bench for state ranked Leuzinger. In the consolation final vs. Lutheran (La Verne) Booker made a 3-ball at the 1st quarter buzzer and another 3-ball later in the game.

Player Ready to Play Games But Not Basketball
A player, who will remain nameless, brought with him his X-Box but forgot his jersey. The player played in the governor’s division and the team is from the CIF southern section so his mother only had to drive a few hundred miles, round trip, to retrieve his jersey.

Inaugural Hosea Hall Christmas Invitational

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:30:16 -0800

Lincoln hosted their inaugural Hosea Hall Christmas Invitational from December 19-23. Fifteen schools included two from the Los Angeles City section, traditional power Crenshaw and Cleveland. Also a basketball prep academy from Las Vegas, Impact Academy, Golden from Colorado and Kitsilano of British Columbia, Canada.

Crenshaw claimed the tournament title led by mid-major senior prospect Reynal Baker ‘10 and freshman shooting guard Isaac Hamilton ‘13. The semifinal between Crenshaw and Lincoln was likely the true championship game as the Hornets gave Crenshaw their best competition.

Crenshaw’s Isaac Hamilton put the shoot in shooting guard as the freshman made six 3-balls vs. Rock Academy to open the tournament and was named to the all-tournament team.

Championship Game
Crenshaw was given a technical before the game started because of a slam dunk during warm-ups and after a quick bucket by Maranatha’s David Porter ’10 ten seconds into the game the Eagles led 4-0. But the Crenshaw Cougars never panicked and by halftime had a 36-29 lead that increased to 59-47 after three quarters before the Cougars cruised to a 75-64 championship win.

Maranatha’s Chen Cai ‘11 scored 35 points with 30 rebounds in the 67-56 semifinal win over Bishop’s.

Other Teams
Host Lincoln took third place and was led by senior grid-hoop star Victor Dean ‘10 and junior Norman Powell ‘11, both named to the all-tournament team.

Fourth place Bishop’s was led be all-tournament senior Maliik Love ‘10.

Torrey Pines has been hampered by the season ending injury to sophomore sensation Joe Rahon ‘12 who was hurt earlier in the year and the Falcons settled for fifth place.

Inaugural Year
The tournament was well run in Lincoln’s three-year-old gym and each team had the opportunity of a pre-game shoot around at Lincoln’s old gym, a rarity for most tournaments.

Great Hoops, Best BBQ
In only it’s first year the Hosea Hall Christmas Invitational was the top tournament in San Diego outside of the MaxPreps Classic. But the best part of the tournament was the BBQ food sold at the concession stand; second to none.

2009-10 Boys Hoops Preview

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:43:35 -0800

The San Diego Boys’ Basketball Coaches Association released the 2009-10 season preview this week. Click here to download the season preview.

With San Diego’s Jeremy Tyler skipping his senior year and playing pro ball in Israel Hoover’s Angelo Chol ’11 is the top player returning in the section. Chol, the 2009 state sophomore of the year, could be a two-time San Diego player of the year before his prep career is done.

# 1 Hoover is a quick and talented team with an imposing inside presence (Chol) while having a 3-ball shooting guard in Terrence Ingram who is worth the price of admission all by himself.

UC Santa Barbara commit Troy Leaf ‘10 leads a loaded # 2 Foothills Christian. Leaf should break Tyrone Shelley’s San Diego career scoring record. Kalob Hatcher ’10, as a junior, broke the section record for career assists and might break the career steals record this season. And J’Vonte Brooks adds much needed inside presence to the perimeter minded Knights.

# 3 La Costa Canyon has reached the semifinals six of the past eight years but only once reaching the finals when they won the 2006 title behind Chase Budinger. 2010 may be the next final appearance, second in school history.

The hive is back as # 4 Lincoln is led by grid-hoop senior star Victor Dean ’10, with the freshman Robinson brothers, Tyree & Tyrell adding young depth. Junior Norman Powell may battle for team MVP with Victor Dean. This is the first time since Lincoln reopened in 2007-08 that they are in the preseason top 10.

# 5 Maranatha led by chinese import Chen Cai ’11 looks to reach the section finals for the third consecutive season, this time to take home the title.

# 6 Torrey Pines has no senior leaders but plenty of talent and fundamental coaching. 2009 all-state freshman Joe Rahon ’12 and Steve Kerr’s son, Nick Kerr, form a strong young core.

# 7 El Camino has a new coach after 29-year coach Ray Johnson left to try his hand at collegiate coaching.

# 8 Parker has great guard play with grid-hoop stars Deon Randall ’10 and Dalante Dunklin ’12. Both players will join the team next week after their state bowl championship game in football this week.

# 9 Horizon has a quick and shifty guard that is worth the price of admission alone, Devyn Iglehart ’10. Range from all over the court Inglehart has made the dagger shot when it was needed.

# 10 Escondido is a preseason top 10 team but may finish third in the tough avocado League behind # 3 LCC and # 6 Torrey Pines. And all three teams are in the same division, Escondido odd team out again in the finals?

Division V may be the second best division at the top, after division I. Division V’s top three teams Foothills Christian, Maranatha and the Rock Academy match up against division II, III or IV’s top three teams.

Would it be right to add Foothills Christian to the frontier league where Maranatha and the Rock play. Have the three schools battle it out in league play before the playoffs, kinda like perennial division IV favorites Parker, Horizon and Bishop’s battle in the coastal south league every year before the playoffs. Since 1997, Horizon and Bishop’s have won every division IV title and recently Parker has been added to the fray thanks to Parker coach Jim Tomey.

Will Hoover reach the state title game? Only one division I or II team from San Diego has reached the state title game, Oceanside lost in the 1984 division II state final.

Three of the potential five section finals look great. Div. I: arch-rivals # 3 La Costa Canyon vs. # 6 Torrey Pines. Div. II: city conference rivals # 1 Hoover vs. # # 4 Lincoln; Div. V: for the third straight year # 2 Foothills Christian vs. # 5 Maranatha.

But there is plenty of hoops between now and March. Tomorrow Lincoln begins hosting the inaugural Hosea Hall Christmas Invitational in their state of the art gym. The Hosea Hall Classic includes four of the top ten teams in San Diego and two of the top 50 teams in the state, LA City powers Crenshaw (Los Angeles) and Cleveland (Reseda). Out of state teams include Golden (Colorado) and Kitsilano from Canada. Easily the best pre-Christmas tournament in San Diego. Sure, the 63rd Annual Kiwanis Tournament is the grandaddy of them all, regardless of sport, but the Kiwanis takes place all over the city. At the Hosea Hall Classic you can sit down at Lincoln in the morning and see a San Diego top 10 type caliber team or better in nearly every game all day long.

The MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines is loaded as usual with the national preseason # 2 team, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, NJ), led by the # 1 player in the nation, junior Michael Gilchrist.

On January 2nd Maranatha, La Costa Canyon and Hoover will head north to play in the inaugural California Classic at Cerritos College (hosted by LACES High) featuring some of the top teams from southern and northern California.

And on January 18th at USD’s Sports Center the Elite 8 Showcase will be played with over half of the preseason top 10 teams playing on the same court on the same day.

The Past Decade: 2000-09

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In this decade there were a lot of changes to prep sports in San Diego.

At the state level Maria Ishida became chief executive officer of state CIF. Boys’ and girls’ soccer began regional playoffs in 2008 and boys’ volleyball began regional playoffs in 2009. Girls’ golf first held state championships in 2003 and boys’ golf held state championships in 2004. Football again had a state championship game beginning in 2006, the last was in 1927; although still no state playoff rounds.

At the local level Dennis Ackerman became commissioner in 2001 after Jan Jessop retired. Girls’ golf (2000), boy’s and girls lacrosse (2002) all became sanctioned sports in the San Diego section.

The Imperial Valley league (Brawley, Central, Southwest (El Centro) etc.) joined the San Diego section from the southern section in 2000. Sixteen schools opened and became CIF-San Diego section members while six of those schools won section titles.

The internet gave an additional means of communication, webcasting and news for prep sports. CalPreps.com KBCsports.com, 619Sports.net are among the new websites this decade. Also, ESPN purchased CalHiSports.com and CBS purchased MaxPreps.com this decade.

FALL SEASON
CROSS COUNTRY, BOYS’
La Jolla Country Day won eight section titles, including the last four. 23 schools won a section title this decade including Steele Canyon Charter, which didn’t exist ten years ago.

Only two schools south of Interstate 8 won a section title this decade, St. Augustine and Monte Vista. The last Metro conference school to win a section title was Chula Vista in 1993 and 1994. Three east county schools won section titles, Monte Vista, West Hills and Steele Canyon Charter.

Monte Vista still leads the all-time list in section titles with ten, winning two titles this decade (2004 & 2008).

Riley Booker of University City was the only runner to take home a state title. Booker won the 2005 division II state title with a time of 15.27; the sixth boy from the San Diego section.

CROSS COUNTRY, GIRLS’
La Jolla Country Day and Torrey Pines tied for the most section titles this decade. 19 schools won section titles this decade, including Westview which didn’t exist ten years ago. La Jolla Country Day won six consecutive titles, the most in section history, but none since 2005, while Torrey Pines has won the last five titles. San Pasqual, with four titles this decade, holds the all-time section title list with 13 while Mt. Carmel has 12 titles all-time, two this decade.

Torrey Pines (2009 div. I) and San Pasqual (2001 div. II) each one state titles this decade giving San Diego four state titles since 1989.

Only two schools south of Interstate 8 won section titles, Coronado and Our Lady of Peace. Only two east county schools won section titles, Valhalla and West Hills. A Metro conference school has never won a section title, dating back to 1977.

Three runners from San Diego won individual state titles: San Dieguito Academy’s Jenna Timinski (2001, div. III, 18:24), Our Lady of Peace’s Sammy Silva (2008, div. III, 17:35) and Rancho Bernardo’s Molly Grabill (2009, div. I, 17:06).

FIELD HOCKEY
Field hockey expanded to two divisions in 2002. La Costa Canyon and Scripps Ranch won the most titles this decade, five each. Scripps Ranch and Serra have won all but one division II title. Serra has a big lead in all-time titles with 16, La Costa Canyon, Scripps Ranch and San Pasqual are tied for second with five all-time titles.

FOOTBALL
Football added division V in 2005 while there was no 8-man title game in 2000, 2008 and 2009. Oceanside won seven titles this decade including the last six titles. Santa Fe Christian and Valley Center tied with second most with four titles this decade.

The north county conference easily won the most titles with 21 this decade while the coastal conference won twelve titles. The city conference won ten titles while the southern conference won four titles, all 8-man titles. Eight different schools won division I titles this decade while 23 different schools won section titles overall.

Oceanside won San Diego’s first state bowl championship in 2007 (division II), while Cathedral won the 2008 division III state bowl championship. Oceanside and Parker will play for state bowl championships this Friday to close out the decade of football in San Diego.

Cathedral’s Tyler Gaffney became the eighth San Diego player to be named California Mr. Football in 2008. Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter is in the running for Mr. Football in 2009.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl game began in 2001 and four players have been part of the game; Vista’s Leon Hall (2003), Helix Charter’s Reggie Bush (2003), Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter (2010) and Eastlake’s Tony Jefferson (2010).

GOLF, GIRLS’
Girls’ golf inaugural season was in 2000 and Torrey Pines won the first five titles. Poway was able to win three titles while Torrey Pines finished the decade with seven titles.

Torrey Pines won one state title and two southern California titles while Poway won one state title. When will a school outside of the north county conference win a section title?

TENNIS, GIRLS’
Torrey Pines has won a section title every year since 1990, all but two (1992-93) were in the biggest division (div. I, class 3A). After 20 consecutive titles and counting Torrey Pines finally caught up to La Jolla and now both are tied with the most titles all time with 22 titles. La Jolla won seven titles this decade.

Private schools Bishop’s, La Jolla Country Day and Cathedral are third and fourth in all-time titles. Only one metro conference school has ever won a section title, Bonita Vista in 1986. No grossmont conference school has ever won a section title.

VOLLEYBALL, GIRLS’
Cathedral/USDHS nearly ran the table with nine section titles this decade. The lone section final loss was the year USDHS became Cathedral in 2005 when the Dons lost to La Jolla in five games at Mission Hills. In fact, Cathedral/USDHS only lost one other game this decade in the section finals, vs. University City 15-2, 11-15, 15-4, 15-10; you can forgive USDHS for letting up a little after a 15-2 first game win.

La Costa Canyon has won the last six division I titles. Cathedral has finally caught up to Parker in all-time section titles as both schools have 17 titles. In the lone metro conference section title this decade Bonita Vista in 2000 made it big time by also winning the mythical national title behind national player of the year Jennifer Saleauma.

La Costa Canyon became the second San Diego school to win a mythical national title in 2008. Although Bonita Vista has won five section titles all-time only one other metro conference school has ever won a section title, Hilltop in 1976. Only two grossmont conference schools have ever won a section title, West Hills (1995, 1997) and Grossmont (1987).

Of the 24 state final appearances by San Diego schools 17 appearances occurred this decade. Of the 15 state titles by San Diego schools 11 state titles were won this decade. 2006 was the only year this decade in which no San Diego school appeared in the state final.

Parker leads in all-time state titles with five and state final appearances with seven. Parker, Santa Fe Christian and Cathedral all won back-to-back state titles this decade while Parker also won three consecutive titles from 1986-88.

WATER POLO, BOYS’
Carlsbad won the last seven division I titles, Carlsbad’s only titles and the most this decade. Bishop’s doubled up Coronado this decade with six division II titles. Coronado still has the most all-time titles with 16 followed by Valhalla with 11 titles. Mt. Carmel and Cathedral also won their first section titles this decade along with Carlsbad.

WINTER SEASON
BASKETBALL, BOYS’
Horizon won twice as many section titles, eight, than any other school, Santa Fe Christian won four. only titles and the most this decade. Foothills Christian has the longest current title streak at three while Horizon won seven consecutive titles this decade.

23 different schools won a section title this decade. Two schools that did not exist ten years ago, Steele Canyon Charter and Foothills Christian, won titles this decade.

Only one metro conference school won a section title, Eastlake in 2001. Horizon has the most all-time section titles with 13. San Diego schools reached the state final four times this decade, Horizon won all three state final games and St. Augustine lost in the 2005 state final.

Five of the top ten all-time leading scorers played this decade including the top three: Crawford/Christian’s Tyrone Shelley, La Costa Canyon’s Chase Budinger and Santa Fe Christian’s Nick Corso. Budinger, in 2006, was the third player from San Diego to be named California Mr. Basketball while also being the third San Diego player to be a McDonald’s All-American.

Four players were drafted into the NBA this decade, Luke Walton (Cathedral/USDHS) in 2003, Jared Dudley (Horizon) and Dominic McGuire (Lincoln) in 2007 and Chase Budinger (La Costa Canyon) in 2009.

BASKETBALL, GIRLS’
La Jolla Country Day won eight section titles (all consecutive) in two divisions while Mt. Carmel won five titles in two divisions. The coastal conference, led by La Jolla Country Day and Bishop’s, won the most title with 15, while the metro conference had one lone title by Eastlake in 2007.

Only two schools (Bishop’s & La Jolla Country Day) won a division IV title while seven different schools won titles in division I. Canyon Crest Academy and Christian LIFE won their inaugural section title, in any sport, in 2009. La Jolla Country Day (11 titles) passed Santana (9) for the most all-time section titles.

In only three years (2005-07) did a school from San Diego not reach the state final. Bishop’s (2001), La Jolla Country Day (2001-02) and Mater Dei (2009) all won state titles while Point Loma still has the most all-time state titles with four won from 1984-87 behind all-everything Terri Mann.

San Diego’s Charde Houston and La Jolla Country Day’s Candice Wiggins were the top two players this decade.

SOCCER, BOYS’
It’s all about catholic school soccer as three of the top four schools with the most titles this decade were Cathedral/USDHS (5), Mater Dei/Marian (4) and St. Augustine (3). Catholic schools won eight of the 10 titles in division III this decade. Grossmont conference power Granite Hills won four titles.

Bishop’s has the most all-time titles (12) but hasn’t won a title since 2001. La Jolla (9) has the second most all-time titles followed by Cathedral/USDHS (8) and Valhalla (8). The city conference has the most titles (13) this decade followed by the north county conference (9). The metro conference (8) nearly won as many titles this decade as north county.

Of the fall and winter season sports, boys’ soccer was the most balanced section wide as five conferences won six or more titles this decade. And the top conference, city, only won 13 titles this decade, the least among leading conferences in which there are four or more divisions in the sport.

23 different schools won a section title this decade. Mater Dei won San Diego’s first and only southern California regional championship in 2009, the second year of the regional playoffs.

SOCCER, GIRLS’
After winning eight titles from 1990-99 Catheral/USDHS won seven titles this decade. But Torrey Pines still leads in all-time titles with 16 while Cathedral/USDHS has 15 titles. The city conference won the most titles this decade with 18 while the north county had 14 titles.

There were four title games which ended in a tie and co-champs; but that will happen no more because of the regional playoffs that began in 2008.

Cathedral (division II) and Bishop’s (division III) both won regional championships in 2008 while Parker reached the 2009 division III regional finals. No metro conference school won a title this decade while only Bonita Vista (1986 and 1996) has ever won a title from the metro conference. Bonita Vista is a perennial league power and hosts the top local tournament.

WATER POLO, GIRLS’
28 schools played in the inaugural season in 1997 and Bishop’s was not in the Union-Tribune’s preseason top 10 rankings. Thirteen years later Bishop’s has won the most titles this decade with seven while Carlsbad won four titles. And Bishop’s has the most all-time titles with seven while Carlsbad has five all-time titles. No grossmont or metro conference school has ever won a section title.

WRESTLING
San Diego added division IV in 2002. Poway continued their consecutive title streak by running the table with ten titles this decade; Poway has won every title since 1987. Brawley, the pride of the southeastern conference for all sports won nine titles this decade making the conference the second best this decade.

Everyone knows that Poway leads in all-time section titles with 28 but few may know that Monte Vista is second with 21 titles, three this decade. Poway won two state titles this decade (2005, 2009) while leading the section with four state titles all-time.

SPRING SEASON
BADMINTON
Badminton, which began in 1988, had no playoffs from 2001-2006 so there were only four championships this decade and Hoover won all four. Hoover ran the table in 2009 going 19-0. Hoover has the most all-time titles with seven followed by Crawford and Serra with four titles.

BASEBALL
In 2000 baseball added division IV after first adding division IV in 1994 and then going five years without a division IV. Grossmont and Cathedral/USDHS both had five titles this decade but Grossmont won a section record four consecutive titles from 2005-08.

Some people believe the north county conference plays the best baseball, which may be true, but the city conference won the most titles this decade with 13, grossmont conference was second with ten.

The three biggest divisions were dominated by one conference: the north county conference won all but one division I title (2007 Granite Hills) this decade while the grossmont conference won all but one division II title (2002 Eastlake) and the city conference won all but one division III title (2006 Valhalla). The division IV titles were won by private schools in all but 2006 and 2008 (Coronado) but by three different conferences, the city, coastal and metro.

Parker and Cathedral/USDHS have the most titles all-time with nine while Mission Bay and Grossmont each have eight titles.

State CIF is looking into state playoffs for baseball, as well as other sports, but because of summer vacation that may never happen. And, an informal poll of head coaches resulted in a split decision on state playoffs.

Some great players played this decade including Padres’s Adrian Gonzalez (Eastlake), # 1 draft pick (but eventual draft bust) Matt Bush (Mission Bay), Christian’s Brian Schroeder, Valhalla’s Sean O’Sullivan, Rancho Bernardo’s John Drennen, and Parker’s Nick Noonan.

GOLF, BOYS
Boys’ golf added a second division in 2002 and state playoffs in 2004. Cathedral/USDHS and La Costa Canyon each won five titles this decade with the addition of division II allowing Cathedral/USDHS to win those five title.

The north county led with ten titles. The grossmont conference has never won a section title, dating back to 1961. The metro conference won back-to-back titles in 1998-99 with Bonita Vista, the conference’s only titles. Torrey Pines (2004), St. Augustine (2005) and La Costa Canyon (2009) all won state titles.

GYMNASTICS
Mt. Carmel won four titles this decade while Santana won the lone title for the grossmont conference. Santana won the first six gymnastics titles from 1974-78. Mt. Carmel passed up Santana this decade with the most titles all-time with 11, Santana has 10 titles. The metro conference has never won a section title while the city conference has won one title in 1983 with Patrick Henry.

LACROSSE, BOYS
25 schools played in the inaugural boys’ lacrosse season in 2002. Torrey Pines and La Costa Canyon both won three titles with Poway winning one and Coronado busted up the north county conference stranglehold with a title in 2009. No grossmont or metro conference school has reached the section finals.

LACROSSE, GIRLS’
18 schools played in the inaugural girls’ lacrosse season in 2002. La Costa Canyon (4) edges out Poway (3) for the most titles while La Jolla wins one for the city conference. No grossmont or metro conference school has reached the section finals.

SOFTBALL
Parker won the last four division IV titles which was enough to win the most this decade. Mira Mesa, Christian, Escondido and Mt. Carmel all won three titles. The north county conference won 16 titles this decade including eight of ten division I titles. 22 schools won titles this decade including three schools (Westview 2 titles, Steele Canyon Charter 2 titles, Mission Hills) that didn’t exist ten years ago.

Imperial (2005) became the first and only southeastern conference school to win a title. Cathedral/USDHS and Bishop’s have won the most titles all-time with seven each. All seven titles by Bishop’s were won consecutively from 1987-93.

There were many great players this decade including University City & Mira Mesa’s Lisa Dodd, Patrick Henry’s Lisa Dodd, Eastlake’s Alana Ford, Parker’s Kelsey Quist and Amye McIntyre and Oceanside’s Trina Harrison.

Lisa Dodd may have been the best softball player from San Diego. Dodd pitched 13 consecutive shutouts and had the 2nd lowest career ERA at 0.12. Although Patrick Henry’s Donna Kerr had 23 consecutive strikeouts v. Mt. Miguel on May 9, 2005.

SWIMMING, BOYS’
Carlsbad with their great water polo program won the most swimming titles this decade with seven while Valhalla won our titles. The north county tripled the city and grossmont conference with 12 titles. Mt. Carmel held onto their all-time list with nine titles but Coronado and Carlsbad lurk with seven all-time titles. No metro conference school has ever won a section title.

SWIMMING, GIRLS’
Cathedral/USDHS won the most titles this decade with seven while Torrey Pines won six titles. Surprisingly girls’ water polo powers Bishop’s, Carlsbad and Coronado combined for one girls’ swimming title this decade. Torrey Pines won three consecutive titles twice this decade while Cathedal/USDHS won four consecutive titles. Torrey Pines still has the most titles all-time with ten while Rancho Bernardo has eight.

TENNIS, BOYS’
La Jolla boys’ tennis has won the most section titles in state history, regardless of sport, with 42 section titles dating back before the San Diego section was established. La Jolla won eight titles this decade with Torrey Pines winning seven titles.

No grossmont or metro conference school has ever won a boys’ tennis section title dating back to 1961. La Jolla has a total of 37 San Diego section titles with five titles won before 1961 in the Southern section. Torrey Pines has 17 all-time titles.

TRACK & FIELD, BOYS’
University City won four titles this decade including three consecutive titles from 2002-04. The north county conference led with eight titles this decade. The metro conference won their first title when Eastlake won the 2000 division II title. Lincoln and Morse have the most all-time titles with nine each but neither school won a title this decade.

TRACK & FIELD, GIRLS’
Rancho Bernardo won four titles this decade and University City won three titles. The city conference led with nine titles while the north county won eight titles. Rancho Bernardo has won the last four division I titles while University City won three consecutive titles from 2004-06.

The southeastern conference won their first title in 2002 with Southwest (El Centro) winning the division II title. The grossmont conference won their first title in 2009 when Steele Canyon Charter won the division II title. Morse has the most titles all-time with 11 and Rancho Bernardo has six all-time titles.

VOLLEYBALL, BOYS’
Boys’ volleyball added division IV in 2002, aka the “Parker” division. Parker ran the table this decade winning ten titles including every division IV title contested. La Costa Canyon won eight titles. Parker did reach the finals of the inaugural southern California regional playoffs in 2009. And Parker has the most titles all-time with 13 while La Costa Canyon has ten titles.

The metro conference has won two titles, Southwest (SD) in 1992 and Eastlake in 1999. Parker was the mythical state champion in 2005 and La Costa Canyon in 2006 behind national player of the year Chase Budinger who is now in the NBA.

Football Playoffs, A look at the Past Decade, 2000-09

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:20:13 -0800

The 2009 CIF-San Diego Section playoff seedings were released today and defending champions La Costa Canyon (I), Oceanside (II), Cathedral (III) and Parker (V) all received # 1 seeds as well as Mission Bay (IV) who is led by USC-bound Dillon Baxter.

For the second consecutive year there will be no 8-man playoffs because there are not enough teams; there are only six 8-man teams.

Some of the 8-man schools have elected to play 11-man football; St. Joseph’s, Midway Baptist and Calvary Christian (San Diego).

The top four seeds all get first round byes and this year division IV will play at Southwestern College for the CIF championship while divisions I, II, III and V will play at Qualcomm Stadium.

Southwest (El Centro) was the only team to finish above .500 (6-4) and miss the playoffs, the eighth consecutive year Southwest has missed the playoffs.