It’s that time of year in the basketball schedule. We are two weeks away from the playoffs beginning, and you can see it on the faces of the coaches.
Every game is important; every basket is essential; every possession is valuable.
Basketball is different from football in many ways. The most obvious being that in football, there’s only 10 games. There is not a lot of room for error when it comes to qualifying for the playoffs.
In basketball, most teams play each other twice in league. Make a mistake on a particular night and it doesn’t have as hard an impact as it does in football. Plus, most teams play 30 games in a season, so when the postseason arrives, basketball fans have a pretty good handle on their favorite teams.
This was supposed to be the week that would bring clarity to the area basketball scene. Instead, it seems there are more questions than answers.
It started Tuesday with Damien’s 62-56 upset loss to Los Osos on the road. The Baseline League loss shouldn’t be viewed too harshly as the Spartans played the day before in a showcase event in Northern California.
Spartans fans won’t have to worry much. Damien is currently in third place in the league and should have a high seed entering the Division 1 playoffs.
Friday, several teams had the opportunity to gain the inside track to winning a league title and came up short. For the second year in a row, Glendora rebounded from an early season loss to Bonita and defeated the Bearcats, 63-48. The win moves the Tartans into a first-place tie with the Bearcats.
A couple of hours later, the Schurr boys basketball team completed one of the area’s most dramatic comebacks of the season and defeated visiting Keppel, 54-52. It marked only the third time in 11 years that the Spartans prevailed over the Aztecs. Both teams are now tied at the top of the league standings.
Trailing by as many 12 points, Schurr won on a game-winning layup by Ray Flores. For those that are familiar with the history of Schurr basketball, Friday night provided a glimpse of what Schurr games were like in the ’70s and ’80s under longtime coach Tommy Thompson.
A full gymnasium with fans on the edge of their seats was a regular occurrence in those years. Players like Rick Ronquillo (who is now the coach), Paul Chavez, and Kevin Kurz helped set the standard. In those years, Schurr competed in the Foothill League with the likes of Hart, Burroughs, Keppel and Alhambra.
The program didn’t see a whole lot of success in the last 20 years. With the emergence of Keppel, Montebello and several other area programs, it was felt that a once-proud program had seen its better days.
That wasn’t the case Friday. The excitement was back at Schurr, and it was not lost on Ronquillo, who is now one of select few that can connect his current players with its glory years of the past.
“That is what this program expects,” Ronquillo said after Friday’s win. “There is not one person who has been around Spartan basketball that saw that and is surprised. It is a tradition that if you are going to wear the Spartan colors, you are going to play until the clock runs out. We expect the very best from our guys.”
Expect wild ride in Division 2AA
Here is a piece of advice to area girls basketball fans when it comes to the Division 2AA playoffs — buckle up.
This is one of the most loaded and competitive divisions the area has seen in a long time. Five of the six area teams in the division are in first place in their leagues, Bonita (Palomares), Flintridge Prep (Prep), Los Altos (Hacienda), Pasadena (Pacific) and St. Paul (Camino Real).
What is also great is the vast diversity in the coaching department. There are excellent young coaches (Bonita’s Taylor Anderson and Pasadena’s Melissa Sanchez) mixed in with successful older coaches (St. Paul’s Robert Miller and the Flintridge Prep duo of Kevin and Jayme Kiyomura).
Add outstanding players like Kaitlyn Chen (Flintridge Prep), Madelyn Roel (Los Altos), Sydney Brumfield (Pasadena) and, Ludovica Albanelli (St. Paul), it has all the makings of a postseason that could be talked about for years to come.
Wrestling duals Saturday
The winter sports postseason gets underway Saturday with the CIF Southern Section Boys Wrestling Dual Meet championships. The section will be crowning six divisional champions.Brackets will be announced Thursday, and the schools that will host the meets include Villa Park (Division 1), Victor Valley (Division 2), Fountain Valley (Division 3), Mayfair (Division 4), South Torrance (Division 5) and Orange Vista (Division 6).
Among the teams that will be serious contenders for a championship include Northview (Division 1), La Canada (Division 3) and Arroyo (Division 5).
Quick hits
• One of the more surprising results Friday night was St. Francis’ 80-42 road win over Alemany. You don’t see Alemany losing like that in their gym. The win is huge for the Golden Knights. They move into a second-place tie with Chaminade in the league standings. With the top-four teams in the league playing in the Mission League postseason basketball tournament, St. Francis would qualify. They could be a team to watch when the CIF-SS playoffs begin.
• Many in social media were upset after Bishop Amat’s 3-2 upset win over Cathedral in boys soccer Wednesday. At the heart of the conversation was the field conditions. As is the case with grass fields at this time of year, there was more dirt than grass on the pitch. Cathedral fans were up in arms and complaining relentlessly. One thing to keep in mind, both teams had to play in the same conditions. Give the Lancers credit for pulling off one of the biggest upsets the area has seen in some time.
• It could be an all-area girls water polo final in Division 4. La Serna and Glendora are heading into the playoffs with a lot of momentum. The Lancers were impressive Tuesday in defeating area rival California, 13-4. No one in the Palomares League has made the Tartans sweat. Teams that get hot late in the year are usually playing deep into the playoffs.
• Keppel’s Patricia Chung turned 17 years old Friday. How did she celebrate it? The Long Beach State signee turned in her best performance of the year in the Aztecs’ 69-47 road win over Schurr. Chung scored 38 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and had 11 steals.
• Finally, St. Paul’s Robert Miller won his 700th game last week when Swordsmen defeated La Salle in girls basketball. The only problem was that he was not at the game due to the flu. They celebrated his achievement before Thursday’s game against St. Mary’s Academy.
