Desert Sky League: November 2010 Archives

Now that I've predicted the games, I'll start finishing up these playoff scenario. After three pretty easy ones, the DSL is making my head spin a bit.

1. Ridgecrest Burroughs (6-3, 3-0): Burroughs is the only team to have clinched a playoff spot already and would clinch a league title and its No. 1 seed in the Eastern Division playoffs with a win Friday against Victor Valley. It would get the No. 2 seed in a loss by virtue of losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Jackrabbits.

2. Victor Valley (7-2, 2-1): The Jackrabbits would clinch a playoff spot, the league title and the No. 1 seed out of the DSL in the playoffs with a victory over Burroughs. It would also clinch with a loss and a Barstow win over Silverado, getting the No. 2 seed over Granite Hills by virtue of owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Cougars. However, a loss and a Silverado win would cause a three-way coin flip for two spots between Victor Valley, Granite Hills and Silverado by virtue of each team going 1-1 against the other two. Due to its record though, Victor Valley has a good shot at the at-large even if it loses the coin flip.

3. Granite Hills (4-5, 2-2): The Cougars are done with their league season and clinch a playoff spot with a Silverado loss or a Victor Valley win. If Silverado loses, Granite Hills is the No. 3 no matter what Victor Valley does, as the Cougars lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Victor Valley. If Victor Valley wins, Granite Hills is the No. 3 no matter what Silverado does as the Cougars own the head-to-head over the Hawks. A Silverado win and a Victor Valley loss would bring about the three-way coin flip for two spots. Unlike Victor Valley, Granite Hills wouldn't have much of a shot at an at-large.

4. Silverado (4-4-1, 1-2): There is no way for Silverado to make the playoffs without winning a coin flip, but they must beat Barstow and have Victor Valley lose to get to that scenario. A win and a Victor Valley win would put the Hawks in a tie with Granite Hills for third, with the Cougars getting the nod due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. If Silverado finishes fourth in the above scenarios, it has a shot at the at-large playoff berth. A loss to Barstow would eliminate Silverado from consideration.

5. Barstow (1-8, 0-3): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

Victor Valley College hosted the cross country finals for both the Mojave River League and the Desert Sky League on Wednesday.
Granite Hills, as expected, dominated the DSL. The boys' 23 points, led by winner senior Cody Jordan (16:01) easily defeated runner-up Ridgecrest Burroughs (49).
In a race that had only 23 runners and three scoring teams, the Granite Hills girls (ranked No. 1 in the county) scored a perfect 15 with the first five finishers and seven of the top nine. Granite Hills sophomore Chelsea Bennis won in 19:15. Burroughs was second with 54.

As opposed to the four-team DSL, the five-team MRL had close finishes for both team titles. For the boys, Apple Valley, with five finishers in the top 12, edged out Serrano, 31-38. Serrano's Ben Minick won in 16:23, while Apple Valley's Nick Reynolds was runner-up in 16:38.

The MRL girls has two of the top teams in CIF. Sultana entered the week ranked No. 7 in CIF-SS Division 2, while Serrano is right behind them at No. 8.
And that's how it played out Wednesday. Sultana won with 29 points, to edge out Serrano, with 34. Again Serrano had the individual winner (Melissa Fairchild, 18:01), but not the team winner. Sultana's Hannah Munyan was second in 18:04.

Results were received by The Sun late on Wednesday and will not appear in Thursday's paper. Hope is they will run in Friday's paper.