Hey Aram,

Just checked out your recent top 10 rankings for boys basketball. 1) Damian 2) Nogales 3) DB 4) WC 5) San Dimas 6) Charter Oak 7) Bonita 8) Rowland 9) Glendora 10) Can't even remember. You seemed to have left off one of the teams that should be at the very lowest 5. Diamond Ranch beat Nogales 58-39 last week, beat Bonita 68-57 and waxed San Dimas 63-47 a couple of weeks ago. Granted they did have a stinker against Charter Oak on Friday night. But the fact that you don't have them as one of the top 10 teams in the area is amazing. Do you really think that Rowland is better than D-Ranch?

The kid from arroyo, jeremy Morita, is the best point guard i've seen in the valley in a long long time.....he would start for any team in the valley easily, will defin. not get the reconigtion he deserves but the dam kid can play....unstoppable last night,

GTO , great points and very valid take. I liked Powell and yes he could handle the rock..so could Sapp. Cameron Murray was a long time ago but yes I thought he was very very good.

That system Le Duc runs is a shooter's paradise but it takes patience, commitment and players who know how to sacrifice. Glendora is still lead by the best coach in the Valley. He's tough, fair and I always see him with his family around town. Great guy, very friendly and down to earth. Hope he rebounds and shows everyone he's still the man to beat. Good luck to the Sierra League!

Down cycle,

Some of your observations have merit...some are off. Yes, the population growth and "mix" in the inland empire has led to that area fast becomming a basketball hotbed. Look at the Baseline league right now. EVERY game is tough and 4 of the 6 teams are ranked in CIF right now. BTW, as a Tartan fan I'm looking at this new division and am not encouraged. There are more talented teams than in recent years. Last year's playoff field had some soft teams in the bottom half, but I don't think there will be many this year, and the second round? The top 16 look extremely tough. But Glendora has been a more dilibrate, shooter friendly system. There are still a lot of colleges that play that way too though. And as for ballhandlers coming out of there, how about Powell who's starting point at UCSB or Cameron Murray or Earl Sanchez or Cory Smith or Josh Giles...those guys could handle it just fine. And most JV's don't have a lot; Glendora's usually has a couple guys who will contribute the next year like Le Duc did last year and Adema & Beckwith this year. Glendora's scoring average has dropped slightly every year for the last few years (may be up a bit this year) but they still win games. They may not have the powerhouse teams like they have had in the past and winning CIF may be impossible with the realignment, but they will always have a winning program and compete for a league title year in and year out with the present system. BTW, their incoming freshman (all local kids) was pretty good, but would have been very good if the 6'4" kid from Goddard had not decided to go to Bishop Amat (where he's avg. about 10 pts. & 8 rebs. on varsity). Good luck to the teams tonight, we'll learn a bit more.

Jeff, see all the new development in the Inland Empire? That's my point. Demographic shift. Player and parents no longer move to Glendora to play for LeDuc. Players that CAN play don't go to Damien but maybe the new gym will help. Colony (new Gym) plays uptempo basketball, so does Los Osos (great facilities). Glendora (great coach) has a tradition of great shooters, but none could dribble. Casey Jacobson, Tracy Murry, Tiger, Gordien, Sapp and Powell great shooters very poor dribblers except for Sapp. That's the flex offense they run. Ayala has a great coach in Gregory (great preparation/great game instincts) with above average players, Chino Hills just has "athletes" (they encourage multiple sports participation, unlike Damien)that know how to compete, Chino has nothing but dysfunction, Diamond Bar has a new coach and usually just had an overcoached style with one star (former USC Robinson), and Damien, prior to this year, was just over coached and played a stifling, for both teams, style of basketball. 32-35 scores with Damien coming out on the short end half the time.

Like I said before the Ramona playoff game really opened some eyes last year. If you have "athletes" let them play great trapping defense AND uptempo transition offense and you win 75% of your games. Add Damien's usual "size" advantage and you really have something. Better late than never . If 6'7" 225 Nick Bright couldn't DivI something's rotten in Denmark. Time will tell if Griffin, Riley or Napalitano go DivI...can they dribble?

The Sierra League does not have a dominate player this year and that's a reflection of "players/ballers" wanting to play a college uptempo style of basketball. And that's not played in the Sierra league anymore. Ever see full court pressing, running and gunning, or great transition basketball in the Sierra league? I haven't.

Who's the best point guard in the Sierra League?
Who's the best off guard in the Sierra League?
Who's the best center?
Who's the best 4? or 3?
Who has the deepest bench?

Look at the JV team Glendora had last year and tell me Glendora basketball is not suffering. They played hard and played within the system and were well coached but the "athletes" were not there. Same for Ayala, same for Damien.
Love to hear from others.

You make some very interesting points in your posts. I don't agree with all of it, but it will be interesting to see if things play out like you think that they will. I guess only time will tell.

As far as Glendora basketball goes, they have never really gotten players from the Ontario/ Rancho area, so I can't see how Rancho, Colony, or Los Osos effects them at all. If anything, those schools' success probably effect Damien because there are students from those areas that go to Damien. Before we talk about Glendora and Ayala losing players, consider that the players that those BB teams have lost were to graduation and injury. There has yet to be major transfers out of those programs or hometown athletes going to any of those programs that you mentioned.

Though I do love to bash Bluorca whenever I catch sight of him......I have to admit that he was just offering his view on how Damien should stay put in Sierra league. Like I said earlier, they are good fit here. And like I said earlier, they couldn't hang in the two upper parochial school leagues (Trinity and Mission).

"DHS"---and MEN VS CHILDREN comment about his 5 little darlings making ALL CIF (props to those kids!) was the kicker for me to get this headed back to FB....Bluorca and I (wow, the odd couple...) seem to agree that the MIGHTY SPARTANS had a great yr, but #1) Did they win CIF? uh,...NO...and #2) they aren't a perennial LA TIMES Top 10 team of even Top 20 team, so---go f*ck yourselves.....

He just says things alot nicer....

Ol' pony boy also adds "Amat should drop down into the Sierra league"....an interesting thought,seeing as how that would only lower them into "Div 2/Inland Div." however, they are much to PROUD to drop out of the Trinity league, they'd have to be booted...imagine them playing in the Miramonte league against Los Al and CO and DRHS....or redone Sierra against Damien/Chino Hills/Glendora....that'd be plenty of hate for everyone to enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!.....

Just speculating....pondering.....wondering how/why things turned out
this past season...

Joe Amat, Don Bosco and St. Paul? Come on now. Maybe La Salle and St. Francis would be better geographically but wouldn't a powerful league do a greater service to the schools? Besides the demographics are more in line with the proposed "new" Catholic league.

Damien
Bishop Amat
St. Francis
Crespi
Notre Dame

And Bluorca, Damien beats St. Francis late in the season and beats Bishop Amat as well. I seen Amat 3x and they were disorganized mentally, emotionally and rarely came together all year. Best game was against Carson where they actually played Amat football for one quarter and almost won. Should Amat been better, maybe the stands affected the players more than the coaches. Next year Verti will have the Lancers back on track and heads will roll. Good luck next year. I love it when Amat vs Mater Dei, Amat vs. Carson, Amat vs. Loyola actually means something.

Jeff, the Sierra league is in a down cycle in football and basketball...losing coaches and players at break neck speed. DB basketball & Football, Chino losing Monger and players, Ayala losing players, Glendora losing players. DB ..'nuff said but I like this new coach and love Randy's enthusiasm! Everything about the league favors Damien. Damien doesn't "lose" anything, infact, Damien will only get better. Most of the "good" athletes (wink, wink) are going to Colony, Los Osos and Rancho instead of playing uptight basketball at Glendora and Ayala...that era is over. Glendora and Ayala are done. Gregory and Le Duc will either retire or move on in the next 3 years. I mean Ayala losing to Damien by 13/20? When Damien has no bench to speak of? Glendora will lose to Damien by 16. Sad to say but the Sierra league in Football and Basketball are pretty average. Football (Damien and Chino Hills) Basketball (Damien and Chino Hills) League Champs or Co-Champs.

bluorca..it NEVER fails..here you go again! You take a basketball thread and try to hijack it into an Amat football thread.... Football is over...let it go!
Excuse me..but seeing how "well" Amat has done the "last 11 years" and their "skid" maybe Amat should drop down to the Sierra league and let Damien move up. Maybe Amat could win a couple of games again. Maybe! Or maybe you should welcome Damien into your league...might have another team you could beat so you can celebrate another 3 win season.

I'm sure there's probably a tennis thread out there you could bring up Amat football in..go look. Hey..you have not posted in the girls basketball thread yet...better hurry.

bluorca,

You are pretty much right on. The only correction that I would make is that Damien vs. Amat didn't happen every year up until last. It has been an off and on thing.

As far as football is concerned, and if we follow history, Damien has no business playing in any league that includes Amat, Notre Dame, or St. John Bosco. Damien did indeed have a good team this year but a good football team at Damien is a rare event.

Damien's football record versus Div-1 Parochials is horrible to say the least. Damien has had more than enough opportunities againts Bishop Amat to prove that they belong in the same group as Amat. The result? Damien has only managed to beat Amat only 4x in the history of both schools. Up until last year, Damien and Amat used to butt heads every year until the staff at Damien decided to throw in the towel and STOP playing Amat. And it's not like Bishop Amat has had any "great" teams or any deep runs into the playoffs the last 11 years. Amat football has been in a skid but this has not stopped Amat from routing Damien almost every year that they played. And who has been one of Amat's thorns in its side this past decade???....Yep..it's been St. John Bosco! Damien is not a football school regardless of their "success" THIS year.

Even St. Francis would have beat Damien this year if you remember what St. Francis was able to accomplish againts Los Altos...TOTAL SHUTDOWN!

Nope, Damien belongs in the Sierra at this time. I respect Damien as an excellent academic and athletic school but ONE decent team and ONE decent season does not mean that a program is ready to make the jump into a top Parochial school league. Playing St. John Bosco in a close game one year is great...Heck! I'll even say that a Damien/Amat game this last year would have been a GOOD AND CLOSE ONE!....

But playing St. John Bosco or Amat every year for the next 10+ years is a different story all together...

I'm part of the Husky family, and I STILL think the Sierra League is wide open. DB has some great young athletes, who panicked just a little bit down the stretch...bad shot selection, defensive lapses, but once some of those kids mature, they'll be very dangerous. Damien is very solid but could use a stronger bench, and Glendora is missing Tiger, not just his points but his leadership on the floor.

But there is a trend here. The Huskies were behind late against Damien and closed them out with a late run. A big 4th quarter crushed Glendora on the road. Now a huge 4th quarter run beats Diamond Bar. The good teams raise the level with the game on the line. We also go ten deep. I think that keeps up the pressure.
There's still a whole lot of basketball to play, but Huskies have been under the radar, and maybe this is the breakout year. I haven't seen Ayala, but I heard they are awfully methodical, with no real scorers. That game coming up at Damien's new place should be wild! The Sierra is always the most interesting. Good luck to all.

There are a couple of big games on Friday. They should be fun.

damien beat ayala 46-33 or sumthin like that

damien beat ayala 46-33 or sumthin like that

Well Randy, the game had to go one way or the other, which means its usually the 1st team to go cold, which im not surprised, many of DB teamns in the past have had that tendancy. However, hopefully we pack up, learn and regroup and prepare for the next challenge. I didnt make game, but i had a funny feeling it was not going to be a cakewalk like a few people thought

dammit!!!!!!......ok.....they got us tonight. I missed the first half, but got there at halftime. It was 28-23 Chino Hills. The Brahmas came out strong, quick, and aggressive to overtake the Huskies and wind up 37-33 to start the 4th qtr. Once again however, they had a lapse and CHHS went on a 15-2 run mid way through the 4th while DB went stone cold those last 4 min....they missed shots, didnt get back on D, were held to 5 points those last 4 min.....you can't do that every night. The Huskies are good, but your a fool if you think this is a one team race over here.

So the plot thickens....

How did the other Sierra League games go? Tartans had an expected easy time with Chino, 54-23 I think it was? No Tiger tonight and another back-up kid got hurt too. Damien/Ayala? DB/CH?

im just kidding

im just kidding

patrick,

Who recruited Carter and how was he recruited?

This week will start to sort things out more in the Sierra. Disaree with you Aram that "Ayala is Ayala". I think they struggle in league this year, but we'll see. Kelley may be wishing he was back at Glendora this year, what a team that could have been. Tiger-cortez missed Monday's game and may be out a couple more. Tartens still nearly beat a good Laguna Beach team. DB & Chino Hills tonight for the early league lead should be a good game. Somebody let us know after the game how it turns out.

DeAndre Carter was recruited to damien

Rather than

St. Francis
Notre Dame
Damien
Bishop Amat
St. John Bosco

maybe St Paul and/or Don Bosco for SJB and/or ND would make more geographic/equity sense

you gotta add St Paul to that mythical league so you dont have anybody going 2-2 and having that ugly coin toss situation like the miramonte league went through, mathematically speaking, you could still have ties in your league record, but that situation last yr was brutal. Remember Bonita wins the last game with goal line stand, but loses the coin toss 15 min later and is out of the playoffs....what the f@ck???? I hear St Paul is getting Diamond Ranch's RB Aubrey Haynes.....I cant believe it, but my St. Paul peeps are leaking this, and the DRHS folks are saying it very well could be, that kid talks about leaving all the time.....any word out there....

you gotta add St Paul to that mythical league so you dont have anybody going 2-2 and having that ugly coin toss situation like the miramonte league went through, mathematically speaking, you could still have ties in your league record, but that situation last yr was brutal. Remember Bonita wins the last game with goal line stand, but loses the coin toss 15 min later and is out of the playoffs....what the f@ck???? I hear St Paul is getting Diamond Ranch's RB Aubrey Haynes.....I cant believe it, but my St. Paul peeps are leaking this, and the DRHS folks are saying it very well could be, that kid talks about leaving all the time.....any word out there....

This is the league Damien should play in. Instead of the "neighborly league" they're in now.

St. Francis
Notre Dame
Damien
Bishop Amat
St. John Bosco

Aram what do you think of this league?

I'd like for us to stay in the Sierra League. I could give two shits about what Ayala does. I was told that a few yrs ago, before this current set up, that our admin wanted to get out of the Sierra league/Inland Division, but were told by CIF, "NOPE".......You don't get moved just cuz your not winning 8 games a yr in FB,....We were told that our other sports teams are competing at an "ok" level, so we stay as is till the next go around.

Dropping into the Southwest Div wouldn't be such a bad deal--not that they are pussys-by no means, but if you follow the I.E., you'd see how those playoffs teams look BETTER pound for pound than anything the San Gab Valley has to offer.............yes, Amat beat RC, but Rancho didnt even make the playoffs..., DB is coming back, all ya'all that are standing around hoping we got booted off the football map are in for good kick to the balls come Sept.

Big game tonight against Chino Hills....at home.....should be a hoot!!!!!

randy,

I don't think that Damien has ever played in an all Catholic league.

Also, as a DB follower, would you say that DB and Ayala need to be in a more competitive or less competitive league than the Sierra League? I don't know why you would say that, but you probably know more about those schools than I do, so I'm wondering what you think.

Personally, I think the Spartans are a good fit for the Sierra League. It would be interesting to see how they would do in the Mission league with St Francis and St Paul, hey mix Amat into that League and their would definately be some hurt feelings come Nov EVERY year. But Amat wont leave the Div.1/Pac-5 unless they get thrown out...an hasnt Damien been in a public school league for yrs (20) cuz they dont have the sack to play in an all-catholico league anymore? I doubt it, they were in the Baseline league before this latest re-alignment.

I dont think they could hang in the Mission league, much less the Trinity league....in fact lets not even go there. The drop off to the lower division parochial school leagues is to steep after those 2. So they are stuck, happily i bet, to be here...in solid league all around.

If anything Patrick i think its DB and Ayala that get the boot in the next shuffle. The league a school is currently is for ALL sports, not just football or hoops,...so a school would have to be dropping considerably all around, and then still get approval from the realignment/re-league committee to drop down, when they meet every 3-4 (?) years.....

It is what it is....Bring on the Baseline rejects, anytime/anywhere.....

Patrick,
Name one person recruited by Damien for athletics.

First off, Damien fans should not be talking period!! You guys should be playing in the Catholic league along with Santa Margarita and the rest, second off, being that you have no recruiting boundaries, you really should be competing with top 5 teams in southern california since you all believe you are so dmn tough.

wat? diamond bar will get messed up by the huskies. After they come back down to earth and everybody realizes how average they really are, they will get killed by damien. damien will win this league and show everybody wats up

Johan-na,your head is obviously stuck up your ass.....thats ok, it happens---i understand.....try to wiggle it out in time before the Brahmas wipe the floor up with Chino Hills, so you can witness first hand that the Brahmas are fo' real.......

diamond bar is not very good. These guys were fortunate to play an undermaned glendora team and a tired ayala team who expected the usual garbage db. They are much better this year than last year, but i just dont see them winning league, especially when they start to face the stronger teams in the league. Glendora has started off bad, but when tiger gets his rythm back, they will be fine. chino hills is a very strong team who should be favored to win it since knocking off the top team in the league in the first game (damien).

Nice to see Diamond Bar off to a good start. Seems like they have good balance this year along with some size. Went to a Pomona-Pitzer game last week and former brahma Zeeshawn Hyder had a nice game in a loss to U of Redlands. Collin Robinson is sitting out the year after transferring from USC. He should help Cornell next year which has a good freshmen class. Big game wed night vs Chino Hills. They need to win the home games and try to win a game or 2 at Ayala,Chino Hills and Damien.

damien is for real. They have some very good talent on that team and are gonna surprise some people. They had a tough loss against chino hills that they should have won. They simply couldnt finish off the huskies after they were up late in the fourth. I see them winning league and giving chino hills some deserved revenge.

ACC or big east around here

lotsa action left....every game is a dog fight...who would have it any other way?