By Steve Ramirez
Azusa High School’s Alyssa Pritchett thought she did all she could. The Aztecs tennis player put in extra work and it paid off with the Montview League singles championship. She also qualified for the opening rounds of the CIF-Southern Section individual championships, which were scheduled for this past Friday and Saturday. To Continue, click thread
Press Release info: The 4th Annual Cory Lidle Tournament will be played over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Cory Lidle Tournament was started to celebrate the life of Cory and his foundation. The Foundation raises money for the Make A Wish Foundation, in addition we have been able to contribute to the Mt. San Antonio Cory Lidle Memorial Scholarship, the Mt. San Antonio Tyler Stanger Memorial Scholarship and establish the Cory Lidle High School Baseball Scholarship.
This tournament will be preview of the upcoming season. There are 12 high schools, 25 18U and 21 16U travel teams entered in this years event. Many of the top local high schools are entered. The schedule is posted at: http://www.eteamz.com/corylidle/news/
To look at key match-ups, click thread
Bishop Amat coach Steve Hagerty in studio with Steve Hartman and Rahshaun Haylock, who talk about the first round of the Pac-5 playoffs. Our man Steve Ramirez will cover Friday’s game. We will set him up with a twitter account, and post his twitter page on the blog for quick updates.
Breaking News: Bishop Amat officials hoped to get Friday’s game against Lakewood moved because of their traveling fans, but it was confirmed today that Friday’s game will be at Lakewood at 7 p.m., and that 1,850 tickets have made been available to Amat, which can be purchased at Bishop Amat’s athletic office on Tuesday from 8-Noon, and Wednesday from 8-noon and 1-4 p.m.
Steve and I will go head-to-head throughout the season. Here is our updated records on the Tribskin Pick’em thread.
Robledo: Last week/Total: 12-4/175-41
Ramirez: Last week/Total: 12-4/161-55
Last Week: Not a bad first round, my losses were picking Damien over Upland, Elsinore over Chino Hills, Whittier Christian over Arroyo and Rosemead over San Marino. Steve also missed the Arroyo and Rosemead game, and also lost taking Burroughs over Diamond Ranch and Rowland over California. But Steve did call the Chino Hills win and Upland’s win over Damien.
This week: There are no real surprises, it doesn’t make sense to pick against Bishop Amat now. I know they’re on the road, and I don’t know as much about Lakewood as I should, but I know enough about the Lancers to know if they get this road win, they’re probably hope in the semifinals against No. 1 Edison, but first things first. Charter Oak and South Hills will bounce back and advance again this week, though West Covina is going to give the Chargers a run for their money. In the Mid-Valley, I’m taking Monrovia and San Dimas, but won’t be surprised at all if they lose. It’s pretty obvious, the Olympic is the best league in the division, cemented when their No. 3 Whittier Christian beat Arroyo, moving all three Olympic teams to the next round. Azusa-San Marino is a toss-up, but I have that Aztec feeling.
Friday’s quarterfinal predcitions
Pac-5 Division
Bishop Amat (10-1) at No. 4 Lakewood (10-1) — Robledo (BAmat); Ramirez (Bishop Amat)
Southeast Division
No. 1 Charter Oak (10-1) at West Covina (7-4) — Robledo (Charter Oak); Ramirez (Charter Oak)
No. 4 Burbank (9-2) at California (8-2-1) — Robledo (California); Ramirez (Burbank)
No. 3 Schurr (9-1-1) at Diamond Ranch (5-6) — Robledo (Diamond Ranch); Ramirez (Diamond Ranch)
No. 2 South Hills (9-2) at Crescenta Valley (8-3) — Robledo (South Hills); Ramirez (South Hills)
Mid-Valley Division
No. 1 Monrovia (11-0) at Paraclete (7-4) — Robledo (Monrovia); Ramirez (Paraclete)
Baldwin Park (9-2) at Whittier Christian (8-3) — Robledo (Whittier Christian); Ramirez (Baldwin Park)
San Marino (9-2) at No. 3 Azusa (10-1) — Robledo (Azusa); Ramirez (Azusa)
Cerritos Valley Christian (8-3) at No. 2 San Dimas (10-1) — Robledo (San Dimas); Ramirez (San Dimas)
Anything and anyone you want to talk about
Bishop Amat’s victory over Mater Dei wasn’t the talk of the office on Friday, it was the near-gigantic upsets of Charter Oak and South Hills, the top two teams respectively in the Southeast Division after ripping through league like it was just a formality before a long November run. South Hills didn’t have quarterback Jacob Shirley because of an injury, which kind of explains the close call against Bonita, but how do they blow a 21-0 point lead with that defense, needing a late touchdown to pull out a 28-21 victory. Charter Oak was even more shocking, giving up a dramatic 30-yard touchdown with four seconds left, then stuffing a two-point conversion that would have knocked them from the playoffs for good. To answer the question, overconfident or overrated, I would have to lean toward overconfidence, simply because people like me pump these teams up so much, that you forget that teams like Bonita and Muir might just get ticked off enough to lay it like they haven’t all year. When everyone’s penciling you in the championship, you just want to get the first round over with, so emotions are not always what they should be. Overrated? No way, not with their body of work and how easily they dismantled other area teams, some of whom are still alive. It might just be a wake-up call, and the best thing to ever happen to them. How often do teams that win championships survive scares along the way? South Hills is more questionable because of their quarterback situation, but I stand by my prediction that these two will meet in the finals.
The L.A. Times’ Eric Sondheimer writes that Pete Carroll should think about Bishop Amat’s Rio Fuiz in football, he already committed to the Trojans in baseball. But they have a long wait, he’s just a sophomore.
Things you should know about Lakewood, their only loss is to undefeated Crenshaw in the opener 28-27, they crush teams they’re supposed to crush, and have notable wins over name teams like Long Beach Poly, and smacked the heck out of Newport Harbor last week. They haven’t lost at home, and win by a 32-point margin. Not trying to scare Amat Nation, I’m just sayin …
Know your opponent: Highlights of the Lakewood-Crenshaw game.
Read the Lakewood local angle from J.J. Fiddler on LBPOST.Com, Despite yet another slow start for Lakewood, the Moore League Champions cruised in the second half and took out Newport Harbor, 41-17, in the first round of the CIF Pac-5 Playoffs. The Lancers spotted the Sailors 10 points after just five plays, but 221 yards on the ground and more stingy defense from the Red Swarm was the difference as Lakewood advances to the quarterfinals where they will face Bishop Amat, the #1 seed from the Serra League.
In Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA championship at Cypress College, Los Altos (30-8) took the first game, then fell behind 2-1, rallying for a five-game 25-16, 21-25 18-25, 25-23 and 15-10 victory over the No. 2 Bearcats (18-7) to claim their first girls volleyball championship after coming up short in title games in 1975 and 1977.
For more from the players, click thread
For the photo gallery of Saturday’s championship, click thread
