Gilroy
– Palma is a worthy boys basketball champion. Gilroy is on a
roll.
Gilroy – Palma is a worthy boys basketball champion. Gilroy is on a roll.
And yet the team that deserves the most credit in the league is Alvarez. The job done by coach Mark Haddan is nothing short of remarkable. Remember, this is a team that was winless just two years ago, and was 8-112 during the last five seasons.
Also, this is a team loaded with underclassmen. The Eagles were 13-11 overall, 6-6 in league. They averaged 67.3 points. TCAL second leading scorer Harvey Todd, Matt Baker and Erik Rodriguez are all underclassmen who make the future bright.
Five TCAL boys and girls teams qualified for the playoffs. All are in the Division 1 playoffs except for Palma, the prohibitive favorites in Division IV. The Chieftains not only get a bye in the opening round, but face a sub-.500 team (Harbor 12-14 or Carmel 9-17) in the quarterfinals. And, Palma will play games on familiar courts with the quarterfinals at Alvarez and the semifinals set for North Salinas.
As far as Division 1, if Gilroy gets by Silver Creek tonight as expected, it could potentially face a third meeting with Alisal if the Trojans upend Carlmont. Alisal enters the tournament as arguably the one team heading in the wrong direction (losers of seven of its last 10) but in one game you never know what will happen.
On the girls side, Gilroy is coming off a two-point win over Alisal that could prove beneficial in the long run. The Mustangs got off to a miserable start against the Trojans and trailed by 17 in the first half. The fact that Gilroy was able to come from behind and win was a first this season. That’s the good news.
And yet coach James Wilkins knows that a similar start at home tonight against Homestead could make it one-and-done in the CCS playoffs for the second year in a row for GHS. On the other hand, a Gilroy win allows the girls to avenge last year’s shocking loss to Carlmont.
This is a far different team from the 2005-06 Gilroy girls team that posted a 23-4 record and ran the table in the TCAL. And yet, this GHS team has an opportunity to go farther as long as it doesn’t let Homestead’s 14-10 record and a home game lull Gilroy into a false sense of security. No. 8 seed GHS brings the second best overall record (17-6) into the tournament.
The best news for Wilkins and the Mustangs is that they are in the opposite side of the bracket from North Salinas, which handled Gilroy easily in two meetings. That’s a long way down the road if the Mustangs get that far.
Let the games begin.
