Watching the Lady Mustang hoopsters play their guts out last
night against Notre Dame left me with an uneasy feeling as I left
the Gilroy High gymnasium.
Watching the Lady Mustang hoopsters play their guts out last night against Notre Dame left me with an uneasy feeling as I left the Gilroy High gymnasium.
Sure, the Lady Mustangs competed and battled and even came within four points of tying the score in the second quarter. But realistically they’re chances were slim-to-none against a private powerhouse like Notre Dame.
After the 69-46 home loss, the Lady Mustangs were surprisingly upbeat – knowing they gave it their all and left everything on the court. Gilroy entertained the hometown crowd – running and gunning with the relentless Lady Spirits. But by the third quarter, the game was already decided.
Now this year’s Gilroy unit is no pushover. They have a winning record at 12-8 overall. They have talented players like seniors Laura Hennessee and Jenn Olvera as well as junior Sarah Hoeft. They have the heart-and-hustle players like guards Danell Dow and Sarah Miller. They already got a big win over rival Hollister last Saturday and they have a tough but knowledgeable head coach in Kari Williams.
Even with that, the Lady Mustangs were no match for Notre Dame – which brings in top players throughout the surrounding areas of the Central Coast. They’re not alone, though. There’s Palma and there’s Mitty to name a couple more.
A comment from Dow stuck with me when she said, “We need our perfect game and their worst game.”
There is something terribly wrong with that.
Year in and year out, I roam the sidelines watching as the stocked private programs dominate the public schools. This may not hold true in every sport – but in girls basketball it’s always Mitty and Notre Dame, and in football it’s always Palma, and in baseball it’s always St. Francis and Bellarmine.
It’s just not fair sometimes – leaving me to believe that these private schools need to form a league of their own. I’ve heard the travel from the Salinas private schools to the San Jose private schools is too far or too costly. Well, too bad.
The public schools are at a disadvantage before the opening whistle. I’m not just shooting my mouth off either. How bout when a Bellarmine baseball team uses 12 pitchers in one game – none of which are position players. Is that fair?
And we’re not allowed to say these schools recruit. It’s the winning traditions of these private schools that attract the top student-athletes. Nothing more, nothing less.
I can accept that – but what I can’t accept is when a game is decided before it starts. What’s the use of covering it?
Why is it that the success of public school programs in every sport shifts from year to year? One year Gilroy is the team-to-beat. The next year it’s Live Oak. The year after that it’s Salinas. It’s a great thing.
Of course, there are some exceptions. But why does this rarely hold true for private schools?
I can babble on and on about this issue – but the simple fact remains, private schools should have their own league.
