CIF-SS Large Enrollment Division
Preview:
Garden Grove League 2001-02--(Nov. 22, 2001)
| GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE Bolsa Grande Garden Grove La Quinta/Westminster Los Amigos Pacifica Rancho Alamitos Santiago/Garden Grove |
The Garden Grove League is one of those Orange County leagues which can either be good, or not so good. This past year, the league was only moderately competitive, and two teams out of seven had more than 10 wins overall, not an especially competitive showing. Santiago, the third place team made it to the II-AA playoffs, and was beaten by Sonora in the first round; Los Amigos suffered a similar fate losing to Kennedy in the first round, and Bolsa Grande, the No. 3 finisher (in a tie) also lost in the first round of the II-A playoffs to Artesia. Of course, the fact that the teams in the league are fairly evenly matched, does at least make for competitive league contests, which is what high school ball is all about, after all.
We don't know a lot about any of these individual teams, and had to rely almost exclusively on the OC Register's published preview (it hit the paper today, November 22, 2001). We've noted the order of finish predicted by the Register, which for the sake of those who don't want to wade through each preview is as follows: 1. Bolsa Grande, 2. Los Amigos, 3. Pacifica, 4. Santiago, 5. Rancho Alamitos, 6. Garden Grove, and 7. La Quinta. Personally, we're not making any predictions.
From a "Players to Watch" point of view, the only player we would think of a someone to watch, at least a player with a demonstrated ability is senior Omar Amaral, a solid point guard for Bolsa Grande. Other players will develop as the season progresses.
What follows is what we know about the teams thus far this season, which means we're looking at old rosters and predicting who will be returning and which younger players will be stepping up. The schedules are accurate as far as we know, We encourage coaches to send us their official rosters (via e-mail) and any other information about their teams so we can update these previews.
| Garden Grove League Rosters | Garden Grove League Schedules |
| Los Amigos--10-2, 17-11 (1st) "Lobos" We must have misplaced our playoff roster for Los Amigos, because we've had to rely instead entirely on the OC Register's preview. Here's what the paper published on 11/22/01: Returners: Chris Jalem 5'-7" Sr. G Newcomers to watch: Hector Degante 5'-11" Sr. G Outlook: The Lobos graduated the league MVP and two other all-league players so Grable is depending on an influx of new talent to defend the league title. [and with only one returning player worthy of mention, it had better be a pretty big influx. . . ] |
Los Amigos Coach: Don Grable N 27 Saddleback |
| Bolsa Grande--7-5, 9-17 (2nd tie) "Matadors" Based on last season's playoff roster, here's who we expect to see: Vilakone Visaychack 5'-9" Sr. G The Orange County Register published their preview of the Garden Grove League on Thursday, November 22, and they picked Bolsa Grande to finish first, followed by Los Amigos, Pacifica, Santiago, Rango Alamitos, Garden Grove and then La Quinta. Based on the preview, here's what Bolsa Grande looks like: Coach: Scott Snyder (second year, 9-17) Returners: Newcomers to watch: Jimmy Martinez 6'-1" Sr. F Outlook: Amaral, among the county's top scoers, teams with Doan in the backcourt as the matadors have a deeper supporting caset to compete for the league title.
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Bolsa Grande Coach: Scott Snyder N-26/D-1 @ Buena Park TournD 3-8 @ Valley Chr/C Tourn 12 @ Cypress 14 Pioneer 19 @ *Garden Grove 21 *Santiago/GG 26-29 @ Katella Tourn J 09 *Pacifica 11 @ *La Quinta/W 14 *Los Amigos 16 @ *Rancho Alamitos 18 *Garden Grove 23 @ *Santiago/GG 30 @ *Pacifica F 01 *La Quinta/W 05 @ *Los Amigos 07 *Rancho Alamitos |
| Santiago/ Garden Grove--7-5, 9-16, (2nd tie)
"Cavaliers" Based on the playoff roster from last season, we feel certain these guys will return for 2001-02: Giovanni Sanchez 5'-8" Sr. G The OC Register's preview agrees for the most part. Here's the additional info the OC Register published on 11/22 about Santiago: Coach: Ramon Potestas (3rd season, 11-41) Returners: Freddy Brito 5'-10" Jr. F Newcomers to watch: Raymond Barros 6'-1" So. G Outlook: Potestas projects a top-four league finish and a post-season appearance.
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Santiago/Garden Grove Coach: Val Potestas N 26 @ Century |
| Garden Grove--7-5, 14-9 (2nd tie)
"Argonauts" The Argonauts went to the playoffs last year, and while they didnt' have a long run, they return several players from the roster of last season's team. Still, the Register picked them to finish 6th in league, well out of the running this year. Here's who we expect to see returning: Robert Heideman 5'-10" Jr. F The OC Register preview (11/22/01) pretty much confirmed this, and added the following information: Returners: --None identified by the Register (Huh? Did all these guys listed above simply leave?) Newcomers to watch: Brian Pierce 6'-3" So. F Outlook: With no returners, the Argonauts will depend on a lot of new faces to surprise teams in league.
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Garden Grove Coach: Ken Frank D 01 @ Orange |
| Rancho Alamitos--5-7, 7-18 (4th) "Vaqueros" Rancho didn't qualify for the playoffs this past season, and they've got a new first year coach, so they're just trying to put together some wins and make it through the league season to a post-season berth. The only info we have on them comes from the Orange County Register's preview of the Garden Grove League published by the paper on Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving day), and the paper picked them to finish fifth, so they're not considered likely (by some at least) to make the playoffs. Here's what we know: Coach: Vern Broadnax (first year) Returners: Art Aguilar 6'-1" Sr. G/F Newcomers to Watch: Antwan Richardson 6'-2" S.r F Outlook: The Vaqueros will rely on Aguilar, Jackson and Torres heavily to stay in the hunt.
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Rancho Alamitos Coach: Vern Broadnax N 26 @ Buena Park
Tourn |
| La Quinta/ Westminster--3-9, 4-21 (5th tie) "Aztecs" The Aztecs are picked by the Register to finish last, which is one step below where they finished the 2000-01 season. We have no information independently of the Register's preview, so we'll just pass that along here: Coach: Romone Neal (first year) Returners: Albert Subandhi 6'-5" Sr. F Newcomers to watch: Outlook: Neal expects the Aztecs to improve gradually and stay in the mix. |
La Quinta/Westminster Coach: Romone Neal N 28 Western |
| Pacifica/ Garden Grove-- 3-9, 9-17 (5th tie)
"Mariners" Pacifica graduated all their starters, after finishing in last place, with is both a good thing and a bad thing.....The OC Register has picked them to finish third, behind only Bolsa Grande and Los Amigos. Can't wait to see what the Times' thinks. Maybe the Register's guys (Chris Zupke wrote the preview) know something. Here's what the OC Register preview (posted 11/22/01) said: Coach: David Friedman (second Year, 7-21) Returners: Newcomers to watch: Jason Brock 6'-3" Jr. G/F Outlook: The Mariners graduated all their starters but have young talent to keep them competitive in league.
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Pacifica Coach: Dave Friedman N 27 Pacifica Tourn |
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