CIF-SS Large Enrollment Division
Preview:
Orange League 2001-02--(Nov. 24, 2001)
| ORANGE LEAGUE Anaheim Brea Olinda Magnolia Savanna Valencia/Placentia Western |
The Orange League has been dominated for so long by the Brea Olinda program (both on the boys and girls sides) that its hard for us to remember anyone else winning a league title. We're sure it's happened sometime in the long-ago distant past, but we just can't recall it happening. And things aren't likely to change this season either, as Brea figures to make a run at yet another league crown, returning the deepest and most experienced squad in the league, not to mention the tallest group in this league. Brea didn't have the kind of success they wanted last year, despite winning league, they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, the earliest we remember in years (Division II-AA, losing to Laguna Hills, the Sea View League's No. 3 team). Others from the league also qualified for the playoffs, but most suffered a similar fate: Valencia qualified as the League's No. 2 team, but lost in the first round to Chaparral, the Southwestern League's No. 3 team. Magnolia, which finished third, did a bit better, making it to the second round of Division II-A before losing to section runner-up Mayfair (which had Eddie Draughan and Josh Childress). Anaheim beat Troy in a "wild card" game in Division I-A, but then got the privilege of losing to CIF-SS I-A champ and eventual State D-I champs Mater Dei in the first round. And the bottom two, Savanna and Western, didn't make it at all, although the OC Register believes that they will this year.
The Register published their league preview of the Orange League on Saturday, 11/24/01, and in case you didn't see it (it wasn't online, but only in the print version of the paper), we've excerpted some of the info they presented. Just to save you the trouble of reading through these capsules below, the Register's predicted order of finish for the 2001-02 season is: 1. Brea Olinda, 2. Savanna, 3. Western, 4. Valencia, 5. Anaheim, and 6. Magnolia.
What follows is what we know about the teams from having seen some of them during the summer and what has been published in the papers and what we're predicting based on other sources. 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.
| Orange League Rosters | Orange League Schedules |
| Brea Olinda--9-1,
19-8 (1st) "Wildcats" We've seen Brea quite a bit since last season, during spring tournaments and summer stuff (constituted as a club team), and they're a good mix of young players and some experienced leaders. The following info is sort of a combination of the OC Register's preview (published 11/24/01) and what we know otherwise. Coach: Bob Terry (4th year, 69-18) Returners: Newcomers to watch: Outlook--Brea is experienced and deep. The Wildcats return three starters and Terry said the road to the league title still runs throught his team. The Wildcats should do better this year, both in league and post-season based on what we've seen. Evan Moore is listed at 6'-6" by the Register, but he may have actually grown a bit, and our guess is that he's about 6'-7", maybe 6'-8". He's a solid rebounder and with good guard play from Erik Geisler and John Pohlen as well as Brandon Nicholson, this could be one of the surprise teams in Orange County this year. They will miss Evan's older brother Ryan Moore's scoring and size ( the 6'-7" athletic wing is playing for UC Davis this year), but Brent Smith will help up front as will newcomer Phillip Jones. We agree with the Register that this team should, barring a disaster, finish in first. The question will be how deep they can take it in the playoffs.
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Brea Olinda Coach: Bob Terry D 5-8 @ Glendora Tourn |
| Valencia/
Placentia--8-2, 19-8 (2nd) "Tigers" Dean Yoshimura's Valencia Tigers return only 1 varsity player who average 1.8 ppg last season, so they will indeed be rebuilding, having lost all five starters. The team graduated a total of 11 seniors from last year. Here are the players that the Orange County Register identified (who were also on last year's playoff roster): Returners: Newcomers to watch: The Register didn't mention either Chris Johnstone
5'-10" So. G The OC Register's outlook for the team was as follows: " The Tigers lost 11 players from last season's team. Yoshimura is encouraged to have four players 6'-4" or taller who can control the boards."
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Valencia/Placentia Coach: Dean Yoshimura N-26/D-1 @ Loara TournD 05 La Habra 08 @ Troy 10-15 @ Troy/Sonora Tourn 21 Sunny Hills 26-29 @ Orange Tourn J 04 @ El Dorado 09 @ *Anaheim 11 *Western 16 *Savanna 18 @ *Magnolia 23 @ *Brea Olinda 25 *Anaheim 30 @ *Western F 01 @ *Savanna 06 *Magnolia 08 *Brea Olinda |
| Magnolia--5-5, 14-15 (3rd) "Sentinels" Magnolia lost it's coach, Al Walin who resigned, and its most prolific scorer, Geoffrey Clayton 6'-3" Sr. G, who has enrolled at Crenshaw, and they also lost 6 seniors to graduation, so it is really going to be a stretch for the Sentinels to duplicate, much less improve upon last season's third place league finish and their second round playoff appearance in the Division II-A playoffs (they beat Temple City, rio Hondo #3 in the first round, and then ran into section runner-up Mayfair in the second round). We've got their playoff roster, so we know who should be returning, and it looks thin, and the OC Register agrees, picking Magnolia to finish last in the league this season. Here's what the OC Register's preview (11/24 print edition only) had to say about Magnolia: Coach: Christen St. Clair (1st year) Returners: Newcomers to watch: [Two players were not mentioned by the Register, so
perhaps they've transferred out, perhaps they are on the team. They were on the
playoff roster, and should be returning absent a transfer: Outlook: The Sentinels are a young team that will need to mature quickly under a new coach.
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Magnolia Coach: Christen St. Clair N-26/D-1 @ Buena Park TournD 3-8 @ Fullerton Tourn 12 @ Katella 14 @ Kennedy 17-19 @ Bullhead City,AZ Tourn 21 @ La Mirada J 04 Loara 09 @ *Western 11 @ *Brea Olinda1 16 *Anaheim 18 *Valencia/P 23 @ *Savanna 25 *Western 30 *Brea Olinda F 01 @ *Anaheim 06 @ *Valencia/P 08 *Savanna |
| Savanna--4-6, 10-16 (4th) We had nothing on Savanna prior to Nov. 24, and thankfully, the OC Register published their league preview in the paper that day, so we now have the following: Coach: Steve Bennett (2nd year, 10-16) Returners: Turmel Woods 6'-2" G/F 14.9 ppg, 3 apg Newcomers to watch Outlook: The Rebels are young, but Bennett hopes they can use their height to make a playoff run. The Register, by the way, picked Savanna to finish second in league, behind Brea Olinda, despite the paucity of information on individual players (e.g., class). Maybe they know something the rest of us don't....
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Savanna Coach: Steve Bennett N 26-30 @ La Habra TournD 07 @ Katella 12 Loara 14 @ Cypress 18-22 @ Ana Conv Centr Tourn 26-29 @ Katella Tourn J 09 @ *Brea Olinda 11 *Anaheim 16 @ *Valencia/P 18 @ *Western 23 *Magnolia 25 *Brea Olinda 30 @ *Anaheim F 01 *Valencia/P 06 *Western 08 @ *Magnolia |
| Anaheim--3-7, 12-16 (5th) "Colonists" The Colonists return some player from last year, losing seven seniors though to graduation, and they will be without their big scorer, Quinn Hawking (the coach's youngest son), who averaged more than 20 ppg last year, and is now at UCLA. Anaheim made the playoffs, but dropped its first round game. Bob Hawking, a coach with a history of both winning (Simi Valley) and losing (Cal State Fullerton) knows the difference, and winning is more fun, and this year he'll try to put a winning team on the floor although no one is predicting that much success for this team. The Orange County Register (11/24/01 edition) picked the team to finish 5th in league, so evidently they don't see much improvement just by looking at the roster. Of course, Hawk has also from time to time downplayed some good athletes in the hope of catching league rivals sleeping, so only time will tell. Here's what the Register had on the team in the league preview published on 11/24 (print version of the paper only): Coach: Bob Hawking (2nd year, 12-16). Returners: Newcomers to watch: Outlook: The Colonists are mature and tall. They will have to overcome the loss of leading scorer Quinn Hawking.
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Anaheim Coach: Bob Hawking N-27/D-1 @ Mission Viejo TournD 12 @ Santa Ana 14 Century 17-22 @ Anaheim Conv Cntr Tourn 26-30 Orange Tourn J 09 *Valencia/P 11 @ *Savanna 16 @ *Magnolia 18 *Brea Olinda 23 *Western 25 @ *Valencia/P 30 *Savanna F 01 *Magnolia 06 @ *Brea Olinda 08 @ *Western |
| Western--1-9, 8-14 (6th) Here's the OC Register preview for a team that didn't make th playoffs last year, but is picked to finish third in league by the OC Register for the 2001-02 season. (The following info is from the Register's 11/24/01 paper--sorry, it wasn't on the internet edition....): Coach: Joseph Aihara Returners: Newcomers to watch: Outlook: The Pioneers have experienced and talented returners, led by Watts. Aihara hopes it will be enough for a playoff run. |
Western Coach: Joseph Aihara N 28 @ La Quinta |
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