SoCalHoops High School News

CIF-SS Baseline League Preview, Schedules:
A Three-Way Race Again?--(Nov. 12, 2000)

Updated Info: These team profiles have been upadated on 11/27 based on information published in the LA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview. We anticipate that when the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin does it's previews, that we'll add to the information again to the extent we've overlooked players or something obvious. 

In our effort to get more information out as quickly as possible before the start of the season (which has, to a certain extent already begun with CIF practice permitted as of yesterday, November 11), we've decided to prepare some league overviews.   Not every league and not every team will be profiled, but we'd like to get as much info out there on those leagues which have teams in them who might be considered pre-season favorites to take a run at a CIF Southern Section Championship, and in this case, the Baseline League has several excellent teams in it, including Glendora, Upland and Claremont, any one of which might be making a serious run this year in whatever their respective divisions wind up being in the new three-subdivision D-I (IAAA, IAA and IA). 

We realize it's just not going to be possible for us to feature every CIF or City Section league and team, at least not within the next 10 days when the first games can be played  (consider that the Southern Section alone has 76 leagues in it, with an average of about 6+ teams each, some with 7 or 8, and there are more than 500 teams, so it's sort of hard to pick and choose, but that's what we'll have to do.  We only have so much time in the day, and  we have our doubts that we'll be able to get through even those leagues we want to preview prior to the start of regular league play (which begins in December for a few leagues).   But who knows, we'll give it a shot. . . . Complicating our efforts to get info out there is the fact that not all schools made it to last season's playoffs, and thus we don't have access to complete (or even any) rosters in some cases (see, e.g., Walnut, below).  Further complicating things, some of the coaches are new and we either don't know them, or haven't gotten enough information on their teams to say anything useful.  And some of these schools haven't even submitted schedules to the CIF (that's not true of the Baseline League,  but it is, for example in the Bay League where schools like Inglewood, which should know better, didn't) so what we say may be limited by what's currently available without having to chase down every coach in the Section.

We will still continue to feature our more in-depth previews and profiles during the coming weeks, and throughout the season we'll try to feature a couple of teams every day or so, but we're trying to get as much information out in as short a time as possible before the season, so just understand complete coverage just isn't possible. 

Baseline League Overview

The Baseline League is about as competitive as we can remember it being in quite a while.  Glendora is now two years beyond the Casey Jacobsen era, and it's now going to be a three way fight, if what we know is even halfway accurate between last year's top three finishers, Claremont, Glendora and Upland.   Upland has Nevada Reno- signee Kirk Snyder (6'-6" Sr. G/F) whom many believe to be one of the best players on the west coast, while Claremont will have some surprises to take care of all of its graduated seniors.  Chino, Don Lugo and lastly Walnut should be largely unchanged from last year, but it will certainly be interesting to see who some of the new players are.

You can find this year's official CIF Baseline League schedule at this link (or simply scroll down the page:

Here's a brief look at the individual teams (at least where we've been able to get some information)--the scoring and rebounding averages are from the CIF Media Information forms submitted by each school prior to the start of last year's CIF playoffs, so don't blame us if you think they are not accurate. 

Chino Cowboys Division I-AA City: Chino Nickname: Cowboys Colors: Blue & White Head Coach: Eric Highstreet Assistant Coach: Larry Hollyfield 99-00 Record: 11-16 Overall 3-7 (4th Place)

We really have no idea who the new players will be but this team finished at 3-7 in league and while some of the games were close, they really struggled against their better league opponents, beating only Don Lugo (splitting games), and Walnut, which went winless itself.   They have a couple of players returning with size in Tjayi Malone and Ryan Putnam, but both are young and whether they can generate enough offensive power to make up for the loss to graduation of 7 players, including Brian Thompson (6'-0" G) who accounted for 13.9 ppg and Jon Cryer (6'-3" F) who averaged 12.7 ppg is going to be an interesting question, particularly for a team that did not perform spectacularly even with those two.  Chino has won two prior section titles, the first in 1925 and the last in 1952, so we might as well be talking about ancient Rome or Greece.   Their CIF playoff media form submitted last February in advance of the playoffs (in which Chino lost to Fontana in the first round by a score of 72-55), says they've won "8 league championships". .   obviously last year was not one of those.  Only time will tell if they are improved this season.

Update From LA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview :"Outlook: Building for next year. The Cowboys have six sophomores and just three seniors on their 15-player team. Chino lost Cameron Munoz (19 ppg), who transferred to Ontario, but the team's chemistry, according to Highstreet, has improved since the departure. The coach, who is encouraged by the defensive and work ethic strides, foresees a balanced scoring attack. Watch for Marcey's progress. He's the Cowboy with the biggest upside."  

Claremont Wolfpack Division I-A City: Claremont Nickname: Wolfpack Head Coach:  Mike Bateman 99-00 Record: 22-5

For Claremont HS, rather than guess at who they have, we've gotten the information straight from the source, Head Coach Mike Bateman.  

Claremont comes into the season as the defending Baseline League champs, with hopes of repeating.  While we did say we weren't going to focus on coaches, it's probably worth saying that Mike is in his 5th year of coaching at Claremont, and during the first four, the Wolfpack have an overall record of 68-38. Claremont returns some good players, and they have some others moving up, and they should still finish in the top three or four, even though they lost a lot of offense when the Taylor twins graduated and moved on to Irvine Valley JC.  Claremont will be led this year by Sean Terrell (6'-1" Sr. SG), who can put it in the basket from just about anywhere on the floor.  His improved defense and ballhandling will make it a lot tougher this year for teams to contain him and his shooting will make it hard for others to zone Claremont.   Michah Lombard (6'-6" Sr. F) can shot the three or post up inside, and his added strength and quickness has attracted a lot of Division I college coaches' attention, including those who saw him knock down 28 points against Compton Dominguez while playing at the Rim Rattler tournament at UC Riverside this fall.    Shaddean Aaron (6'-6" Jr. F) could be the player who winds up being most highly sought after from Claremont next season. Shaddean has deadly range from behind the arc and with his development as a penetrator he can score from anywhere. As a sophomore he averaged 12.6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals per game. Rounding out the starting five are Kevyn White (6'-0" Sr. PG) --a transfer from Upland--and Davar Wilburn (6'-5" Sr. C) --he's reportedly the brother of Dino Wilburn (6'-4" Jr. SG) from Pasadena.   Kevyn will play the point this season, and he's an excellent ball handler, penetrator and defender. Expect to see him locking up the opponents' best offensive threat as well. 

Shaddean Aaron

The addition of White will allow Coach Bateman to move Sean Terrell to the shooting guard. Davar Wilburn plays alot bigger than his listed height; his post defense and ability to rebound the ball allow Claremont to get out on the fast break a lot quicker than some teams with taller, but less mobile guys. As a junior, Wilburn he averaged 7.2 points and 10.6 rebounds.   Others who will contribute this year will be Ian Maxwell, who at 220lbs will add bulk and muscle to the inside game, and he can hit the 15' jumper or take the ball to the rack. Shane O'Conner is mostly a pure post player who plays well with his back to the basket who will also provide some help on the defensive end with rebounding.  Junior Ramar Green will be the back-up point guard;   he's extremely quick and athletic and is possibly one of the best defenders on the team.  The addition of two sophomores will add speed and quickness to the lineup:   Charles Oliver is a combo guard who will see some time at various positions. He is very strong for his age and excellent is an excellent passer. Earl Wilson is a great shooter and penetrator who will give Claremont quality time and the ability to move other players around.

Updated Info from LA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview:   "Outlook: The Wolfpack are poised for a season-long 1-2 battle with Upland for Baseline League and Inland Valley supremacy. While last year's first-round playoff exit was a stunner and the team still has to replace the leadership void left by the Taylor twins, returning league MVP Terrell and Upland transfer White provide a polished backcourt. Lombard, Wilburn and Aaron, who will be a prized national recruit in 2002, ensure an imposing and physical rebounding presence."

Don Lugo Conquistadores Division I-A City:  Chino Nickname: Conquistadores Colors: Brown, Gold, White & Black Head Coach: Steve Hebert Assistants: Tony Nixon, Scott Spicer, Scott Martinez 99-00 Record: 10-16 (4th)

Here's the list of players who should (barring transfers or other factors unknown to us) should be among the returning players:

Don Lugo made the playoffs last season by virtue of the the 10-win rule (a good rule, by the way in our view), but they didn't make it past the first round, losing to Garey 61-57. This year could be a sort of good-news, bad-news season, depending on how things really progressed over the summer.  The good news: Only three players graduated from last year's team, which finished at 3-7 in league. And that might be the bad news too:  Of the players who graduated, only one averaged more than 10 ppg during the regular season, and that was Raymond Hong, a 5'-9" guard who averaged 17 ppg.  The only player who scored more on a consistent basis is returnee Andy Galindo who averaged 10 ppg.   The rest of the team is not particularly tall, but they do have some size, and best of all a lot of promising younger players who got valuable experience last year and who have hopefully improved, among them Roger Amaya (6'-0" So. G), returning starters Garet Hill (6'-5" Jr. F) and Charles Fender (6'-3" Jr. F), and a few others.

Updated Info from LA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview:  "Outlook: Hebert is excited about his team's depth, saying he'll adapt to different game situations with a bench of "interchangeable parts." The athletic, smart, sharpshooting Galindo is a throwback and the team's only senior. Hill has gained strength. The league is just so talented that the Conquistadores can only hope for so much success. It might help if the district provided them more legitimacy with a real wood floor, not the present tartan rubber surface.".

Glendora Tartans Division I-A City: Glendora Head Coach: Yancy Dodson/Mike LeDuc Nickname: Tartans Colors: Red, White & Black Overall Record: 23-6 (2nd in League)

Glendora 2000-2001 Returning players

DATE
    
11/28
12/06
12/11
01/05
01/09
01/12
01/17
01/19
01/26
01/27
01/31
02/02
02/06
02/08

OPPONENT
    
*Triple Crown
*Cage Classic
*Tournament II
Claremont
*Upland
*Walnut
Don Lugo
Chino
*Claremont
Mater Dee Extravaganza
Upland
Walnut
*Don Lugo
*Chino

SITE
    
Home
Home
Home
Away
Home
Home
Away
Away
Home
L.B. Pyramid
Away
Away
Home
Home

TIME
    
8:00
TBA
TBA
7:30
6:30
7:30
6:30
7:30
7:30
TBA
6:30
7:30
6:30
6:30

Glendora graduated 8 players off a roster which was already in what many thought would be a "rebuilding" mode after McDonald's All-American Casey Jacobsen graduated two years ago (has it really been that long?) but the Tartans did surprisingly well without him, led by guys like Bruce Hatch, Jason Davis, Duncan Reid, Charlie Allen, Joe Degrassi, Scott Giles and a few others.   But this year, the Tartans return some very good players, including Spencer Foster (6'-5" Jr. F) who along with Mike Mehanna (6'-1" Jr. G) could be a deadly combination..  They won't scare anyone with their size, and just looking at them they seem fairly ordinary athletes, not scary good, but these two are tenacious and tough defenders, and Mehanna especially is a quick scorer and with the ball.  He's got an excellent handle and quick first step and he'll just flat-out play and compete, and he was one of the toughest guys we saw this fall at the Long Beach Fall Hoops Classic.   Other returnees will include Lauren Smith and Ernie Alvarez, who along with Evan Lynch make up the only returning senior varsity players from last year's roster. Glendora plays a lot of games at home, and that should be of benefit to them, including hosting one early season "prime time" series of games along with at least two tournaments, one known as the "Cage Classic" and the other simply "Tournament II".  In case you just can't wait, or want the schedule (from the school's own website rather than the CIF Official schedule we have listed way down at the bottom of this page) here's the one we found at the school's own site.  This looks the same as the one below, but you can never have enough schedules:

Updated Info From LA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview: "Outlook: It's still going to be difficult to emerge from the Tartans' gymnasium with a victory, but Glendora appears to be the solid third-place choice this season. Dodson notes Glendora split its two games with Upland and Claremont last year. In Mehanna, the Tartans possess a superb talent. The rest will be up to maximizing the effort of the role players, including Upland transfer Bechler. For those wondering, LeDuc is considered a volunteer assistant because he's been promoted to vice principal, but the veteran coach still runs games and the offense. Dodson oversees the defense and behind-the-scenes paperwork."

Upland Highlanders Division I-AA City: Upland Nickname:Highlanders School Colors: Green/White/Black Head Coach: Jeff Klein 99-00 Record: 22-8 (3rd in League)

Upland missed out on a 20 win season last year, the first one in four straight seasons.   The team won its first 5 games, then dropped a tournament contest early on to Rancho Cucamonga, and the remainder of the losses came at the hands of teams like Long Beach Jordan (a loss later avenged in the playoffs), Crossroads, and the two league losses to Claremont by a combined total of 6 points (66-70 in the first meeting, and 64-66 in the second), together with a split of games with Glendora, didn't help either.  They made it to the semifinals of the Division I-AA playoffs last season, beating in order Long Beach Millikan in the first round 72-57, then beat Capo Valley 74-48, Eisenhower 80-77, Long Beach Jordan and McDonald's AA Travon Bryant by a score of 80-77, and then they lost to Ayala in the Semifinals 58-54. 

The Upland team which returns this season is pretty much intact from last season, losing just a few seniors like Milan Irvin, Matt Christensen, Jason Johnson and DeMarcus Williams (6'-8" PF) who signed with Washington but who rarely played for Upland in tight game situations.  The team also loses Kevin White who transferred to league rival Claremont, but they return some excellent players, including Kirk Snyder, a strong player, some say one of the best in Southern California, who just signed a National letter of intent with Nevada-Reno where he'll join former Artesia point guard Andre Hazel who is a freshman there this season. The transfer of White means that the point guard duties will once again continue to be handled by Sheldon Pace, a very quick ball-handler, exceptionally good at going left or right, who has good speed and the ability to turn it up or down seemingly at will. Prentice Harris, was a team captain last year and he returns as well. Coach Klein told us last season about Harris: "He can pull up for the jumper, shoot off the dribble, has an excellent handle, drives to the hole and also dunks. He's very tough, and also one of our best defenders."  Among the other guards who are expected to return are Jesse Pruitt and Brett Williams, two good shooters. Kyle Bechler, is another three point shooting threat, and Brett Williams is also expected to return, as is Jason Hathaway, a good perimeter defender and three-point shooter, and Eric Hoppe.  On the wing, Tye-Juan Hatter, the only returning junior, and Jason Harris will be expected to cover the inside out and the short corner. Harris is an effective player, with really long arms, wide strong shoulders, and excellent mobility.   If Lionel Davis does indeed return this season, he will be the space-eater inside, a big 250 lb'er who was injured two seasons ago.

Updated Info fromLA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview: "Outlook: The team to beat. Klein has scheduled a taxing slate of teams to toughen up the Highlanders and, after last year's dramatic playoff run, again is counting on his team playing its best basketball later rather than earlier. Snyder, already committed to Nevada, is regarded as the IV's best player, and Pace is given the nod as best point guard. A new weight program has resulted in a more muscular Upland team. No one is stronger than the 255-pound Davis."

Walnut Division I-A City: Walnut Head Coach: Aaron Cornell 99-00 Record: 2-20 (6th in League)

We will be the first to admit it, we know a lot about the school itself (e.g., Walnut High School has been named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence twice (1993, 1998) by the US Dept of Education, a "California Distinguished School" 4 times, a ton of kids in AP classes, etc), but we don't know a thing about their basketball team, and most of our efforts were unsuccessful. The lost every Baseline League game last season, didn't make the playoffs, and we have no reason to believe from anything we've been able to find out (which as we've said is zero) why this year will be any different.  We don't mean to be cruel about this, but look at it this way:  Any change from last year will be an improvement and reason to celebrate

Updated info from LA Times Inland Valley 11/27 Preview:   Everything we know about this team comes from the research done by the Times in it's preview.   Here's the info:

"Outlook: With nowhere to go but up, the Mustangs return five starters. While the experience is a plus, basketball's most required tool -- height -- is a minus. Cornell bowed out of the tough Ayala and San Dimas tourneys and entered the more reasonable Arroyo and Nogales tourneys. Looking at the league schedule can be demoralizing, but Walnut was trailing by just six points at halftime last year against Glendora and Claremont. Cornell has abandoned last year's man defense and constructed a zone/switch-up alignment with an offense meant to deliver the ball to his best shooters."

Complete Official Southern Section League Schedule:

 
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