It’s playoff time.
For the Bay League boys basketball teams who beat up on each other in a vain attempt to keep up with Peninsula’s unbeaten Panthers, that also means it’s redemption time.
Bring out the brooms. Peninsula, Redondo, Mira Costa and Palos Verdes swept away their first-round opponents on Wednesday night. It was a display of consistent strength that vindicated the coaches’ opinion that this year’s league race was a dogfight night in and night out.
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No one understands that better than Palos Verdes coach Bob Varnell, whose team finished 3-7 in the Bay League after a strong December. The Sea Kings, who got into the CIF Division IV-AA playoffs through an at-large bid, hit the road and handily defeated Estancia, 52-42, to earn a second-round home game Friday against sixth-seeded Bishop Amat.
“The Bay League is definitely a scary league,” Varnell said Thursday. “We were 4-7 against Bay League teams this year (counting games in December) and 7-0 against Pioneer League teams. That’s not to disparage the Pioneer League. But it shows how tough the Bay League is.”
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But that’s history now. All that matters is the playoffs after the Sea Kings (16-11) earned their first playoff win in five years.
“Absolutely, it was a great win for the team, the program and the school. It shows we not only can compete at this level, we can win,” Varnell said. “The whole morale of the school is really good right now."
Senior forward Spencer Armer, the team’s top scorer, led the Sea Kings with 18 points. Senior guard Matt Meskin had 16 points, followed by junior forward Matt Costa and senior center Al Bjekovic with nine points apiece.
After the team boarded the bus for the ride home, Varnell told the players “Now you guys have a playoff win to tell all your friends about.” To which they responded: “It’s already on Facebook, coach.”
The victory was the Sea Kings’ second straight after a 53-51 loss to Redondo. So they’re starting to play well again after hitting the skids in league following a demoralizing 72-57 loss at home to Peninsula.
“The hardest part of league was the first Peninsula loss (a night in which Reese Morgan scored 33 first-half points for Peninsula),” Varnell said. “We really felt we could compete with Peninsula and maybe beat them. That tore the hearts out of the kids.
“It took us about three games to rebuild from that loss.”
Bishop Amat (20-7) was 5-3 in the extremely tough Del Rey League (officially 6-2 if you count a Serra loss that was turned into a win by forfeit). The Lancers beat Serra once on the court and gave Bishop Montgomery two tough games, so the Sea Kings will have their hands full.
But the Sea Kings’ Red Tide fans and rebuilt confidence could be enough to help Palos Verdes pull off what would be a minor upset. And all those tough Bay League games won’t hurt, either.
BATTLE TESTED -- Peninsula has the ultimate go-to guy in Morgan, but Coach Jim Quick agrees that the Bay League’s fiercely competitive demands are another reason the team has a chance to go all the way in the playoffs.
“Every night was a battle,” Quick said. “This team has learned how to win, and that’s partly because league demanded so much from them. They never wavered, no matter how challenging the game was.”
Although they’ve won 24 games in a row and are 26-1, the Panthers are still getting better. They proved that in their playoff opener, just as they proved in the second half of their last league game at West Torrance.
“We’re eager to head into the playoffs,” senior guard Andrew Menard said. “I think we are still getting better. We’ve held it together in league and we’re playing our best basketball now.”
VOICES OF WISDOM -- Redondo coach Tom Maier and Mira Costa Henry Myar are the deans of the Bay League coaching fraternity. Both think the Bay League’s competitive season played a part in Wednesday’s four victories.
“Even though Peninsula went undefeated, there were several games they had to pull out in the end,” said Maier, whose team went to Katella for a 59-52 victory in CIF II-AA. “It was very competitive, which I think has really paid off in the playoffs.
“It’s not out of the question that some of us could keep winning (in addition to No. 1-ranked Peninsula, which pounded Troy at home, 62-28, in a II-A opener).”
No one stands out as a better example of the Bay League’s depth than Mira Costa, which lost five consecutive games in league, all by five points or less, before going to San Bernardino and winning a II-AA opener, 62-54.
“Absolutely, league was tough this year,” said Myar, whose team is 10-17 overall after going 2-8 in league. “I think it says a lot that we won this game after so many close calls in league.
“You have to credit the kids. They refused to stop competing."
GIRLS PREVIEW -- The Bay League’s four girls basketball teams open playoff action Thursday. Winners will continue on Saturday and then into next week.
Bay League champion Redondo (20-8, 10-0) opens at home in the school’s new 900-seat gym against Millikan, the Moore League’s fourth-place team in a Div. I-AA game. Mira Costa (18-9, 8-2), runner-up to Redondo, is at home against Long Beach Jordan (16-9-1), the Moore League runner-up, in another I-AA game.
Palos Verdes slumped just a bit in the second half of Bay League play and the penalty was a road game at Mojave League runnerup Hesperia. Peninsula, which was 2-8 in league but 12-15 overall, has a road game at Rosemead, which was 10-0 in the Mission Valley League.
Don’t be surprised if Palos Verdes makes a run in the Div. III-A. The Sea Kings have a great player in Kelsey Brockway, who could do some big things in what is a weaker division overall than the Bay League.
SOCCER SURPRISE FOR BOYS -- The Bay League boys teams didn’t get a lot of respect from the CIF pairings committee overall. Considering the league’s excellent reputation over the years, that’s a bit surprising.
Bay League champion Palos Verdes (19-3-4) has played strong soccer all season and won two CIF championships in the past six years, but did not earn a top-four seed. The Sea Kings are seeded fifth and will open at home Friday afternoon against a wild-card team.
Mira Costa and Redondo, meanwhile, were forced to play wild-card matches on Wednesday. Each team won. Mira Costa (13-4-4) defeated Laguna Hills, 2-1, on goals by Alex de la Espriella and Charlie Pitts. Redondo (11-10-5) won in sudden death overtime, 1-0, at Moorpark on a goal by Nasaya Kawauchi.
No matter what happens from here, the victories vindicated the beliefs of Mira Costa and Redondo that they had solid teams this season. It’s the first playoff win by Redondo in several years, while Mira Costa lived up to Coach Gary Smith’s belief that this is a team with the potential to make something happen.
“If there’s a team that could sneak up on someone and earn a victory, this is that team,” Smith said after Mira Costa played a great game in a regular-season ending 1-0 loss to Palos Verdes. “I couldn’t be happier with how this team played. I hope we learned something today.”
It looks like the Mustangs did, but their next game won’t be easy. Mira Costa is at second-seeded Millikan, which beat the Mustangs, 4-0, in December. Redondo is at St. John Bosco on Friday.
RESPECT -- While the PV boys were slightly slighted, the PV girls’ lackluster finish after clinching a Bay League championship didn’t influence the CIF seeding committee. The Sea Kings (19-3-3) earned a No. 1 seed in the CIF Division II playoffs and opened up Thursday afternoon against a wild-card team.
The Sea Kings gave up eight goals in their final two league games after starting 8-0 to take the title. An optimist would say the girls are ready because they’re so focused on the playoffs they lost interest in league once they clinched their title.
Soccer is a notoriously difficult sports to predict. It’s so difficult to score the better team doesn’t always win.
Peninsula also has a chance to make a run in the playoffs. The Panthers, mature and solid, open today against Pacific League runner-up Burroughs/Burbanks. Mira Costa, the league’s third-place team, is at Channel League runner-up Dos Pueblos.
WATER POLO DISAPPOINTMENT -- Mira Costa, Palos Verdes and Redondo all lost their opening matches of the CIF playoffs. Mira Costa came the closest to winning, losing to Edison, 13-6, despite four goals by Marisa Purcell.
STAY TUNED -- The best wrestlers from Peninsula, Redondo and Mira Costa compete for CIF individual honors this weekend. A look at how they did next week.
