January 07, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Eastside Prep, Paly and M-A are rolling

This is the third in a series of stories previewing the high school winter sports season. Today: boys' basketball.

by Nathan Kurz

If there's one underlining theme for the entire local 2004 boys' hoops season, it's balance. Each club in the top-tier undoubtedly has it. Spreading things around has helped Palo Alto and Eastside Prep overcome the loss of last year's stars while Menlo-Atherton has forged for itself quite a formidable inside-outside combination. All three teams have good reason to embrace great expectations-including league and Central Coast Section title aspirations.

The middle-of-the-road teams, meanwhile, are in the process of finding the right equilibrium that will help them make serious league challengers and deep playoff threats. Both Sacred Heart Prep and Gunn boast a mix of young and experienced marquee players who will need to find a way to compliment each other if their respective teams want to make some serious noise.

Finally, the low-end outfits-Menlo, Woodside Priory, Mid-Peninsula and Pinewood-have all struggled to replace the graduated core of their teams in the preseason and must have inexperienced players develop quickly if they want to fashion hopes of qualifying for the postseason.

The middle-of-the-road teams, meanwhile, are in the process of finding the right equilibrium that will help them make serious league challengers and deep playoff threats. Both Sacred Heart Prep and Gunn boast a mix of young and experienced marquee players that will need to find a way to complement each other if their respective teams want to make some serious noise.

Finally, the low-end outfits-Menlo, Woodside Priory, Mid-Peninsula and Pinewood-have all struggled to replace the graduated core of their teams in the preseason and must have inexperienced players develop quickly if they want to fashion hopes of qualifying for the postseason.

Eastside Prep Everything seemed to be in place for Eastside Prep to finally reach the State Division V championship game last season. The Panthers returned all five starters from a team that narrowly lost in the NorCal title game a year earlier and seemed ready to prove that indeed, the little school from East Palo Alto could play with the Division V giants of California.

Eastside reached the pinnacle once again, but lost yet again in the NorCal title game, this time by one point to Modesto Christian.

"I've had my best teams the last two years," coach Chris Bischof said. "It makes you wonder when we'll get back there."

With four of five starters gone from a year ago, including four-year starter Jeremiah Williams (who is now a freshman guard at USF), it would seem that talking about playoffs already might be silly. But as is often the case with quality programs, Eastside Prep (14-1) has merely reloaded.

Senior forwards Keith Garner and Stephen Waller are the cogs in this machine. They are the centerpieces of the offense and help anchor a mellower defense than Eastside has employed in past years.

"They've really picked up the scoring load and on-court leadership," Bischof said.

The backcourt has been less flamboyant without Williams, and Eastside was surely dealt a blow when Victor Pannu, the other starting forward last year, moved out of the area. Instead, Bischof has asked senior Myron Jordan and junior Clarence Webster, who missed the 2003 season with a foot injury, to be steady and distribute the ball.

Bischof decided early in the season that his team was less quick and disciplined defensively than those of old, so he made a bold move.

He installed a 2-3 zone.

"It's the first time in my lifetime I've ever used one," Bischof said. "It's taken quite an adjustment on my part."

Recall that historically, Eastside has been a team to press and trap to no end but this year has alternated between man and zone.

"We've tried to play to our strengths," he said.

Juniors Derrick Haynie and Gio Connor have also started on occasion. But Bischof may not be able to go deeper than the aforementioned six-such are the slim pickings at a small school. Still, the Panthers have won the past two tournaments they've entered and Garner has been named MVP on both of them.

The most pressing issue for Bischof is figuring out a way to ready his team for the rigors of the NorCal playoffs.

See, Eastside faces a daunting scheduling problem year in and year out. In the preseason, they play the toughest teams they can. In the regular season, they consistently overmatch every opponent-they've never been seriously challenged in the Christian Private Schools Athletic League. Then, the playoffs roll around, and the last three-to-four games of the season become the most difficult.

Eastside is at a further disadvantage to other Division V schools in the state because of the weak league composition. Modesto Christian, for example, plays in the Division I league in their region, while other traditional powerhouses like Branson and St. Elizabeth of Oakland play in big public school leagues.

Eastside Prep, of course, has tried to do its part to bulk up. Arguably its biggest test of the year was against powerhouse Oakland High, which visited Tuesday night.
Palo Alto

It's abundantly clear that Palo Alto has not missed a beat without the graduated Ryan Symes. The defending CCS Division II champion Vikings (11-2) have already posted a number of quality wins, including over playoff semifinalist Woodside and blew teams out of the water in the Half Moon Bay Tournament.

In the wake of this success, it's still worth, for a moment, to show how big the shoes of No. 33 really are.

Symes graduated last spring as the schools' all-time leading scorer, posted a school-record 30 rebounds against Milpitas last January and made the all-section team two years in a row. More importantly, he was the catalyst behind Palo Alto's magical run to CCS glory-the Vikings won their third section crown after beating four opponents by an average of 13 points.

(By the way, Symes is redshirting at UC-Davis and figures to be a guard or small forward next year. He will get his own homecoming when the Aggies travel to Stanford early in the preseason next year.)

This is a different year and a different team for coach Peter Diepenbrock. The Vikings do return two starters, guard Ben Schwartz and forward Brian Baskauskas, from the section-winning club.

Furthermore, Diepenbrock has openly claimed that his team is the most deep he's ever had-Palo Alto will consistently go nine deep.

But depth doesn't solve the problem of finding the clutch player.

"Even if you have depth, you still need to know who your go-to-guy is," Diepenbrock said.

Not that the Vikings lack a number of quality options.

There's Baskauskas, who has show a great deal of consistency with his perimeter game. There's 6-foot-5 forward Oystein Aukland, a foreign exchange student from Norway who has scored in double figures in Palo Alto's past three games, including a 20-point effort in the Vikings' 57-48 loss to Pioneer in the finals of the Soquel Winter Classic last Saturday. And there's Schwartz, whose heady play, deadly outside shot and vocal leadership abilities have earned him much praise.

But the player seemingly destined for greatness, at least down the road, appears to be sophomore point guard Jeremy Lin. He was named MVP of the Cougar Classic, and although he has struggled with his shot at times, Lin has arguably established himself as the most creative point guard Diepenbrock has ever coached at the school.

Diepenbrock brought up the 5-foot-10 Lin for the CCS playoffs last year to be the first or second guy off the bench, and the then-freshman immediately began to show his potential.

If you've blinked during some of Palo Alto's games, you've probably missed some of Lin's best plays. He's the kind of player that loves to improvise on the fly; seemingly every game he flips the ball one way to a teammate streaking in one direction when it seems Lin's attention is focused on another.

"He has a knack for knowing where people are," he said. "He's just got a real good feel for the game."

Like most sophomores, though, Lin is still a work in progress.

"Jeremy needs to be stronger and more determined with ball," Diepenbrock said.

The most glaring Viking stat that jumps out at you is the presence of six players at 6-foot-5 or taller on the roster. Diepenbrock believes he's never really had the luxury of so many big men.

But size has not yet translated into effectiveness.

"You would think that it would allow us to control the defensive boards and create second shots," Diepenbrock said. "But they're most perimeter players. We're just going to have to continue to emphasize rebounding."

Palo Alto has also struggled with slow starts, especially in games against Woodside and St. Francis. It's what Diepenbrock calls "total anxiety-our guys don't perform at the level that they can."

Defensively, Diepenbrock didn't want to press early in the season because of a lack of foot speed. But after being dismantled by Menlo-Atherton in an earlier game, the Palo Alto coach decided to employ a press occasionally to "get us going."

The Vikings have also had moments of offensive stagnation early in the season-and at other times have been spectacular.

So how can they become more consistent?

"We need to start with more structure and then do less-structured stuff when they're in the flow," he said. "We don't play well with our typical anxiety levels."

These are all kinks that Diepenbrock hopes to have ironed out by the time league play rolls around this week. The Vikings are undoubtedly the favorites to win the SCVAL De Anza Division, but will face their annual battles with Los Gatos, Milpitas and Gunn.

Finally, its important to remember that Palo Alto now has a wiser, more insightful man at the helm after its tournament success of a year ago.

So, coach, what exactly did you learn from your team's deep tournament run?

"Regardless of the talent level, nothing is more important than having guys knowing and excepting roles," he said. "I've had more talented teams that last year's team, but none of them were able to play well together because the roles were not as well defined."

And?

"It helps to have your most valuable player be a very popular and well-liked player," he said. "There was no way anyone couldn't have liked Ryan."

Sounds like Diepenbrock has a model for success. The rest of CCS had better take notice.
Menlo-Atherton

To understand why Menlo-Atherton has been one of the biggest surprises of the preseason, you have to go back to head coach Craig Carson's first days at the school.

When Carson arrived in Atherton last year to take on the head coaching position, he discovered a Bears team in utter disarray after an agonizing 4-21 campaign in 2002. He knew he had to rebuild.

But the new coach's plan of reconstruction was, well, implemented quite dramatically.

The Menlo-Atherton team convened two summers ago, and Carson made it clear that he wanted his team to have a youthful flavor. If some of the sophomores and juniors proved they could play, Carson maintained he would have no hesitation in playing them over more seasoned veterans.

So when tryouts came around, many of the older players took the hint and didn't even bother to show up. And of those who did come, Carson only retained two.

In other words, instead of taking old pieces and molding them on top of a dilapidated base, the coach tore everything up and created an entirely new foundation.

"When I took this job, I knew it was a two-year job," Carson said. "We played last year to get better for this year and anything above that was great."

Menlo-Atherton, of course, would go on to exceed expectations. The Bears finished 18-11 and as a No. 11 seed reached the semifinals of the CCS Division II playoffs before falling to PAL foe Aragon.

More pertinent to the present, it is unmistakably clear that the groundwork laid last season is propelling this Menlo-Atherton team to bigger heights.

The Bears (11-2) are off and rolling, having only lost to Turlock in the finals of the Tracy Winter Classic and to St. Ignatius in the semifinals of the Sand Dune Classic.

What's their secret? That the principles instilled by Carson in his team have really begun to take hold is probably the best answer.

After being such a porous defensive team in past years, the Bears are now holding opponents to under 46 points a contest. Plus, they've gotten over their selfish offensive ways of old; the Bears have had a different leading scorer in six of 13 games.

"A lot of that is attitude," Carson said. "All these guys are good athletes but they haven't really understood basketball [until recently]."

Want a great example of how much this team has progressed in just under a year?

Last year, Menlo-Atherton played scared and was shellacked by Palo Alto 70-39 in one of the Bears' worst games of the year.

The rematch, in the championship of this year's Gator Classic, was drastically different. Menlo-Atherton's man-to-man pressure defense bothered the Vikings all evening while six Bear players scored between five and 14 points as they cruised to an easy 52-32 victory.

Menlo-Atherton returns much of its nucleus intact, including first-team all-league forward Dan Trautman, the team's leading scorer and rebounder.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound junior couples with 6-foot-6 center Peter Hogue to build a formidable front-line tandem that's quite versatile as well; Hogue has the ability to step out 15-to-18 feet while Trautman is a viable three-point threat.

Trautman, however, twisted his right knee in practice a few weeks ago and didn't play in the Tracy Classic. But the rest of the Menlo-Atherton squad stepped up in Trautman's absence, which so impressed Carson that he admitted he will now go nine deep without hesitation.

Carson's tutelage of point guard Steve Job has helped the 5-foot-11 senior considerably. Job plays the most minutes of anyone on the squad, has enhanced his court vision and has become such a good decision-maker that he, not Carson, calls the plays on offense.

Rounding out the starting five are senior Roddy Harrison, who recently returned from injury to reclaim the off-guard spot, and small forward Mark Daiss. Two important contributors off the bench are Carson Finkle, the team's long-range sniper, and Chris Dallmar, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound forward who spells Trautman and Hogue from time to time.

As important as all those guys have been, Carson believes his team's X-factor is senior guard Jesus Contreras, whom he pegs the Bears' defensive stopper.

Menlo-Atherton should be considered the favorite to win the PAL South and can go a long way toward separating itself from the pack with some early league games against Burlingame and Aragon.
Sacred Heart Prep

Lamont Quattlebaum has reason to smile these days. He only has to coach one team at Sacred Heart Prep this year-his wife handles the girls' coaching duties-and, when the playoffs roll around, his Gators squad will finally get to compete where it belongs: in Division V.

The Gators had struggled to make waves in Division IV the past four years, where it was the smallest school entered by a good 350 students. It notched its first-ever win in the division over Robert Louis Stevenson only last year-but the section has moved Sacred Heart back down to the division where the Gators won a CCS title.

Sacred Heart Prep (2-0, 8-2) has faired moderately well in the preseason but Quattlebaum knows the Gators will peak later in the season.

That's because three of his top players joined the team late because of commitments to other sports teams at the school: Tyler Holland (football), Jamie Greene (water polo) and Spencer Lucian (soccer).

That trio, however, should form the nucleus of a team that has Quattlebaum genuinely fired up.

Holland, however, appears in midseason form already. He scored 29 points in an 82-53 PSAL win over Harker last Friday and followed that with a 25-point outing in a 55-36 nonleague win over Pacific Grove on Saturday.

"There's a different excitement around here this year," Quattlebaum said. "It's now my third year here, and I think the system is now solidly in place."

There have been a few early-season injuries that will need to heal, though. Greene had a broken foot and was out for a while. (The foot started hurting during the Gator Classic, worsened in a game against Fremont Christian and only was diagnosed as a break after a San Mateo player landed on it-requiring a doctor visit). Samer Sayigh, a senior starting forward, broke his finger but since has returned.

The biggest key to Sacred Heart's season has been finding a number of offensive options. Last year, Aziz Sayigh, the 2003 league MVP, and Holland combined to score nearly 40 points a game. Now, with Sayigh gone, the Gators have had to branch out.

"Last year, guys would turn down open shots to find Aziz or Tyler," Quattlebaum said. "But this year we've got people being much more aggressive offensively."

Sophomore guard Pat Coffey and Lucian, in particular, have been assertive in picking up the offensive slack with precise shooting.

After going undefeated in the Private Schools Athletic League last year, Quattlebaum knows the Gators will have a huge target on their backs.

"Everyone's going to come after us," he said. "Some teams will only prepare for us this season."
Gunn

Gunn was a wholly inconsistent team last year, notching big wins over league powers Palo Alto, Milpitas and Los Gatos, and then drooping its play at other times-including a quiet loss to St. Francis in the first round of the CCS Division II playoffs.

And after losing three starters to graduation, including first-team all-league selection Derek Brannon (who's now a bench contributor for the University of Chicago), stability might seem to be an elusive goal for coach Jeff Klenow.

But, in fact, it has been one of the strengths of the Titans (9-5) in the early going, even though Gunn stubbed its toe in a 53-43 nonleague loss at Menlo-Atherton last Saturday.

"Last year, we had so many different lineups," Klenow said. "Now we've got a consistent five, so you always know what you're going to get."

Leading the way are a pair of forwards who are first and second in scoring on the team: senior Chris Mugler and 6-foot-3 freshman Peter Jordan. Jordan is the first freshman to ever start for Klenow is his long high school coaching career.

"It's a new thing for me," Klenow said. "But Peter's picked up the system quickly and having his brother [David Jordan] in the starting lineup has helped stabilize him."

According to Klenow, another positive development for the Titans has been the vocal leadership of the team's four seniors, including two football players-starting point guard Doug Campbell and center Tom Blake.

"They've just been more into leading and that's helped us," Klenow said.

If Los Gatos' slow preseason start is any indication, the Titans could possibly fall right behind Palo Alto and Milpitas in league and put themselves in pretty good position for playoff seeding.

Then there's always the matter of beating the Vikings. Gunn did it at home last year for the first time in seven tries, and another victory over Palo Alto would do wonders for the confidence of some of Klenow's younger players. The two teams tango January 23 at Paly and February 12 at Gunn.

Zack Geers, considered to be Gunn's best player by some local coaches, is not with the team for personal reasons. Geers attended some practices early in the season but then essentially decided to quit, Klenow said.
Menlo

Menlo had a hellish 2003 season after reentering the ultra-athletic PAL North Division for the first time in 20 years. The Knights' glaring weaknesses-lack of size, strength and quickness-manifested themselves time and time again as Menlo finished a woeful 3-11 record in league and 9-17 overall.

This winter, things, on the surface at least, appear to getting better for coach George Weeks. The Knights (7-3) finished second in the pre-Christmas Prospect Tournament and had a confidence-boosting win over the hosts in the first round.

Weeks, however, says we shouldn't be fooled.

"We've been playing out of our heads a little bit," he said. "It's not indicative of where we are at. We won't really know until we begin league."

What is immediately clear is that Menlo-after losing leading scorer Ryan Seawell to graduation (he's now a freshman outfielder on the Stanford baseball team)-is trying to be a much more balanced team in 2004. Both sophomore guard Blake Schultz and junior center Brandy Bassett have shown glimpses of scoring consistency, they will unlikely be able to duplicate the single-handed scoring numbers of Seawell.

The jury is still out on whether that's a good or bad thing.

The most important thing to realize about Menlo is that it is an extremely green club. At times, Weeks had started a freshman (Beau Heidrich), three sophomores (Schultz, Nick Schneider and Kirk Lacob) and a junior (Bassett).
Mid-Peninsula

Mid-Peninsula had a magical 18-8 season under Curtis Haggins last season, including an upset of third-seeded Pinewood in the first round of the CCS Division V playoffs. But the core of that team-Mike Lobrovich and Jerome DeGuzman-is gone.

The cupboard, however, isn't completely bare for Haggins and company. Former transfer Daron Maxie, now in his second season at the school, is beginning to make a real impact. He had 23 points and three three-pointers in Mid-Pen's 48-44 victory over Fremont Christian on December 18. Junior center Walter Washington (6-4, 225) should also be a solid contributor after a year of varsity basketball under his belt.

Other starters include 6-3 freshman Bruce Grady, 5-10 junior Reggie Demery and 6-2 senior Jason Stergion. Senior Matt Payne (6-6), sophomore Ben Capon, senior Ryan O'Farrell, junior Kevin O'Farrell, sophomore transfer David Cruz (6-2) and 5-11 Ben Krause provide Haggins with plenty of depth.

Maxie, though, will probably be counted on to shoulder the majority of the scoring load when the Dragons (6-4) begin play in the CPSAL this week.

With Eastside Prep playing only one round of a double-round robin schedule, the Panthers aren't eligible to defend their title. That opens the door for Mid-Peninsula.

"Even without the Eastside thing, I had high hopes," Haggins said. "We actually have a chance of winning league."
Woodside Priory

Woodside Priory lost all five starters from a year ago-and the Panthers' inexperience has shown early on. Coach Mike Courtney and company have struggled in the early going, but Woodside Priory (5-5) posted back-to-back wins over Harker and Urban to put it at the .500 mark entering league play. Seniors Leon Johnson, Bryan Tehaney, Sean Moreau, Jason Kim and Michael Jernick provide experience and leadership while sophomore Hap Plain has been an offensive spark. Freshmen Bennett Holland and Alex Schriener add depth off the bench. Courtney and company found out how much work they really have to do after hosting league-favorite Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday night.
Pinewood

Pinewood (1-8) is off to a painfully-slow start in coach Andrew Slayton's second year. This rough beginning should be no surprise, though, since the Panthers-like Woodside Priory-lost all five starters from a year ago to graduation and have only two seniors on their eight player roster.

Things should get better, though. After all, Pinewood didn't have a single player taller than six feet last winter. This year, they have three players at 6-foot-1 that should help somewhat in the rebounding department. The Panthers will look to guards Josh Raskoff, Danney Lynch and Tim Wang for points.

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