Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Can't travel to Sacramento?

This Saturday's Division V girls basketball state championship game between Mission Prep and Branson starts at 9:30 a.m.

Can't make the 4- to 5-hour drive from San Luis Obispo County to make it in time? (Or don't wake up early enough on a Saturday even if you live in Sacramento?)

You can listen free to the live broadcast of the game on the internet at KBCSports.com. (Or you can buy an audio recording if you're in the 'I can't get up early' category.)

I sat next to the two guys who did the play-by-play for Mission's Southern California final win over Calvin Christian down in Santa Ana last weekend, and though I didn't really pay much attention to their broadcast, it seemed like they put a bit of work in to researching each team. They interviewed each coach before the game and asked me for a few details.

Hey, even if they're not any good at all, at least you'll know the score. Then you can log on to SanLuisObispo.com at halftime and immediately following the game for my breaking news updates. I'll also be blogging from Arco Arena, the site of the game, and, of course, you can read our in-depth coverage in Sunday's paper.

Oh, and vote in the new poll. It was a recent request by a comment poster on the girls basketball player of the year. You want it, you go it. (Though, technically, I asked the question of you readers like two weeks ago and got crickets.)

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like the poll for SLO County Girls MVP is a foregone conclusion. Leigh Yetter already has a commanding lead with 17 votes.

Statistically, DeWitt of Nipomo is the logical choice, with 13.1 ppg, as well as 12.4 rebounds per game.

Yetter's numbers are 14.8 and 6.8 respectively. Saia of Morro Bay, 9.0 and 1.8. Who is Mackenzie Cunningham? DeWitt also leads Yetter in assists and steals.

Somebody earlier said, well, it's easy to be the best player on a bad team. Not really. DeWitt faced double teams all season, and still rose to the top.

And by the way, Nipomo was not bad. They just faced some tough competition. They beat Atascadero, lost by 6 to AG (much like MP), and pushed Righetti to the limit both games.

If DeWitt had faced the pattycake schedule Mission did, she would have had MONSTER numbers.

Anyway, I know that this post will be reviled by SLO City folks, but remember--SLO County goes as far south as the Santa Maria River, and north up past Paso. Seems like most of the media goes to teams in SLO proper.

That's okay. Anybody who knows basketball would build their team around DeWitt or Wagner of AG, who curently has 0 votes.

Anonymous said...

A good player can't be determined by stats alone, but a player's ability to make the people around her better.

Yetter is not only the leading scorer in the county but she also ranks near the very top in every other statistical bracket. She also has lead her team to the state championship. Her coach has said multiple times that the other players play better with Yetter on the court. She has the ability to deliver personally and help her teammates rise up as well.

There is only one logical choice for player of the year and that choice is Leigh Yetter.

Anonymous said...

Good argument, but the only category in which Yetter leads DeWitt is in scoring (slightly). I'm sure DeWitt's coach would say she makes the players around her better when she is on the court.

I'm stupefied that MP fans can't acknowledge that they play a weak schedule. Yeah, they play a few tough teams in early season tournaments, and yeah, they play a few good teams in the "playoffs", but most of their games are against small schools from small towns with small players.

Take away her 25 points in a 69-15 (15)! "playoff" game against the Kings Christian Crusaders, and it would even be close in the scoring category.

Kings Christian lost to "Mendota" 30-7. Yes, s-e-v-e-n. Yes, M-e-n-d-o-t-a.

Mendota is primarily a farming town, near Fresno, population 7,890.
About 80% of its population, mostly Mexican and Salvadorean immigrants, are employed in agricultural jobs.

The juggernaut Mendota went on to lose to perennial powerhouse Coast Union 18-58.

Anyway, hope you get my drift. Padded stats against some weak, weak competition.

I could go on and on, but don't want to denigrate the accomplishments of the MP girls too much.

They are good. Yetter is good. DeWitt is better.

Anonymous said...

Hey, is it true that DeWitt is nearly 6'1" tall? Makes rebounds and points a little easier don't you think...... Nothing against DeWitt, but Yetter must be a better player given her stats without the advantage of the 4" in height....especially in the rebounding!

Anonymous said...

Ooops...one more...Farmersville lost to Coast Union 75-8. (I'm not making these up).

Farmersville beat Kings Christian 28-26.

But, oh yeah, there is only one logical choice...Leigh Yetter, because she made the players around her "better" when she busted for 25 against the Kings Christian Crusaders in the 69-15"playoff" victory.

Without her on the court, they might have only won by 50 instead of 54.

Anonymous said...

Okay my friend, we'll call it a push...DeWitt is tall, big wingspan, good rebounding instints, a gym rat is there ever was one...but Yetter is not THAT much better...how about co-players of the year?

And by the way, I am rooting for MP this weekend. I won't mind a full page spread on page one of the news section if they win.

Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Yetter scored high points against more than just one bad team.

She scored 24 and 19 points against Rincon Valley and Bentley respectively, two ranked northern California teams. She also racked up big numbers in a San Diego against some of the best teams in Division 1. 11 against Poway, 18 against Gardena, 30 against West Hills. The Royals won all three of these games against teams that won division 1 CIF titles this year and the placed second in the tournament.

Mission has traveled all over the state playing top tier teams, and has won the vast majority of the time. Nipomo never once left the central coast to play any of their games.

In the Atascadero tournament, which Mission won, both Nipomo and Mission played Atascadero. Yetter scored 25 points, Dewitt had 5.

So yes, Yetter should be player of the year.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Nipomo didn't travel all that much because they are in this pesky little thing called a "league," which tends to keep you close to home. I see that Mission was 2-0 in "league."

Also, transportation costs being what they are, public schools have to abide by a budget, which is not a problem for Mi$$ion Prep.

Santa Maria has a player, Hannah Miller, who is just as good as Yetter, and she's a sophomore (two year varsity starter) She averaged 15.2 in the Los Padres League, against tough competition like St. Joe's, Cabrillo, Lompoc, etc. She had 24 points against West High, so I guess, according to your logic, she is a better player than Yetter, because she had more points against a common opponent. She had 25 against Cabrillo, Yetter, 17. Oh yeah, she's 5'3". Did you play Santa Maria? Not that far.

Play Righetti. Nipomo. Not that far. Play (and lose) a few more times against St. Joe's.

All the local teams play consistently tough competition...

Mission plays some tough teams, many weak teams...again...against St. Joe's, AG, and Morro Bay, the amazing 25-4 Mission Prep team went 1-3.

Three of your four losses were right here in your backyard, Ba-BEE!

By the way, Rincon Valley, your measuring stick, just got punked by Branson by 22.

Whacha runnin from?

Howz' next year lookin?

Sincerely,

Lickin' our chops...

Anonymous said...

lick ur chops while ur girls are doing absolutely nothing. It maybe a weak league, but our girls still have something to play for, and im pretty sure its the most important game in hs basketball no matter what division

Anonymous said...

I see you didn't have a response to all the ranked D1 teams Mission played and beat in San Diego. Is it possible that you don't have response to that part of the argument. Nipomo and Santa Maria aren't too far away for Mission for play... they aren't good enough. Mission played the best teams in the area, AG, Morro Bay, St. Joe's. They didn't win them all, but no team is going to win every game. Mission also went all over the state, from Sanoma to San Diego playing some of the best schools in the state. No other school in the area has played and beat as many D1 teams as Mission. No one has ever gotten as far as Mission has is basketball. And Mission won the Atascadero tournament, a local tournament which featured all the teams you mentioned. And the fact that Rincon Valley lost to Branson seeing as how they are they defending state champions and one of the best teams in the state. Oh and who is the other best team in the state, thats right the team that is going to play them for the state championship on Saturday, Mission. And who leads Mission in almost every statistical measure, Leigh Yetter.

I know Dewitt is a good player, there are a lot of good players on the central coast, but Yetter is player of the year hands down.

Anonymous said...

licken' our chops...

I can't wait til next year, when Mission continues to kick ass all over the Central Coast.

Here's to you being a jackass.

Howz' the friend search going... green isn't a color I usually look for in a friend but I don't keep your sort of unpleasant company.

Anonymous said...

Although I have not seen DeWitt play, I would compare her to a Michael Hattar- Solid Numbers, bad team. And that was decided in the boys blog that that will not win you a player of the year vote. Hattar had a great scoring average, but did it lead his team to victory: no. Yetter has solid numbers too, and like Dylan Royer and David Cone, she is leading her team to victory...and even more so then the two boys mentioned, because the Mission Girls are 1 win away from bringing back a State Championship Banner..

Anonymous said...

i think DeWitt or Wagner deserve the county player of the year. Only because their numbers are great against solid teams. Where as Yetter's numbers are good against amiture teams

Anonymous said...

Have you not been paying attention?!?!

Yetter's stats are great against some of the best D1 schools in the state. If you call that amateur you might want to look up the word in the dictionary, if for no other reason than to learn how to spell it.

Anonymous said...

everyone should stop hating on MP, because if you haven't realized it by now they just thrive on. So if you want to help them out, keep hating... but if you really don't like them shut up. FTH

Anonymous said...

MP - Good luck keepin on kickin ass when you have only one player returning with any kind of playing time this year (Caruso).

Hope you have a helluva JV team(not) or a good recruiting year cause AG has three starters returning, including a probable league MVP (Wagner), Trudeau, and Caywood, 3rd in the league in 3 pointers.

St. Joe's is loaded as well, and Atascadero had two freshman (Palma and Berwick) and a sophomore Hinton in the starting five.

Good luck. Speaking of friends, looks like somebody who is posting at 2:35 a.m. could use a few, or at least a life.

As far as MP not playing team like Santa Maria because they are not "good enough," that's a joke, with the opponents you do schedule.

Nut it up or shut up.

Anonymous said...

Not sure who those jabs are directed towards> nut it up? kinda hard for girls to do that eh? anyways... keep tryin to focus on next year (you must be a chicago cubs fan), while the rest of the mission team is at arco.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad that you are an idiot because it makes this so much easier. Mission is returning two starters not one, Caruso and Fernandez. Both great players. Kersthold also had significant playing time this year and is a good player.

And the only easy teams Mission plays are local teams like the ones you mentioned. What D1 teams did the other local teams beat, let alone play??? Thats what I thought.

So maybe YOU should shut up before you make too much of an ass out of yourself... Ooops too late.

Anonymous said...

jw but if yetter is so great and has done so well against all these great d1 schools then why is she not going to a big d1 school?

Anonymous said...

Oh I must have missed the press release saying Dewitt and Wagner were going to UCLA and Stanford. By your criteria there won't be a player of the year this year because only girls goring to D1 schools can be player of the year. None of the players mentioned on this blog are going to play for D1 schools. But I'm pretty sure Yetter is the only one to have the Cal Poly head coach personally come scout one of her games. Mimnaugh seems to think Yetter is the best player in the county. I trust her professional opinion over your jealous one.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like the same old argument that was used for boys basketball. Just now for girls. Why don't you argue about Coke vs Pepsi or Ford vs Chevy. It would sound exactly the same as this stuff.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I forgot MP fan, Bentley IS good, as evidenced by their 88-13 shellacking of Cornerstone Christian, their 59-15 drubbing of Chinese Christian, and most impressive of all, their 57-16 rout of California School for the Deaf.

Now THAT's a tough schedule. MP beat Bentley? THAT is impressive.

Hey, MP...maybe you can get California School for the Deaf on your schedule next year, since Nipomo and Santa Maria aren't good enough.

MP fan..the more you woof, the more embarrassing it gets, cause the truth of these pattycake schedules is revealed.

Hey, I hear California School for the Deaf is coached by Kevin Bacon.

Anonymous said...

You know what, I am done arguing with you. I know I am right, all the sane people who read this know that your arguments are so specious and ignorant that its not even worth arguing with you anymore.

GO MISSION. Good luck this weekend girls. You can win this, just play your game and you will bring home a win!

Anonymous said...

For all you people who think you know basketball, go check out real websites like calhi sports, they will explain to you how good mission's schedule really was

Anonymous said...

You've obviously been misinformed, there are others being recruited by Poly as well....besdies yetter.

Anonymous said...

hahaha. o god. this is great, keep arguing over girls high school basketball

Anonymous said...

Isn't that the topic of this article....? if you don't wanna hear about it then don't read it.