E Town
03-01-2007, 11:13 PM
The Menlo School and Menlo-Atherton High boys’ basketball teams may be fierce rivals, but they’ll be rooting for each other as both squads look to bring home Central Coast Section hardware today.
Menlo (23-5), the No. 2 seed in the Division IV bracket, plays No. 1 Palma (25-2) at 4:45 p.m., while Menlo-Atherton (20-8), the No. 3 seed in Division II, takes on No. 1 Mitty (24-5) at 8:30. Both games are at Santa Clara University’s Leavy Center. The players and coaches have immense respect for one another, having played three times this season, with Menlo winning twice. Knights coach Kris Weems shot off an e-mail to counterpart Craig Carson on Thursday, wishing Carson good luck.
“Yes sir, I’m pulling for M-A,” Weems said. “I want the PAL to do well, and them in particular. I coached two of their kids last year in AAU ball (Steve Call and Jordan Sanvictores), and it’s nice to see them do well and represent our division. That’s our natural rival. We’re five minutes from each other’s campuses, but it’s nothing but good competition. I told Craig, ‘Good luck, and let’s have two championships.’”
Carson was equally effusive in his praise for Weems and his players, although he joked that “It’s funny. I don’t really like Menlo as an institution, but I really like Kris and all their players. Kris and I get along very well and I hope they win.”
There’s plenty of South Division pride at work here. After getting three teams in the semifinals of the Peninsula Athletic League playoffs and nearly three in the finals of the CCS tournament, the boys’ basketball teams in the South Division proved to be the best in the PAL this season. The South rises again.
There are plenty of similarities, too. Both teams play defense like nobody’s business, limiting the opposition to under 50 points per game. There’s tremendous depth, bona fide talents (Call and Beau Heidrich) and players who display unbelievable pride. After starting the season 8-8, Carson never thought about the postseason because he didn’t know if his team could get there.
Then he made a couple of changes to his starting lineup, resulting in the Bears’ current 14-1 streak.
Menlo’s season has been less of a roller coaster; it started strong and never had a lull. Heidrich and Michael Guertin lead the way, but Alex Smith can score in double-figures in any given game and has come up strong in the biggest games.
Everyone serves a role, especially on defense, where the Knights get after it. For Weems, it’s been a dream season. He doesn’t necessarily judge his team’s success by wins and losses but rather how much the players progress. By that standard, the season has been a slam dunk.
“I expect us to be better at the end than at the start of the season, and they’ve passed my test with flying colors,” Weems said. “My goal every year is to win 15 games out of the 24 scheduled, and anything after that is a product of hard work. They’re doing everything I’ve asked of them and more. I can’t believe I’m actually talking about playing CCS games. It seems like this run has happened so fast.”
So how will Menlo and M-A fare? Both have monumental tasks, but doable ones. Menlo must contain Palma 6-foot-5 center Orlando Johnson, while M-A can’t let Mitty 6-9 post Drew Gordon get loose. In CCS championship games, the mental game is paramount. The team that can calm its nerves and adjust to the different conditions are the ones that will come out on top. Title games are often a grind-it-out affair, with players struggling to shoot from the outside with the different backdrop of a college venue. A less talked about issue is the fact that college courts are 10 feet longer (94 feet) compared to high school venues.
“It might not seem like much, but it’s a big difference,” Weems said. “You have to cover more ground defensively. We practice on 94 feet on a regular basis, so for us it won’t be a problem. Our problems will be more focused on their players. (Orlando Johnson) is probably the best player, along with Rob Jones of Riordan, that I’ve seen in high school basketball this year.”
Said Carson: “You don’t have to be the better team, you only have to be better in those 32 minutes. We’re going to try to do to Mitty what Paly (Palo Alto) did. Hopefully we can execute, limit them in the low 50s and limit them to one shot. It’s nothing that anyone else hasn’t tried. It’s going to be a difficult task. Steve Call is going to have to knock down some shots. This is possibly going to be the best team we’ll play all year.”
So what would a section title mean?
“Everything,” Carson said. “Everything.”
Emanuel Lee can be reached by e-mail: emanuel@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.
Menlo (23-5), the No. 2 seed in the Division IV bracket, plays No. 1 Palma (25-2) at 4:45 p.m., while Menlo-Atherton (20-8), the No. 3 seed in Division II, takes on No. 1 Mitty (24-5) at 8:30. Both games are at Santa Clara University’s Leavy Center. The players and coaches have immense respect for one another, having played three times this season, with Menlo winning twice. Knights coach Kris Weems shot off an e-mail to counterpart Craig Carson on Thursday, wishing Carson good luck.
“Yes sir, I’m pulling for M-A,” Weems said. “I want the PAL to do well, and them in particular. I coached two of their kids last year in AAU ball (Steve Call and Jordan Sanvictores), and it’s nice to see them do well and represent our division. That’s our natural rival. We’re five minutes from each other’s campuses, but it’s nothing but good competition. I told Craig, ‘Good luck, and let’s have two championships.’”
Carson was equally effusive in his praise for Weems and his players, although he joked that “It’s funny. I don’t really like Menlo as an institution, but I really like Kris and all their players. Kris and I get along very well and I hope they win.”
There’s plenty of South Division pride at work here. After getting three teams in the semifinals of the Peninsula Athletic League playoffs and nearly three in the finals of the CCS tournament, the boys’ basketball teams in the South Division proved to be the best in the PAL this season. The South rises again.
There are plenty of similarities, too. Both teams play defense like nobody’s business, limiting the opposition to under 50 points per game. There’s tremendous depth, bona fide talents (Call and Beau Heidrich) and players who display unbelievable pride. After starting the season 8-8, Carson never thought about the postseason because he didn’t know if his team could get there.
Then he made a couple of changes to his starting lineup, resulting in the Bears’ current 14-1 streak.
Menlo’s season has been less of a roller coaster; it started strong and never had a lull. Heidrich and Michael Guertin lead the way, but Alex Smith can score in double-figures in any given game and has come up strong in the biggest games.
Everyone serves a role, especially on defense, where the Knights get after it. For Weems, it’s been a dream season. He doesn’t necessarily judge his team’s success by wins and losses but rather how much the players progress. By that standard, the season has been a slam dunk.
“I expect us to be better at the end than at the start of the season, and they’ve passed my test with flying colors,” Weems said. “My goal every year is to win 15 games out of the 24 scheduled, and anything after that is a product of hard work. They’re doing everything I’ve asked of them and more. I can’t believe I’m actually talking about playing CCS games. It seems like this run has happened so fast.”
So how will Menlo and M-A fare? Both have monumental tasks, but doable ones. Menlo must contain Palma 6-foot-5 center Orlando Johnson, while M-A can’t let Mitty 6-9 post Drew Gordon get loose. In CCS championship games, the mental game is paramount. The team that can calm its nerves and adjust to the different conditions are the ones that will come out on top. Title games are often a grind-it-out affair, with players struggling to shoot from the outside with the different backdrop of a college venue. A less talked about issue is the fact that college courts are 10 feet longer (94 feet) compared to high school venues.
“It might not seem like much, but it’s a big difference,” Weems said. “You have to cover more ground defensively. We practice on 94 feet on a regular basis, so for us it won’t be a problem. Our problems will be more focused on their players. (Orlando Johnson) is probably the best player, along with Rob Jones of Riordan, that I’ve seen in high school basketball this year.”
Said Carson: “You don’t have to be the better team, you only have to be better in those 32 minutes. We’re going to try to do to Mitty what Paly (Palo Alto) did. Hopefully we can execute, limit them in the low 50s and limit them to one shot. It’s nothing that anyone else hasn’t tried. It’s going to be a difficult task. Steve Call is going to have to knock down some shots. This is possibly going to be the best team we’ll play all year.”
So what would a section title mean?
“Everything,” Carson said. “Everything.”
Emanuel Lee can be reached by e-mail: emanuel@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.