When going through day-to-day life, sometimes the bigger picture can lost in the shuffle — a “Can’t see the forest for the trees” phenomenon.
It didn’t even dawn me that 2019 was the end of the decade until I started seeing all those “end of the decade” lists. Similar to “end of the year” lists, but made more difficult because instead of looking back on the previous 365 days, now you have go through 3,650 days (give or take, I’m sure there are an extra few Leap Year days in there, but you get the general idea).
So I spent most of Monday morning going through the Daily Journal archives to come up with an end of the decade retrospective.
Boys’ Athlete of the Decade
Andrew Daschbach, Sacred Heart Prep (2012-2016). There were quite a few choices here, including guys who went on to have professional careers. But when you look at his high school accomplishments, it would be hard to choose anyone other than Daschbach. A three-year varsity player in football, basketball and baseball, Daschbach would go on become a two-time Daily Journal Boys’ Athlete of the Year. He first earned the distinction during his junior year and completed the double following his senior season. Daschbach would go on to be part of five Central Coast Section championship teams: three in football, and one each in basketball and baseball.
Girls’ Athlete of the Decade
Ashley Trierweiler, Carlmont (2015-2019). This was a much harder choice, but when you are one of the best players in the history of a program that is among the best in the Central Coast Section, it puts you over the top. So despite any semblance of “recency bias” (which seems to the term du jour during 2019), Trierweiler was the choice. A four-year varsity softball and three-year varsity basketball player, Trierweiler left her mark on the softball diamond, where this year she set the new, all-time hits record for the Scots, finishing her career with 199 and eclipsing the previous mark of 192 set by Janelle Yousef from 1997 to 2000. During Trierweiler’s career, she hit safely in 97 of 105 varsity games. She was the 2018 Daily Journal Girls’ Athlete of the Year and this past spring earned Softball Player of the Year honors.
Patrick Walsh, Serra football. Walsh recently wrapped up his 19th season with the Padres and one could look at the last decade as the “Golden Age” of Serra football playing in one of the toughest leagues in Northern California. Since the 2010 season, Walsh has compiled a record of 93-34, with five seasons of 10 wins or more. He has guided the Padres to five West Catholic Athletic League titles, sharing four and winning the outright crown in 2017. The Padres have won five Central Coast Section titles (2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019), three Northern California championships (2016, 2017, 2019) and one state crown (2017) over the last decade.
Sacred Heart Prep boys’ water polo. It may not have the cache of football or basketball, but when a team wins titles as often as the Gators, it’s hard not to take notice. You also have to give credit where credit is due as SHP is, year in and year out, one of the best teams in the nation.
In 2019, SHP won its ninth straight CCS title. From 2011 to 2016, the Gators reigned in Division II bracket and have since added the first three Open Division crowns in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Girls’ team of the Decade
Sacred Heart Prep water polo. Much like the SHP boys’ team, its hard to ignore the Lady Gators’ prowess during the last 10 years. They had already won three CCS titles in row when the decade began and went on to win seven more in row before having their streak broken at 10 in the finals of the first Open Division bracket in 2017. SHP lost in the 2018 semifinals before climbing back to mountain top this past season and claiming their first Open Division crown.
Aragon boys’ basketball 2014 triple-overtime CCS semifinal win. I’ll be honest — I don’t know if this truly was the best game of the decade as it is nearly impossible to go through all the sports stories that have appeared in the pages of the Daily Journal over the last 10 years.
But this game would certainly be a finalist for this honor and when I saw story, it immediately brought me back to that game — a 94-93 win over Aptos in the semifinals of the 2014 CCS Division III playoffs. Toby Leibergesell scored a game-high 33 points to lead Aragon. Kevin Hahn added 23, Alex Manu chipped in 19 and Trevor Pagaduan finished with 15. The Dons led 40-35 at halftime, but the Mariners outscored them 17-9 in the third to lead 52-49 going into the fourth. Regulation ended 69-all. It was 74-74 after the first OT period and after each team scored 14 in the second overtime, the teams were all squared at 88 to force a third extra period. A Hahn leaner that split a pair of Aptos defenders proved to be the winning margin with 32 seconds left in the third overtime. Two days later, the Dons would go on to win their first-ever CCS basketball title, beating Valley Christian 61-55.
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