Full-Time Hoops Top 25, week 2
1. Foothills Christian (4-1) Key games: Etiwanda, Orange Lutheran Rancho Christian, Chino Hills (L) Notes: Shorthanded Knights made strong run in the Battlezone, with only one loss to unbeaten Chino Hills. 2. St. Augustine (4-1) Key games: Notre Dame (SO), San Joaquin Memorial, Santa Ana Mater Dei (L) Notes: Saints powered their way to finals of Diablo Inferno before bowing out to state power Mater Dei. 3. Cathedral Catholic (2-1) Key games: Marin Catholic, St. Francis (L) Notes: Not much is known about the Dons’ 3-game swing, which including an emphatic loss to Mountain View St. Francis. 4. Torrey Pines (6-0) Key games: Vista, Kearny, Mater Dei Catholic, West Hills Notes: Falcons ran through a tough gauntlet to the title of the Horsman/Wolfpack tournament, staving off a game Kearny squad and winning a come-from-behind game against Vista in the title. 5. La Jolla Country Day (3-2) Key Games: Crean Lutheran, Sunny Hills (L), Sonora (L) Notes: Torreys made it to the finals of the Chick-Fil-A Classic, where they lost to Sonora. 6. Vista: (5-1) Key Games: Kearny, Mater Dei Catholic, West Hills Torrey Pines (L) Notes: Panthers ceded a 13-point halftime lead in the championship game against the Falcons, but looked strong in double-digit wins against ranked opposition. 7. Helix: (3-2) Key games: Canyon Crest (W,L), La Jolla (W) Notes: Highlanders dropped first two games of the Hilltop tournament without its football players, but ran the table and avenged a pool loss to Ravens in the finals. 8. Mission Hills (3-3) Key games: Army Navy, Temecula Valley (L), Santa Fe Christian (L), Vista Murrieta (L) Notes: Grizzlies held 3-point lead late against Temecula Valley in semis of Coast News Classic, only to lose lead and lose semifinals to SFC, which played at full strength. 9. Poway (4-1) Key games: Granite Hills (W,L) 10. Canyon Crest (4-1) Key Games: Helix (W, L), Mission Bay (W) Notes: The fastest rising team in the rankings played Helix tough even with the return of its football players. A solid run to the Hilltop finals bodes well for Ravens moving forward. 11. Santa Fe Christian (4-1) Key games: LCC (L), Mission Hills (W), El Camino (W) Note: Eagles laid an egg versus LCC, but responded with a complete win over Mission Hills. A win over El Camino AT the Wildcats crib is also an impressive win. 12. La Jolla (4-1) Key Games: Helix (L) Notes: Vikings played Helix tough in the semis of the Hilltop Tournament. Vikings depth and lack of a true PG could be issues to monitor down the road. 13. LCC (4-1) Key Games: Santa Fe Christian (W), El Camino (W), Temecula Valley (L) Notes: LCC squeaked out a home buzzer beater against El Camino and then surprised Santa Fe Christian at the Eagles Nest before getting outran in the finals by a dangerous Golden Bears team. 14. Patrick Henry (6-0) Key Games: Lincoln (W), Mira Mesa (W) Notes: Patriots haven’t played the toughest of schedules and benefited from Lincoln being woefully shorthanded, but can’t discount undefeated record and dominant wins. 15. Orange Glen (1-0) Key Games: None Notes: Patriots opened up play with a 50-point laugher against Calvin Christian. 16. Rancho Bernardo (1-0) Key Games: Kearny (W) Notes: Broncos looked very good for 3 quarters against the Komets before staving off a furious fourth quarter push. 17. Kearny (3-3) Key Games: Mater Dei Catholic (W), Torrey Pines (L), Vista (L), Rancho Bernardo (L) Notes: Kearny lost games to Torrey Pines and RB by a combined three points, and led Vista by 17 points in the 1st half before losing by 14. 18. El Camino (3-2) Key Games: Scripps Ranch (W), LCC (L), SFC (L) Notes: Wildcats controlled the La Costa Canyon game until Mavs hit a game winner with 4 seconds left. They rebounded with an OT win over Army Navy 19. Mission Bay (3-2) Key games: La Jolla (L), Canyon Crest (L) Notes: Young Bucs losses were without starting center Ronnie Latting and the La Jolla loss also didn’t include Boogie Ellis. 20. Mater Dei Catholic (2-3) Key Games: Vista (L), Kearny (L), Torrey Pines (L)- Shorthanded due to football team’s success, Crusaders lost games against several top teams. 21. Lincoln (3-2) Key Games: Patrick Henry (L) Falling out of the top 10, the Hornets get the benefit of the doubt as they are missing top junior Rayquan Everett (injury) and another starter due to academics. 22. Serra (5-0) Key Games: San Marcos (W), UC (W) Notes: The Game On Challenge didn’t have a ton of top teams, but credit the Conquistadores for running the table and getting solid wins over Bishop’s and San Marcos. 23. San Marcos (4-1) Key Games: Serra (L) Notes: Suffered surprise loss to Serra in the season opener, but the loss became more respectable as the Qs kept winning. 24. Army Navy (2-3) Key Games: El Camino (L), Temecula Valley (L) Notes: Richard Polanco uncorked two monster games this week in close losses to El Camino (21 points, 22 rebounds) and Temecula Valley (37 points, 20 rebounds), but this might be a common refrain this year- amazing performances by Polanco and JC Canahuate, but not much else. 25. Coronado (10-1) Key Games: San Ysidro (W), Brawley (L) Notes: Lone loss against a solid Brawley team came without senior standout DJ Jackson in the lineup. Schedule is pretty mediocre, though. T-25 Granite Hills (4-1) Key Games: Poway (W,L) Notes: Stunning upset of Poway in the championship of their home tournament garners the Eagles a debut in the Top 25/ Oceanside (3-1)
Others: Mira Mesa, UC, Scripps Ranch, Carlsbad, Valhalla, Ramona