What does it say when the highest ranked San Diego Section basketball teams are Max Preps‘ state ranked 29th and Cal-Hi Sports’ 22nd? And that No. 30 is Francis Parker, which has lost nine games but leads The San Diego Union-Tribune poll with 11 of 18 first-place votes?
Basketball here is down this season, compared to the rest of California.
Torrey Pines and St. Augustine, coached by legendary war horses Mike Haupt and John Olive, have teams with a combined record of 27 wins and 23 losses and are out of the Section top 10 poll this week.
No. 1 Parker, No. 2 Victory Christian, and No. 3 Santa Fe Christian are small, private schools with alleged advantages in resources. Cathedral is sixth and Christian 10th. No. 4 Mission Bay is the highest ranked public school.
There’s an axiom I heard many years ago: “Good coaching can’t win with bad players; bad coaching will lose with good players.” I prefer to think there are more good coaches than not but the overall team talent level here is diminished this season.
The “Maffei Madness” top 10 poll, conducted by the very sane John Maffei of the Union-Tribune:
First-place votes in parenthesis. Previous ranking in bold italics, if changed.
Cal-Hi Sports rankings are by Mark Tennis, the newsletter’s publisher, with contribution from statewide correspondents.
Max Preps essentially relies on individual school representatives.
| TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS | MAXPREPS.COM | CAL-HI SPORTS |
| 1. Francis Parker | 17-9 (11) | 172 | 3 | 59 (63) | 29 (30) |
| 2. Victory Christian | 22-4 (6) | 159 | 2 | 26 (27) | NR (Not Ranked) |
| 3. Santa Fe Christian | 23-3 (1) | 154 | 1 | 22 (21) | 30 (29) |
| 4. Mission Bay | 18-8 | 118 | 5 | 67 (80) | NR (NR) |
| 5. San Marcos | 20-6 | 113 | 4 | 54 (46) | NR (NR) |
| 6. Cathedral | 17-9 | 83 | 6 | 103 (108) | NR (NR) |
| 7. La Costa Canyon | 20-6 | 59 | 9 | 68 (71) | NR (NR) |
| 8. Mira Mesa | 19-7 | 46 | 7 | 80 (67) | NR (NR) |
| 9. Olympian | 20-6 | 44 | 8 | 88 (81) | NR (NR) |
| 10. Christian | 17-8 | 17 | Not Ranked | 145 (164) | NR (NR) |
Others receiving votes: Torrey Pines (14-12, 15 points), St. Augustine (13-11, 2 points), Calexico (19-4, 2), Patrick Henry (18-8, 2), Ramona (18-8, 2), Del Lago (20-5, 1).
VOTING PANEL (18)
John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Aaron Burgin (Full-Time Hoops),
Steve Brand, Bodie DeSilva (Union-Tribune freelance contributors).
Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section honchos).
Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference).
Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson (San Diego Section Advisory Committee).
Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
Braden Surprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, John (Coach) Kentera, Adam Paul, Tom Ronco, Eric Williams (freelance contributors).
