Southern California Polls

Webmaster's 5th Division VAA Poll 2003-2004

Rank	School	Record	Comments	Last Ranking
1	New Roads	14-2 (3-1)	Beat Windward 63-42;Camarillo Cornerstone Christian 83-38;Pilibos 53-51;LA Baptist 103-34;Santa Clarita Christian 71-38;Arrowhead Christian 83-56; Upland Christian 87-61; Malibu 71-49;Community Harvest 69-42;Malibu 62-58. Lost to only Windward 45-42. New Roads is a strong team with a solid bench. Matt Landes when not in foul trouble is an outstanding post man. The Norrington brothers can really kill you when they are on. Team is capable of scoring a lot of points in a short spurt when necessary. The game of the season so far was on Saturday between #1 New Roads and #2 Rolling Hills Prep. Two very even teams that played one hell of a game. Could have gone either way. Jason Daley's cool 3 point shot with almost no time left in game to tie it was spectacular. Bret Washington was hot also as both got 20 points. In the end, New Roads play was a little sharper in OT and #4's pass to Landes in the paint was unreal. New Roads also beat Ribet this week 75-63 and Shalhevet 92-48. Between last Saturday and next they will have played RHP, Price and Hillcrest Christian. Pretty tough. Their bench is deep and everyone gets playing minutes. One of the deepest teams in Div VAA..	1
2	Rolling Hills Prep	10-5 (1-1)	Beat Chadwick 60-49; Gladstone 59-53; San Fernando 69-40; Duarte 67-58; Montclair Prep 61-47;Pacific Hills 49-37; Redlands Adventist 70-52. Lost to Newbury Park 85-54; Rio Mesa 64-60; Blair 62-54 Hueneme 82-52. Jason Daley is really playing well this year averaging about 25 points a game. The rest of the starting five also are quality players. Beach may be most improved player in Div VAA. They have played a very tough pre-league schedule. Played great vs New Roads but not quite good enough to win. Still clearly #2. Beat RAA last week 70-52 and Shalhevet 79-42 and Pac Hills 49-37. Strong first five and #12 their sixth man is developing nicely. Difficult team to defend with all their offensive weapons.	2
3	Hillcrest Christian (Granada Hills)	12-6 (4-1)	Beat LA Baptist 68-58; Fillmore 68-59; Blair 82-76; Montclair Prep 63-44; USC MAST 77-48; St Bonaventure 92-87; Bell-Jeff 69-47. Lost to Village Christian 72-64, 73-61, and 64-61; Campbell Hall 73-61; St Bernard 64-62; Milken 58-55. Note that all their losses have been to quality Div IV teams. This team is tough. Drew Rigney is an outstanding player , maybe one of top five in Div VAA. Drew Rigney is clearly the glue that keeps this team going...he's good for about 25-30 points a night. And Rigney gets support when he is off from Steve Flores and occasionally Ryan Halliday. All three of these guys are capable of 30 points in a game. Killed Faith Baptist 90-52, beat Grace Brethren 89-70 despite Eric Durso getting 45 points or something. Lost to Milken for only league loss. Still they have three top shooters and it requires three good defenders to beat them. 6' center plays well for only being 6 feet, but will be interesting to see how they do against a real big man in Matt Landes on Saturday. Still feel their height is their weak point.	3
4	Hesperia Christian	12-5 (3-0)	Beat Pahrump Valley 76-46; Silver Valley 67-63; Vasquez 74-51; Apple Valley Christian 64-56; Riverside Christian 82-31; Peace in the Valley 94-23; Kern Valley 64-52; Shandon 77-54; Woodcrest Christian 63-57. Lost to Granite Hills 88-71; Linfield Christian 60-57 and 68-56; King's Christian 83-69; and Grace Brehtren 66-62. This team is a strong team when all five starters are playing well but that has only happened against Pahrump Valley and maybe Woodcrest Christian. Team is deep with bench strength. Josh Hamilton is their go to guy who still has to figure out how to be a star in the fourth quarter when it really counts. He is averaging about 24 points a night. Trevor Wagstaffe can be a quality point guard but has only really played well in several games this year. Loren Barton when he wants to really play big inside is the second best center in the Agape League. He is capable of 17 points and 15 rebounds a night but has only done it in less than half the games. Billy Hague is the point guard of the future starting as the shooting guard. He is capable of great play but is doing it inconsistently this season. The fifth slot rotates between Nate Glass and Mike Petersen. Mike Petersen is normally the steadiest player on the team but if he has a off game like Linfield Christian, the team suffers. Nate Glass at 6' 5" is not getting the rebounds he should for his height, averaging 1-2 rebounds a night. He is actually a better 3 point shooter than he is 2 foot shooter. When he fixes those two problems he will dominate. Because of the parity in Div VAA, they are a top four team but will have to learn to put it all together every night to go far in playoffs.	4
5	Pilibos	11-5 (2-1)	Beat Oakwood 38-36;Santa Clarita Christian 56-45;Providence 55-47;Buckley 44-43; Yeshiva 50-46 and lost to Renaissance Academy 45-43; San Marino 44-40 and to New Roads 53-51 on last minute shot by New Roads. Also lost to Pasadena Marshall this week badly 89-37. Played a very young inexperienced Wilson Creek and wiped them 98-28. Played in a very tough game against Valley Torah. In a real barn burner, beat them 48-46 on last 5 sec shot by #1 of Pilibos. And it was not a game where Pilibos played that well. Of course Valley Torah was not at their best either it seems. Pilibos' weakness is height although their center plays way bigger than his 6 foot frame. Mike Nalbandian and Arshag Chahinian are big scorers for the Eagles.	5
6	Avalon	9-5 (4-1)	Beat Julian 56-34. Beat Holy Martyrs twice on consecutive nights 45-42 and 47-30. Lost to Fairmont Prep 56-55 and South Pasadena 57-56 in OT. Beat Oakwood twice and lost to Windward once 58-53. Adam Nelson still is averaging about 20 points a game (had 19 pts and 11 rebounds in Windward game). Still have their tough Liberty games to go but they are a surprise to everyone this year.	6
7	Apple Valley Christian	11-3 (3-0)	Justin Nunes is a strong player. He gets good support from Drew Mercer and Peter Kudrle. Their weakness is absolutely no depth whatsoever. Really was not tested at all in Victor Valley Christian Tourney. Beat Upland Christian 63-57. Lost to Brethren Christian 55-48 in OT, then lost to rival HCS 64-56. This was followed by a tight loss to Silver Valley 64-60 for first three consecutive losses in several years. Next they beat Upland Christian on the road 61-47; Bloomington Christian and Lucerne Valley and Baptist Christian. Beat Victor Valley Christian 63-45 and Antelope Valley Christian 55-51 at Apple's gym. CIF puts them as #5 but I don't believe they can beat Pilibos and not sure they can beat Avalon. But Friday night is the battle of #4 HCS versus Apple #5 so we will see what is really what.	7
8	Boron	10-2 (2-0)	Beat Mojave twice, Trona, Immanuel Christian, Frazier Mountain twice, Big Pine and Antelope Valley Christian. Only loss is to Fillmore 55-52 and Desert 60-58. Have only lost to Fillmore early in season and Desert last week 60-58. Beat Mammoth in league play 78-31 and Lancaster Desert Christian 59-41. When Boron plays Silver Valley in next week or two, will have a better feel for Boron's ability.	9
9	Ribet Academy	8-7 (2-3)	Seems like a good team but they never get far in the playoffs despite great play in their league. Of course it helps to play tougher teams than Village Glen West 114-12. Did beat Renaissance Academy 78-55 and Shalhevet 69-45 but lost to San Gabriel Academy 73-61. Lost to St Margaret 70-57 and beat Mesrobian 54-47. Lost to New Roads this week 75-63 and beat Shalhevet 79-30. Kenny Crockett and Isaac Cruz are their two top scorers and eith one can easily get 20 points a night. Cruz had a quadruple double last week with 23 points, 14 steals, 13 rebounds and 13 assists. Pretty impressive no matter who you play. Ribet's tall guy is foul prone in game I saw but could be a big presence in the paint. They get lots of points off of steals and fast breaks. Toughest league to play in will make it tough for them to make playoffs. They have to beat RHP or Price or New Roads to make 3rd in their league. They have only about 7 more games to get 11 wins. My math says that will be tough.	8
10	Valley Torah	8-3 (3-1)	Beat a tough Windward 57-53; beat Yeshiva 42-39; beat Malibu 70-60; Nethan Eli 52-32 and 72-21; beat Glendale Academy 65-62 and beat AGBU 69-58. Only losses are to Crespi 73-47 and Montclair Prep 77-55. Played a great game against Pilibos but defense fell down a little in final 20 seconds allowing Pilibos #1 to get off a clean shot with 5 sec left. Last thirty seconds was time to really put on a fierce defense and the Wolfpack didn't accomplish that. Beat AGBU 69-58 and Glendale Adventist Academy 65-62. #23 and #44 seem to be their best 3 point shooters. Again height is a problem that will plague them in playoffs. Their center #32 will have a hard time staying in a playoff game with playoff refs. Return match with Pilibos will be worth watching.	10
11	St Anthony's	7-11 (0-2)	They beat San Gabriel Academy 57-50; San Pedro 55-53; Marantha 45-42; beat Cap Valley Christian twice 46-45 and 48-45 and Sage Hill43-38. Lost to Chadwick 52-42; LJCD 58-32; Chino Hills 64-44; Downey Calvary Chapel 49-35; La Puente 41-35; Azusa 48-35; Anaheim 74-39; St Paul 60-57; And Whitney 65-54. CIF said they were #6. THey certainly have played up all season and their league itself is mostly Div IV. But you have to finish with in top 50% of league or have 11 wins. St Anthony's has eight games left and needs to win four of them. They have not won a game since 12-28-03. The ironic thing is that this team is really a scrappy team that would give many teams in playoffs fits with their unusual offensive style. They play a real street ball style of basketball. They beg you to press them as they did in the Servite game and then use the press as part of their offense with Perry their 6 foot center getting lots of points cherry picking under the basket. He is another 6 foot center playing bigger. Point guard is very fast although occasionally out of control with lots of turnovers. Their own press helps them gets lots of points in a short time as they made their comeback last week against Servite but ended up losing 82-66. Lost to Bosco Tech 65-44 And Cantwell Sacred Heart 64-56.	13
12	Tarbut v Torah	14-2 (2-2)	Beat Saddleback Valley Christian 57-32, Calvary Baptist 64-38 and Palm Valley 68-25. Only two wins away from playoff berth with a soft remaining schedule. Beat South Bay Lutheran 68-37, Calvary Baptist 68-38, Bethel Baptist 66-35, Zinsmeyer 70-34 and Calvary Baptist again 64-38. If Tarbut wants recognition they will have to increase difficulty of their schedule. Got first loss in league when playing a decent team in Orangewood Academy 52-42 and Fairmont Prep 52-40.	14
13	Holy Martyrs	7-11 (2-5)	Team is always tough and very cohesive//on any given game any of the five starters can be top scorer//they will be battle tested in a tough Liberty league//Lost to Woodlands Christian 63-38,Villanova 57-53. Beat Viewpoint 55-42, Laguna Blanca 49-47, Antelope Valley Christian 63-60. First two Liberty League games were losses to Avalon. Then lost to Buckley 39-33 and then to Yeshiva 37-34 on a last second three by Yeshiva. The Armens are in danger of not making playoffs without a real improvement quickly. I can't see 11 wins being possible and they won't finish in top three of Liberty League.	11
14	La Sierra Academy	9-6 (2-0)	Paolo Zamarano is top player keeping this team winning. He averages around 20 points a night. They made it to playoffs last year and should this year also.	12
15	First Lutheran	10-5 (3-1)	Not playing real tough teams but win. Have not lost since 12-11-03. They may be good til second round.	NR
16	Upland Christian	5-11 (2-1)	Upland Christian has been a disappointment this year as they are now 3-8. Clearly senior Jake Garcia, an all-CIF guard who is averaging over 30 points a game is not enough. Loss of Nick Roberds hurt this team badly// The support and role players will have to pick up their game to help Garcia out. Point guard needs to know when to shoot and when to get it to Garcia.//lost to Webb 55-48 and Boy's Republic 75-67.Beat Sherman Indian 80-75. Lost to Apple Valley Christian 63-57. Beat Vasquez 70-57 and Bloomington Christian 83-54. Lost to Boys Republic a second time 82-65. Lost to New Roads 87-61 despite Garcia's 25 points. The Norringtons were too much for Upland to handle. And Apple Valley Christian in a down year handled them well 61-47 on Jan 3rd.	15
17	Whitewater	4-4 (3-0)	Too early to tell if this team will go anywhere this year. 5 games are unreported.	16
18	Riverside Christian	7-4 (0-0)	A good team with decent record. Just not last year's team.	16
19	Grace Brethren	7-7 (1-0)	Started out poorly but is now putting it together	16
20	Pacific Hills	4-15 (1-2)	Beat LA 46-44;St Margaret's 50-40; Kern Valley 69-41; St Monica's 50-40; and lost to St Bernard 64-35; Calabasas 54-29; Montclair Prep 50-42; Blair 51-36; Crespi 52-27; Beverly Hills 50-27; HCTO 50-44; Kilpatrick 64-29; Central Union 67-35; Claremont 55-46; Granite Hills El Cajon 65-57; Calexico 50-45; Campbell Hall 59-47 and RHP 49-37. True they have played one of the toughest schedules of the Div VAA teams but you still need 11 wins or finish in the upper half of your league Record says this team might not even make playoffs this year. A big disappointment.	17

Others to watch: Desert Christian Bermuda Dunes 6-6. Liberty Christian 8-9,

Jack Pollon's Pre-Season Division VAA Poll 2003-2004

Rank	School	Record	Last Pollon Ranking
1	Rolling Hills Prep	9-5 (1-1)	1
2	Hillcrest Christian (GH)	7-6 (0-1)	2
3	New Roads	13-1 (2-0)	3
4	Hesperia Christian	11-5 (0-0)	7
5	Holy Martyrs	7-9 (0-4)	8
6	Upland Christian	4-10 (0-0)	4
7	Apple Valley Christian	8-3 (0-0)	6
8	Boron	7-1(0-0)	NR
9	Valley Torah	7-2 (1-0)	10
10	Avalon	9-4 (2-0)	NR

Other teams to watch:
AGBU 4-8, Tarbut v Torah 11-1, Pilibos 6-3, St Anthony 6-10, Pacific Hills 4-14, La Sierra Academy 6-4 , Laguna Blanca, Ribet Academy 4-2, Whitewater 2-1

Return Web Pages

HCS Home Page
HCS Varsity Boy's Basketball Page
Agape League Web Site
Second Webmaster Poll
Third Webmaster Poll