2011 OV Baseball Preview Part 5: CIF-SS Division 3 Preview

 

Travis Sparks Jackson and OV look to be back on top this season

 

 

Another season, and five-part preview is in the wings as we look ahead to the 2011 OV baseball season, which will get underway on March 3rd when the Seahawks take on Irvine High School. As we look to 2011, we started with Part 1, a general 2010 review and 2011 preview with a look at the schedule and key notes. And Part 2, which covered Pitchers. Part 3 covered the position players will and Part 4 previewed the Golden West League.

I’m going to get right to it, there is no reason why OV shouldn’t be in the chase for another CIF Title. The competition in league is at a low, the challenges out of league are attainable, but challenges none-the-less, and this roster is the most talented since 2005.

Let’s be cautious though, the last time an Ocean View team had monstrous expectations this happened.

I am saying that expectations are a terrible burden for any team to carry. Considering everything else in High School Sports; family, grades, friends, practices, fatigue, injury, etc., the expectation that you have to win a [CIF] championship is something that is [extremely lofty].

Let’s go over pre-league tournaments first. OV’s first tournament is in a matter of days; the Newport Elk’s tournament boasts a talented “Foothill” Bracket, with the #1 ranked team (Ocean View) and #3 ranked team (Beckman). Here are the remaining brackets.

OV then participates in their annual double-header with El Dorado; I would be very happy to see OV be competitive in that matchup, winning aside.

OV then goes into league play for a little, followed by their early April break where they’ll participate in the OC Nissan Tournament. OV is slated to play Beckman again in the second round of play (if both teams win their first round matchups) and (again win permitting) can play #4 ranked Woodbridge in the Semi-Finals of the tournament. Pretty good field if you ask me.

The real question is how can OV keep the #1 seed. It really has three parts:

1. Preseason
2. League
3. OC Nissan Tournament

I’d be surprised if OV can win their first tournament as Borowski coached teams usually take true shape during League play. But, should they be in a “marquee” matchup (against Beckman or Woodbridge) they need to win it, pretty simple. Another rule of preseason tournaments is no early exits. This shouldn’t be a problem in both tournaments, but not qualifying for the playoff portion of the Newport Elks round-robin, and leaving before the 3rd round of the OC Nissan Tournament would be considered disappointing.

Winning league is also a “must-achieve” task. Not much explanation needed there.

Postseason outlook is a little too blurry as of now, but Bonita should be storming back to the finals with a vengeance this year.

OV demolished by Foothill, fall in CIF Championship

In the most anticipated matchup of the season, the Seahawks had their worst, with no doubt about it, game of the season.

Foothill got off in a blaze immediately creating a double-digit margin for the Seahawks early in the first quarter. Foothill made their first 3 shots from beyond the arc, stretching their lead to 11-3. The game was out of hand for a long time, as you can see. OV had the game within 5 at one point, but after a steal, Anthony Brown missed a sure-fire dunk, and that marked the end of OV’s chances at coming back.

There are plenty of excuses out there, but this particular performance was one that Avery Johnson will hope to forget real soon. Avery had a grand total of 3 points until the final quarter, and to add to that, his team only hit 2 three pointers all game, while Foothill shot over 50% from long range. Not only did the team shoot terribly all together, OV put Foothill in the double bonus in the 3rd quarter, while Foothill had 2 team fouls going into the final quarter of play. But these are all stupid, and poor excuses for not being mentally prepared for this game.

It wasn’t as if this game was not emotionally investing: it is the CIF Championship. Ocean View came out flatter than any other single game, at any point in this season. Of course, Foothill didn’t help matters by coming out on fire. While OV is expected to receive an at-large bid for State Championships, it is still 100% possible for OV to win State, no matter how poorly they played last night, but is it 100% probable? Absolutely not. If Ocean View had just played their hearts out before the half, instead of waiting for someone else to get them going, I wouldn’t be depressed right now.

I am a firm believer in the “Florida Factor,” and that is, the higher you aim, the more likely you are to have an inaccurate shot. That is mostly just for sports (I’m not a pessimist), but basically I am saying that expectations are a terrible burden for any team to carry. Considering everything else in High School Sports; family, grades, friends, practices, fatigue, injury, etc., the expectation that you have to win a state championship is something that is so lofty that it makes no sense to consider at all. I wasn’t just thinking that Ocean View had these expectations in their minds when they were playing Foothill yesterday, I could see that they were feeling down on themselves, instead of just playing the game… like Foothill did in the Honda Center.

The good news is, Ocean View will get to play again, the bad news is, Ocean View is likely to not get another home game, so all things considered, I hope that you got a chance to see these guys play, even if they didn’t win last night. I say this because this team is special- the 2010 team is one that got Ocean View on the front pages again, it got them into people’s minds, it brought back tradition. The brackets will be released tomorrow, I’ll have coverage for you when I can get it to you.

GO HAWKS

Pumped? Too Pumped?

This is just awesome- courtesy of Avery Johnson (that’s his head by the way)

Getting ready for the game emotionally just got a whole lot harder, how am I supposed to top that?

10 Foolproof Reasons Why You Should Go on Saturday

First, the precedent for this was my discovery that Ocean View is trailing Foothill by over 100 fans on Facebook. How is that possible? I don’t even know where Foothill is! There are over 20 High Schools by the name of Foothill, all of them somewhere in California. Anyways, here are my 10 reasons as to why you should go out to the game (starting with 10, working up to the best reason I can offer you)

10. It’s the Honda Center

Home to the Anaheim Ducks, and the 2010 CIF-SS Championships

Ocean View has played in two prestigious venues in the past two years, Legendary Pauley Pavilion, and the dump that is Arco Arena. Honda Center has played host to more than just Stanley Cup Finals (Pretty exciting alone huh?) it has seen players such as Russell Westbrook, Darren Collison, Acie Law, Matt Barnes, Baron Davis, Kevin Love, just to name a few. This venue is a huge stage for any sport, so the pressure is definitely on the Hawks in this awesome arena.

9. Its Basketball

For amateur sports, this is basically it for the year, UCLA is pathetic, and USC exiled their basketball team. Mater Dei is before this game, so how can you possibly pass up the last CIF Matchup of the year?

8. “Fandemonium” or whatever Mater Dei Varsity, er- OC Varsity calls it

Ocean View and Foothill have two of the best student sections in Orange County. I can guarantee you that Ocean View has some tricks and pranks up their sleeve, and I’ll bet you that Foothill does as well.

7. It’s a 1 vs. 2 Seed Matchup

It is, quite simply, the best game that you can find. In Division 3, it is rare to find two teams in the top 10 in the county, but when two teams are in the top three and they just happen to play each other- not in some exhibition at Occidental College, but in the CIF Championship game in the best venue in all of Orange County.

6. Steve Fryer says so

I don’t have a problem with Steve, especially when he picks us all the time, but mostly blindly and because of two players, not six or seven. Anyways, here’s what he said;

It makes sense, and dollars and cents, to have the Foothill-Ocean View boys basketball game in the marquee position as the 8:15 p.m. game Saturday at the Honda Center for the CIF-Southern Section championships. That much-anticipated game might provide the highest ticket sales of any of the six games there Saturday,

Predictions for the boys and girls championship games involving county teams… boys 3AA, Ocean View over Foothill

The top 5, and more, after the jump (hit read more)

Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger (Palm Springs Edition)

Ocean View’s fans get crazy in the semifinal matchup

Tip of the hat: Ryan Okwudibonye

This week’s tip goes to Ryan Okwudibonye who finished with 15 points and 18 rebounds (a double double). His performance allowed for a huge shift in the game’s focus as Ryan put in a whole bunch of second and third chance buckets, of course, using his size to his advantage. Should Ryan continue to play like this, we should be the favorites in every remaining game we play this postseason.

Wag of the Finger: OV 3rd Quarters

OV has let two games slip away from a double digit lead now, first against La Habra and then yesterday against Palm Springs. Is it something in the coaching? Is it poor attitude? Well if they don’t fix it, Foothill, for one, won’t just cut the lead, they’ll take the lead. Can Ocean View play for a full 4 quarters? If they can’t, forget about state championship, they won’t even win the CIF Championship.  That is how good Foothill is.

OV to face Foothill in the CIF Championship Game

In a short 7 days (March 6th), OV will look to grab its second consecutive CIF Championship at the Honda Center. Their opponent? Foothill, the #3 Team in all of Orange County. Can you say matchup of epic proportions?