Central Cali's Preseason Team Rankings: The Next 5 (16-20)

The high school season is underway, as play tipped off Monday night for some teams. We are off and ready for an entertaining season of basketball in the Central Section. After watching players and teams in various platforms of basketball, whether it is high school team, club team, or individual events, all of these venues were taken into account in putting together this list of Central Section Preseason Top 15 Team Rankings. This article includes the following information: team name, its key players, its current preseason rankings, its final ranking from last season in parentheses, and last year's record. In this article, we take a look at the next 5 teams in these Central Cali Preseason Top 15 Team Rankings, teams on the bubble of the top 15 and listed in ranked order *#16-#20). I will update these team rankings every 2-3 weeks, depending on key parts of the basketball season. There is not much separation from the #11 though # 15 teams and the teams in this article, as well as some not mentioned in the top 20 that could have been in these preseason rankings, such as Hoover of Fresno, Fresno Christian, Central East of Fresno, and a few others. When this list of teams is updated, I would not be surprised if there are some big shake-ups from this preseason list.   16. (9) North Bakersfield Stars (28-7)    Key Players: Ethan Saenz (5'11 | PG | Jr.); Cam Saenz (6'3 | WF | So.); Austin Ellingsworth (6' | CG | Sr.); [player_tooltip player_id='2982687' first='Alexander' last='Gomez'] (6'3 | WG | So.); and Cruz Shearon (6'2 | PG | So.)   The Stars are coming off back-to-back Division 3 Section titles, the first in program history, as well as a run to the D5 State semifinals two years ago. North has established itself as one of the top programs in the Central Section regardless of Division, as it would win another South Yosemite Mountain League title, which is split with rival South Bakersfield. The Stars were led by standout junior Ethan Saenz, who put up 33 points in last year's Section title game and earned Player of the Game honors as a sophomore. The Stars will continue to be led by Saenz, who has looked impressive throughout the Fall portion of the season and has really improved his efficiency from beyond the arc to go with his dynamic handles and moves to attack the basket. However, the main reason I did not have the Stars in the top 10 is the roster gets really young and relatively inexperienced after Saenz, and younger brother sophomore Cam Saenz, who also had a great showing in the Section title game last season. The Stars don't have the interior presence it has had in the past with the likes of Eli Griffin, Nate Becerra, and others the past four years or so. There are a lot of younger guys that will see big minutes this season but have not been through the grind of the postseason and competitive varsity play, and I am looking forward to watching this young group mature quickly. However, the constant for the Stars, outside of the Saenz brothers, is the coaching and the program's winning pedigree. As mentioned above, the Stars have established itself as one of the top programs in the Section and Coach Shearon and staff have turned a program that most from the South Valley have never considered a basketball school into just that. Although this should be a rebuilding year by all accounts, I would not be surprised if the Stars won another league title and made a run in the postseason.    17. (HM) Tulare Union The Tribe (24-6)   Key Players: Brayden Stevenson (5'9 | PG | Sr.); Demaje Riley (5'10 | CG | Sr.); Shauntal Kimlbe (6'4 | WF | Sr.); and Davion Williams (5'10 | CG | Jr.)   The Tribe, somewhat similar to Bakersfield High but even longer, have been down as a program for a while now but last year that all changed, as Tulare Union would have an outstanding season that ended too early. The Tribe split the West Yosemite League title with rival Tulare Western and earned itself the #2 seed in the Division 3 playoffs. After an opening round win, the Tribe fell short to the #10 seed Righetti of Santa Maria and the magical season and predicted match-up with the top seed North Stars in the title game came to an end. Despite the tough loss and early exit from the D3 playoffs, Tulare Union returns its core pieces and will be led by seniors Brayden Stevenson and Demaje Riley, who put up big numbers last season, and will be playing with a chip on its shoulder. Hanford should give the Tribe a run for league title, as it has some new faces that are some of the top players in the Section in their respective classes, but the Tribe have the veteran  players and extra motivation to get back to the playoffs with a high seed.    18. (NR) Roosevelt Rough Riders (Fresno) (19-11)   Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='2560849' first='Cobi' last='Posas'] (6'7 | WF | Jr.); Pharin Amey (6'3 | CG | Sr.); Anthone Whitfield (6'1 | PG | Jr.); and Darius Deans (6'4 | F | Sr.)   The Rough Riders had a good season last year and finished tied for 1st place in the newly formed CMAC 2 league with Sanger, and made it to the second round of the D2 Section playoffs before losing to eventual D2 champs Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo. Roosevelt is entering a new era with a new coaching staff and the graduation of four year varsity player James Miller (currently at Bakersfield College), but will still have standout junior [player_tooltip player_id='2560849' first='Cobi' last='Posas'] to anchor the team, who led the team in scoring, rebounds, blocks, and steals last year. Roosevelt has some new faces that showed to be key impact guys when I saw the Rough Riders at the Clovis West Fall Shootout in senior Pharin Amey and junior Anthone Whitfield and will play one of the toughest schedules it has participated in and I will see Roosevelt this week at the Clovis Tip-Off Challenge against Immanuel. It remains to be seen how good this team will be, but I would have it as the team to beat in the CMAC 2 league.    19. (NR) Kingsburg Vikings (16-14)   Key Players: Jensen Hirschkorn (6'7 | WF | Sr.); Peyton Swiney (6'3 | WG | Sr.); Alex Hanzak (6'2 | WG | Jr.); and Izayah Perez (5'10 | PG | Fr.)   The Vikings had an up-and-down season last year, as it would get some quality wins and made a run to the Division 3 semifinals before losing to South Bakersfield, but also suffered some losses to teams it should have beaten given the size of its roster. The Vikings looked really good this past weekend at the Liberty Super Saturday Scrimmages, as this was the first time I had seen the team with LSU baseball commit Jensen Hirschkorn and what a difference the 6'7 wing/forward brings to the look of this squad. The Vikings also have one of the best freshman guards in the Section Izayah Perez, along with the return of junior Alex Hanzak and senior Peyton Swiney. The guard play looks much better throughout Fall play, an area that hurt the Vikings last season, and a better sense of playing together as a team. The length and size of Kingsburg will be a problem for many opponents and is the front-runner to win the Tri-County-Kings Canyon league.      20. (NR) Liberty Patriots (Bakersfield) (9-18)   Key Players: Bryce Hanson (5'11 | CG | Jr.); Hudson Wiley (6'1 | WG | Jr.); BJ Guyton (6' | CG | So.); Moses Curry (6'1 | PG | Sr.); Krish Dev (6' | WF | Jr.); and Pierce Buckey (6'4 | F | Fr.)   Rounding out the top 20 and entering a new era of basketball is the Liberty Patriots. The Patriots are coming off one of its worst seasons in program history, or at least in the past decade plus, but there have been some changes and a few players that have transferred in that should make the Patriots more competitive and one of the teams I have that will compete for the South Yosemite River League title, behind Centennial of Bakersfield. The Patriots will be led by junior guard Bryce Hanson and senior Moses Curry, as well as the sharp shooting from junior Krish Dev. Sophomore transfer from Stockdale BJ Guyton looked great this past weekend at Liberty's gym for the Super Saturday Scrimmages, showing improved physical build and progress in his skill development. Coach Podesta has had a lot of success coaching at the high school level and, after one tumultuous season with Clovis West, Liberty was lucky to land him and his staff.

The high school season is underway, as play tipped off Monday night for some teams. We are off and ready for an entertaining season of basketball in the Central Section. After watching players and teams in various platforms of basketball, whether it is high school team, club team, or individual events, all of these venues were taken into account in putting together this list of Central Section Preseason Top 15 Team Rankings. This article includes the following information: team name, its key players, its current preseason rankings, its final ranking from last season in parentheses, and last year's record. In this article, we take a look at the next 5 teams in these Central Cali Preseason Top 15 Team Rankings, teams on the bubble of the top 15 and listed in ranked order *#16-#20). I will update these team rankings every 2-3 weeks, depending on key parts of the basketball season. There is not much separation from the #11 though # 15 teams and the teams in this article, as well as some not mentioned in the top 20 that could have been in these preseason rankings, such as Hoover of Fresno, Fresno Christian, Central East of Fresno, and a few others. When this list of teams is updated, I would not be surprised if there are some big shake-ups from this preseason list.