Central Cali’s Standout Players: South v. North Rematch

Central, CA - Last night, February 3rd, I attended the second meeting between South Yosemite Mountain League rivals South Bakersfield Spartans and North Bakersfield Stars, with first place in league on the line. Spartans needed the win for outright league champs, and Stars needed the win to get a tie for league champs, which is what it has been the past several years. The Stars got out to an early lead of 18 to 8 at one point in the second quarter and took a 23 to 17 lead into half. The Spartans played sloppy and both teams shot poorly except North guard Andrew Morales with a big 11 point half with 3 threes. The Spartans came out in the 3rd quarter with an explosive display of three point shooting, connecting on 7 in the quarter to take a 45 to 37 lead into the final quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. South would win the game and its league outright and likely improve its seeding for the D3 Section playoffs around the corner. In this article I look at 8 players that had standout showings by positions: guards and wing/forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics.   South Bakersfield Spartans 55 North Bakersfield Stars 46   Guards:   Cameron Hernandez (6'1 | 2027) - South Bakersfield    Hernandez contributed three points in the opening quarter, but struggled to get his shot to fall in the second quarter, which was the case for nearly the entire Spartans squad in the first half of play. Whatever was said and strategized at halftime worked nearly perfectly, as the Spartans would connect on 7 threes in the quarter to take a 45 to 37 lead into the final quarter. Hernandez displayed his fluid off ball movement, the ability to get to the open spot on the perimeter, and the efficiency on jumpers off the catch with range from beyond the arc, as was evident by the pair of threes Hernandez splashed from the wing to contribute to South Bakersfield's scoring outburst. Hernandez has good lateral food-speed and active hands to get into his opponents dribbling space, the quickness and instincts to poke the ball out or jump passing, and turn defense into offense in transition, which resulted in 2 steals for him in the game. Hernandez has the handles and moves to create off the dribble, has touch on his floater, and runs the floor well to get ahead of the defense for open court baskets.   Emani Myles (6' | 2026) - South Bakersfield    Myles had a big time for the Spartans in its win over rival North Bakersfield to win the SYML title. In the second quarter, South couldn't buy a bucket and the Stars were up as much as 10 points with a few minutes left in the half, 18-8, before Myles started to attack the basket. Myles drew three fouls and connected on all six of his free throws to score 6 of the team's 9 points in the quarter. Myles would add 6 points in the second half for a total of 12 points but it was his ability to get to the line and help keep the Spartans close when no one else could find the bottom of the net that was his biggest contribution to South's win. Myles has smooth handles, uses the crossover, between-cross, toss-cross, and hesitation to get his defender off balance, has a good burst off the bounce to get into the paint, and has the physical style of play to score through contact at the basket. Myles gets to his shot spots and has a quick lease with accuracy from the mid-range to the 3-point line off the dribble or the catch.   Eddie Ramey III (6'2 | 2027) - South Bakersfield   Ramey was sidelined in the first meeting between the SYL match-up with the Stars but he made his presence felt in a major way on both ends in the second match-up and was the only player to score in each quarter for a total of 9 points, to go along with 6 assists and 4 steals to show his ability to impact both ends at a high-level. Ramey connected on a 3-ball in the first quarter, and another one in the 3rd quarter that saw the Spartans catch fire from beyond the arc. It was Ramey's play making and solid on-ball perimeter defense that had the biggest impact on the game for South. Ramey has a strong handle on the ball, keeps the dribble alive to survey the court, has the court vision to make the right reads off the drive and kick pass, as well as up the court in transition to get the ball ahead of the defense, and has the strength and precision to make the cross-court passes to open teammates for easy catch and shoot opportunities. Ramey has great foot-speed, the lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent, has the instincts and quick hands to deflect passes, rip the ball from his opponent, or jump passing lanes to generate steals and transition points. Ramey does a good job of doubling up the opponent's perimeter players, with the quickness to make the rotation and get back to his assignment. High IQ player that makes the Spartans a team to keep an eye on in the D3 Section playoffs, as he and senior teammate Cliff Willis can alternate at the point and free up Willis to play off the ball and look to be a scorer.    Cliff Willis (6' | 2026) - South Bakersfield    Willis has been one of the leading scorers for the Spartans but was the main facilitator and play maker, as Eddie Ramey did not play in that game due to injury, as the Spartans got a big win back. Willis had a tough start, as did most of the team as mentioned above, but he hit some big shots in the hot 3rd quarter that turned the tide in favor of the Spartans to take the league sweep over rival North Bakersfield. Willis would finish with 9 points and a big three pointer that helped get things rolling for the Spartans coming out of the break. Willis added 6 boards and 2 steals to display his abilities to crash the boards as a good positional rebounder, and play superb perimeter and on-ball defense with active hands and the foot-speed to stay in front of his opponent, and turn defense to offense with deflections and jumping passing lanes to get out and run. Willis has good court vision, makes quality decisions with the ball in his hands, and finds openings in the defense to attack and make the right reads off the drive and kick pass. Willis has a smooth jumper that he hunts with good lift to shoot over most defenders, and a crafty scorer at the basket with the Euro-step, reverse and floater to evade shot blockers.   Andrew Morales (5'11 | 2026) - North Bakersfield   Morales had one of his best games I have personally seen live and he was big time for the Stars in the first half, as he would connect on 3 threes and score all 11 of his points before intermission to give North the 6 point lead, 23-17. Morales had the hot hand and it was needed with sophomore Cam Saenz the only other Star contributing in the first half. Unfortunately, Morales was held scoreless and missed a few open looks in the 2nd half but he did his part to give North a chance and will be needed to step up in the playoffs. Morales has fluid off ball music, gets to his shot spots, gets in position to catch and shoot, and is accurate with the 3-ball. Morales has enough handle to attack from the perimeter and is a crafty scorer around the basket.    Wings:   Maxx Hoffman-Carter (6'4 | 2027) - North Bakersfield   Hoffman-Carter had one of his first games with the Stars in the first meeting but was much more of a factor in round 2 of the North-South rivalry, as he has had time to get adjusted to the Stars roster and style of play. Hoffman-Carter was scoreless in the first half, as he struggled to find his shot, but he had a strong 3rd quarter, which was needed with the Stars back-court going scoreless in that period. Hoffman-Carter would score all 8 of his points in the 3rd quarter connecting on one 3-ball, and pulling down 4 rebounds, to keep North close after a scorching hot third period from the Spartans. Hoffman-Carter has a solid handle on the ball, is active on the glass to push the ball, moves well off the ball or on the pop off the pick and roll action, has the length to shoot over most perimeter defenders, and has a smooth stroke on the jumper off the catch. He could be the needed piece for the Stars to add to the scoring need as playoffs are a week away.   Forwards: Gavin Christian (6'5 | 2026) - South Bakersfield   Christian had a monster second half in the first meeting with a near double-double to lead the Spartans to the win. After a 2-point showing in the first half, Christian went berserk from the left-corner 3-point line, as he sank 3 threes in the 3rd quarter and scored 9 of his team-high 16 points in that period. Christian added 5 rebounds and showed why he will be a front-runner for league MVP, as his impact in both rivalry games against North was the reason it won both games and is the outright SYML champs. Christian crashes the boards on both ends, has the strength to score through contact on put-backs or when attacking the basket, has a reliable face-up jumper from the mid-post area, moves well off the ball to get open in the dunker spot or in the corners, where his 3-point efficiency has to be its highest of any other spot on the floor, evident by his 3rd quarter shooting display.  Plays with heart, toughness, and his growth has been most evident in his understanding of being relevant when it matters and impacting the game in clutch moments. That is this team of seniors and juniors, they have veteran varsity players and can play fast or in the half court setting and should be a problem in D3 Section playoffs, even if given a 6 or 7 seed.    Cam Saenz (6'3 | 2028) - North Bakersfield    The younger Saenz brother has played big time all season and showing that his name needs to be in the mix for top players in his class, with the stats to back it up being one of the most impactful sophomores in the Section to his team's production on the court. Saenz, who had a monster game in the first meeting against the Spartans with 16 points and 11 rebounds, had an even bigger game this go around, as he would have a game high in points and rebounds with 18 and 12. Saenz punishes the paint and is relentless on the glass, but can create off the perimeter and connect on the 3-ball off the dribble or the catch to open up the court. He was pretty much the Stars' offense in the second half, scoring 12 of the team's 23 points, and he is showing he can shoulder the required scoring his team needs. Saenz has good timing and gets off the floor quickly to get put-backs off the glass, has good scoring moves around the basket to evade shot blockers, and has the handles to create off the dribble and get to the jumper or the 3-ball. Shots just didn't fall in the 2nd half for the Stars and they did for the Spartans, that simple.

Central, CA - Last night, February 3rd, I attended the second meeting between South Yosemite Mountain League rivals South Bakersfield Spartans and North Bakersfield Stars, with first place in league on the line. Spartans needed the win for outright league champs, and Stars needed the win to get a tie for league champs, which is what it has been the past several years. The Stars got out to an early lead of 18 to 8 at one point in the second quarter and took a 23 to 17 lead into half. The Spartans played sloppy and both teams shot poorly except North guard Andrew Morales with a big 11 point half with 3 threes. The Spartans came out in the 3rd quarter with an explosive display of three point shooting, connecting on 7 in the quarter to take a 45 to 37 lead into the final quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. South would win the game and its league outright and likely improve its seeding for the D3 Section playoffs around the corner. In this article I look at 8 players that had standout showings by positions: guards and wing/forwards. I discuss how they played in the game and their relevant statistics, which are my own personal statistics.