Central Cali's Top 20 Team Rankings: Teams 11-20

After two weeks of play, I have updated my team rankings from the initial preseason rankings. Most teams have played at least two games, with some playing as many as 4, but there are a few that will open up their season Monday, December 1st. The December tournament season will kick off this week and there will be a lot of games played over the next 30 days. Before that takes place, here is my updated list of team rankings. This article takes a look at the #11 through #20 teams in this updated list and includes the following information: team name, its key players (only for those teams new to this list), its current rankings, its ranking from last round of team rankings in parentheses, and its current record. I will follow this article with the Top 10 teams in the Section.   11. (8) Clovis West Golden Eagles (2-1)   The Golden Eagles have had an up and down start to the season, which have been enhanced with injuries to senior Jace Kellogg and junior [player_tooltip player_id='2955798' first='Spencer' last='Kubit'], both said to be out for an additional week at least. Clovis West opened up the season with a win over San Luis Obispo at home but fell to Kingsburg the following day at the Clovis Tip-Off Challenge. The Golden Eagles were in a dog fight at home against the Drillers of Bakersfield High and down by six with a minute left to play. Clovis West would even things up by the end of regulation and, in a place that is unfriendly to opponents in extra play, the Golden Eagles would control overtime and escape with a 84 to 77 win to get to 2-1 after the first two weeks of play. Clovis West has a one-off game against Lincoln of San Francisco before preparing to host its annual Nike Fall Invitational December 10th-13th with some great match-ups that will test the young Golden Eagle roster. With Kellogg and Kubit being down, sophomores David Hinton IV an Hunter Bradford, and freshmen Jamel Castro and Kannon Green, along with senior Gabe Orzco and junior Deshawn Franklin will all be called to shoulder the scoring load, as this will force the young core of talented prospects to grow-up quickly and make a consistent impact.     12. (15) Mission College Prep Royals (San Luis Obispo) (2-0)   The Royals have come out the gates keeping its winning ways going from last season, as it would earn two wins over Santa Ynez and Righetti of Santa Maria. Through its first two games, the Royals have been led by seniors Deuce Kellogg and Hunter Drake, as standout sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='3035416' first='Kason' last='Niko'] is on a 30-day sit-out per CIF transfer rules, but his addition will make MIssion Prep a team to contend for the D2 Section title. The Royals have a break in their schedule this week and have no scheduled games but have a string of tough games against Fresno/Clovis area teams the following week, as it will play Buchanan of Clovis, Central East of Fresno, Justin Garza of Fresno, and Bullard of Fresno, with three of those teams in the top 10 of these team rankings. How the Royals come out of that week of games will be a great indicator of how it stacks up against the competition. It will host its own Christmas Classic the 19th-23rd, which is loaded with talent again this season. All of these games will be played without Niko, but that will allow others to step up and play a bigger role for the Royals, especially some of the younger players on the roster.    13. (13) Centennial Golden Hawks (Bakersfield) (0-0)   The Golden Hawks hold steady at #13, as it has yet to play its season opener and I have not seen anything thus far from other teams that would warrant them to drop or move up. Centennial opens up the season Monday against McFarland, followed by games against River City, Ridgeview of Bakersfield, and Arroyo Grande, which should put the Golden Eagles in line to get to the championship game of the Arroyo Grande Tournament. From what I have seen from most of the teams it will play this week, it should be 5-0 or 4-1 by the end of next Saturday, December 6th. How the Golden Hawks open up this week will determine where it will be the next time these rankings are updated. Centennial will also play in the Lloyd Williams Shootout the 10th-13th and will likely have a second round match-up with the host team North Bakersfield, slotted one spot below in this updated list of team rankings.    14. (16) North Bakersfield Stars (4-2)   The Stars opened up the season going 4-0 and won the 58 Freeway Tournament championship over Burroughs of Ridgecrest and junior Ethan Saenz was named MVP. The Stars have dropped its last two games, but both have been to formidable opponents in Oxnard and Central Section power San Joaquin Memorial. I have moved North Bakersfield up two spots and into the top 15 because its losses are to a team ranked ahead of them in the Section and the undefeated and talented Yellowjackets squad. The Stars have been led by junior lead guard Ethan Saenz, sophomores Cam Saenz and Alex Gomez, and senior Austin Ellingsworth and will be headed to Hawaii for the Moanalua Basketball Invitational before hosting the Lloyd Williams Shootout the 10th through the 13th.   15. (8) Bakersfield Drillers (0-3)   Rounding out the top 15 and moving out of the top 10 is the Drillers, who have yet to capture its first win of the season. The Drillers have played some quality teams to start the season, with an opening game loss to San Joaquin Memorial. The Drillers then traveled to play Fairfax of Los Angeles and fell to the Lions the Saturday before Thanksgiving by a score of 77 to 72. Yesterday, the Drillers continued their travels to Fresno to take on Clovis West, who was down its two best players. Bakersfield led most of the game but the Golden Eagles got hot late and tied the game to force overtime. Winning at the Eagles Nest is hard enough, but nearly impossible in OT, as Clovis West would prevail with the 84 to 77 win. The Drillers schedule will not get any easier as it heads to SoCal for the Rose City Classic Tournament followed by the Lloyd Williams Tournament at North Bakersfield. The Drillers have been led by senior [player_tooltip player_id='2700921' first='Kade' last='Johnson'] at 17 points per game, followed by 12.5 points per game from sophomore Ryze Niles and 12 points a game from senior Keshawn Black. One thing that Bakersfield has going for itself will be the arrival of standout sophomore lead guard, and orchestrator of the team, RJ Shehee, who has been on the football field. The Drillers lost in the D2 Football Section title game Friday night and Shehee's insertion into the line-up will allow everyone else to fall back into their natural roles. I anticipate that the Drillers will move back up these rankings, but, despite playing a tough schedule, two of those games were winnable and that is why I have moved Bakersfield down to #15.    16. (NR) McLane Highlanders (Fresno) (1-1)   Key Players: Keyvon Burcher (5'10 | CG | Sr.), [player_tooltip player_id='2953953' first='Keshawn' last='Langenfeld'] (6' | CG | So.), Khristian Smith (6'1 | CG | Sr.), and Jacob Mahavong-Garcia (5'8 | PG | So.)   The Highlanders make its debut in these team rankings and come in at #16. The Highlanders have gotten off to a solid start, earning a solid win over Sanger by a score of 59 to 44. McLane did fall to Clovis to start the season, but the Cougars have shown to be one of the top teams in the Section. McLane has been led by Keyvon Burcher with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, followed by 14.5 points per game from [player_tooltip player_id='2953953' first='Keshawn' last='Langenfeld'] and 11.5 points per game by Jacob Mahavong-Garcia, both sophomores making a big impact. The Highlanders will take on Madera before taking part in Immanuel's Tournament of Champions this coming week with games against Sierra Pacific of Hanford, McFarland, and Lemoore, which are all games it can win and could end up 5-1 by Sunday if McLane continues to play to their strengths and impose its will.    17. (17) Tulare Union The Tribe (1-0)   The Tribe hold steady at the #17 spot, as it has only played one game and won it by a large margin over Mt. Whitney, 96 to 33. The Tribe put up big scoring numbers last season, and started this year off with scoring nearly a hundred points. The Tribe take on Porterville and Monache of Porterville this week and are looking to get off to the hot start it had last season. Tulare Union will be led by standout seniors Brayden Stevenson, Shauntai Kimble, and Demaje Riley, as well as junior Davion Willaims. The upperclassmen heavy roster will be key for the Tribe to make a run at a league title and a Section championship as well.    18. (NR) Fresno Christian Eagles (3-0)   Key Players: Leon Madec (6'5 | SG | Sr.), Ty Medeiros (6'2 | WF | Jr.), Tycen Ramirez (6'6 | F | Sr.), Cash Hertel (5'10 | CG | So.); and Andrew Awad (5'9 | PG | Fr.)   The defending Division 5 Section Champs make its debut in the Top 20 Team Rankings and, despite several players graduating or transferring from last year's roster, the Eagles have reloaded and are off to a hot start, going 3-0. Fresno Christian has earned wins over Sunnyside of Fresno, Central of Fresno, and Strathmore and what seemed to be a rebuilding year has turned into one that has legitimate league and Section title aspirations. The additions of the Madec brothers, in particular senior Leon Madec, who had an impressive showing for Kerman in the Section title game two years ago in a win over Corcoran and a monster 30 point plus performance, have had a major impact. In addition to some welcomed transfers, the underclassmen for the Eagles have a lot of potential and I know the coaching staff was excited about the future with them. Looks like they will not be relied upon too much this year but the experience will help sustain a run for the next 3 to 4 years.    19. (12) San Luis Obispo Tigers (1-2)   Moving down 7 spots and coming in at #19 is the Tigers of San Luis Obispo. The Tigers opened up its season with two big time road games, losing to Clovis West and then Bakersfield Christian the following day. Despite the losses, without standout senior Logan Missler out with an injury, San Luis held tough against two of the top programs in the Section over the past decade or more. Last Tuesday, the Tigers got in the win column by demolishing Nordoff by a score of 72 to 22. San Luis has been led by standout junior Beau Crew, senior Vaughn Otto, and junior Isaac Burgess. The Tigers will host Nipomo on Tuesday before heading to the Santa Cruz Tournament where it will open with Los Gatos. The following week the Tigers will take on the same teams that Mission Prep is playing in Bullard, Central East, Buchanan, and Justin Garza, which will be a good indicator of where SLO stacks up with the rest of the teams from the Central Valley.      20. (NR) Central Valley Christian Cavaliers (2-0)   Key Players: Jayden Bergman (6' | PG | So.), Grant Hide (6'4 | WG | Jr.), Jaaron Dodson (5'9 | CG | Jr.), and Phillip Fletcher (6'5 | WF |Fr.)   Rounding out the Top 20 and making its debut is the Cavaliers of Central Valley Christian. CVC has gotten off to a 2-0 start, getting a big win over Madera South and a comeback win over Stockdale of Bakersfield at the Fresno Christian Thanksgiving Shootout. Despite the graduation of Caden Lloyd, who was a walking double-double and league MVP last season, the Cavaliers have been led by sophomore Jayden Bergman, junior Grant Hide, junior Jaaron Dodson, and freshman Phillip Fletcher, who is a promising young prospect. CVC has a big game this Tuesday against the red hot Guardians of Garza, which will be a good litmus test early in the season. After that, the Cavalier will take part in the Andrew Bedoya Classic as a co-host with Dinuba.

After two weeks of play, I have updated my team rankings from the initial preseason rankings. Most teams have played at least two games, with some playing as many as 4, but there are a few that will open up their season Monday, December 1st. The December tournament season will kick off this week and there will be a lot of games played over the next 30 days. Before that takes place, here is my updated list of team rankings. This article takes a look at the #11 through #20 teams in this updated list and includes the following information: team name, its key players (only for those teams new to this list), its current rankings, its ranking from last round of team rankings in parentheses, and its current record. I will follow this article with the Top 10 teams in the Section.