2017-18 Week 8: Leaders Can Look Down Road
Fast forward about month, to the round of 4 in the San Diego Section Open Division championships.
If the Max Preps’ power ratings hold and the first and second rounds play out as expected, Torrey Pines (20-2) would play Mission Bay (21-4) in one semifinal and Foothills Christian (19-5) would meet San Marcos (18-2) in the other.
Not bad.
The power ratings, as presented by Max Preps, generally are accepted by San Diego Section bosses and will continue to evolve until the playoff seeding meeting in late February.
Mission Bay closed in on its first league championship since the 1988-89 season with a 51-45, Western League victory last night over St. Augustine, No. 6 in Max Preps.
Foothills Christian still holds sway in the weekly Union-Tribune poll (I have voted each week for Torrey Pines as No. 1). The Knights have five Coast League games left and Torrey Pines has six Avocado League encounters plus a nonleague contest against Francis Parker.
There are a couple troublesome opponents on the horizon for each, but both figure to strongly close out the regular season.
AREA CRED
Foothills Christian rose from 13th to 10th in Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly ratings and Mission Bay went up one position to 13th. San Marcos and Torrey Pines remain on the bubble.
West Hills’ Cameron Barry (no relation to Rick, Drew, or Brent) has fallen off a little in the last two weeks but still ranks 12th among U.S. scorers.
Barry is averaging 33 a game with 660 points in 20 games. The leader is Tommy Murr of Lindsey Lane Christian in Athens, Alabama, with 1,031 points in 26 games for a 39.7 average.
Barry is the state leader, ahead of Camarillo’s Jaime Jaquez, who is averaging 32.8 with 688 points in 21 games.
Jc Canahuate of Army-Navy is No. 2 in San Diego and 12th in California at 27.9 with 585 points in 21 games. Torrey Pines’ Bryce Pope (22×509, 23.1) is third in San Diego and 40th in California.
Union-Tribune Boys’ poll through Monday, Jan. 29:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Last Poll |
| 1 | Foothills Christian (7) | 19-5 | 115 | 1 |
| 2 | Torrey Pines (5) | 20-2 | 112 | 2 |
| 3 | Mission Bay | 20-4 | 96 | 3 |
| 4 | San Marcos | 18-2 | 85 | 5 |
| 5 | Vista | 17-6 | 67 | 4 |
| 6 | Mater Dei | 17-6 | 63 | 6 |
| 7 | St. Augustine | 12-4 | 50 | 7 |
| 8 | La Jolla Country Day | 16-7 | 21 | 8 |
| 9 | Montgomery | 17-4 | 13 | 9 |
| 10 | Canyon Crest | 14-7 | 10 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Santa Fe Christian (12-9, 9 points), Mount Miguel (19-4, 8), The Bishop’s (13-6, 4), El Camino (13-8, 3),Orange Glen (14-7, 3 ).
Poll participants: John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, freelancer; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Adam Paul, Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM; Christian Pedersen, S.D. Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, Fulltime Hoops; Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.