So I’ve ran this theory by a bunch of people since I left the Washington-Deer Valley game tonight and it has made sense to everyone so far…

The general consensus is that the officiating was terrible across the board tonight with a common theme — way too many fouls. I think this directly correlates to the use of three officials at NCS games. The whole year, these kids have played with two officials and everyone gets used to that. But when NCS rolls around all of a sudden there is an extra set of eyes and an extra whistle on the court.

I wish there was an average foul per game number we could analyze because I guarantee it goes up with 3 officials instead of 2. It’s not like baseball where having more umpires obviously helps, in basketball the use of more officials definitely changes the game.

On the surface it seems like more officials would equate to a better officiated game, but there were quite a few free throw contests out there tonight and it shouldn’t be that way in the playoffs. It’s not fair to the kids who get used to games getting called a certain way all year, then having that change at the end when they are already under a lot of pressure.

This is not a knock on the individual refs, who for the most part do a good job, I just think the games should be officiated the same way in the playoffs as they were during the regular season.

Deer Valley coach Lindsay Wiley said she thought the team who’s superstar fouled out first was going to be the team that lost. Morgan Woodrow (Washington) fouled out with 2:19 left in regulation, Patrice Saindon (Deer Valley) fouled out at the end of overtime … Deer Valley wins by 5.

Food for thought.

With everything going on tonight, this is all I have time to do…….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe updates later…

I could have written a nice little blog post about what Las Lomas wrestler Jason Welch has in store for this weekend’s CIF State Championships in Bakersfield. But, that’s not how we roll. I figured it would be better to actually experience what Welch’s opponents will face this weekend. Give me a second while I get it up and working.

The All-Hayward Area Athletic League Team was selected Monday night and just submitted to me. I won’t release the entire team because I have to save something for the print edition (Team will come out in Tuesday’s paper), but I will announce the co-Player’s of the Year….

Davion Berry, Hayward — An obvious choice here. The HAAL scoring champion led his team to a second-place finish in league. This is the junior’s first year as a starter and he reached the free throw line over 100 times this season. He has led the Farmers to the top seed in the NCS Division II playoffs. However, he went down hard in the first-round victory against Northgate and will sit most of tonight’s game against Windsor, unless absolutely needed, according to coach Iman Mattox.

DJ Broome, Castro Valley – A great selection for co-Player of the Year. I really commend the coaches for going with Broome. The 5-foot-6 point guard doesn’t average double-digit points, but he is the reason the Castro Valley offense goes. Broome showed off his ability to break down a press in the quarterfinal playoff victory over Pittsburg. He is still averaging around nine points a game, I believe. But it certainly is his ability to run the offense that got him the award. Nobody in the HAAL runs an offense better than Broome and he is up there with the best point guards in the East Bay. He is a true old-school point guard, pass first and shoot second. One of the most exciting players to watch in the HAAL.

Congrats to both players.

A lot of the talk on this blog is dedicated to NCS — and rightfully so — but I figured I’d throw out a little discussion on tonight’s OAL championship games. For those that don’t know how the OAL formats things, the top three teams all make the OAL/Oakland Section playoffs. Last night, the No. 2 seed played the No. 3 seed. On the girls side, Skyline withheld a ferocious comeback by McClymonds to win by a point. On the boys side, Oakland outscored Fremont 31-13 in the fourth quarter to earn a 79-72 victory.

Both of those teams advanced to the championship game tonight against the No. 1 seed — Castlemont on the girls side and of course McClymonds on the boys side. The girls game is 5 p.m. at Laney College, with the boys following (listed time is 7 p.m., but it’ll probably be more like 7:30 p.m.) The twist is, those No. 1 seeds must be beaten twice for the other team to take home the trophy. That leaves two “if” games to be played Friday if Skyline beats Castlemont and/or Oakland beat McClymonds tonight. Fortunately, the Oakland Section has two automatic berths to the NorCal playoffs, so all four finalists are in.

Tonight at Laney should be one heck of a scene, in particular for that boys game. The last time Oakland and Mack played, the Wildcats had a chance to score to win it in the final 10 seconds only to see Mack’s Damario Sims nail a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win 54-51. After that game, Oakland’s Damian Lillard guaranteed his team would see Mack again and when I talked to him yesterday he reminded me of that. I’ll have some mixed emotions running tonight while covering that game. As much fun as these OAL games are and as much fun as it would be to see a winner-take-all showdown on Friday, if that happens I won’t get to see it. I’m leaving Thursday to drive down to Bakersfield to cover the CIF State Wrestling Championships.  We’ll just see how things go. Both teams’ fans travel well so that Laney gym is going to be rocking. At the end of last night’s game, the Oakland contingent started chanting “We want Mack, we want Mack.” Now they get their chance.

I figure the girls game should be a good one too. While Castlemont has proven to be the class of the league, if Skyline can get another game like last night from Markiell Styles (I think she had 21 points, 16 rebounds), they’ll have a chance to match up with Jeanine Manley, Crystal Whittington, Ebony Richardson and Co. and could force another one on Friday. But Castlemont is tough and no team has really threatened the Knights in OAL play this year, outside of Mack losing by about four or five on the road in the opener. I really think Castlemont has the type of team to win a game or two in NorCals.

For those who have been wondering, I’ve been at Jury Duty since Monday. Despite having it tomorrow, I’m still going to cover the Castro Valley-Newark Memorial boys hoops game. I’m looking forward to a great game and a great atmosphere.

I just spoke with Hayward High coach Iman Mattox about the condition of the Hayward Area Athletic League scoring champion, Davion Berry. Mattox said Berry has four staples in his head and won’t play much, if at all, against Windsor in the North Coast Section Division II semifinals Wednesday. Mattox said Berry will only play if absolutely needed.

Berry went down hard early in the first-round victory over Northgate last week. He sat out most of the game, until his mother signed a waiver (during the game) to allow him to play the final couple minutes, according to Mattox. 

Afterwards, Berry was taken straight to the emergency room. He had four staples put in his head. Berry is a competitor that is for sure. Unbelievable, that he came back into the game against Northgate. Hopefully, he has a healthy and speedy recoverey. Mattox said if the Farmers advance to Saturday’s finals, then Berry will play.

Unless you’re a coach, student-athlete or parent/guardian of a student-athlete whose high school soccer season takes place in spring, this year’s soccer season came to an end Saturday night, Feb. 23.

And what a conclusion it was. I was assigned to the North Coast Section 2A boys final between Piedmont and Campolindo at Acalanes High School. Not to belabor a point, as I’ve written about this game in a previous entry, but both teams did themselves proud. OK, so the score was 6-1 for Campolindo, but there were a lot of elements in this game to appreciate.

I wish there could have been two of me that same night, as colleague Matt Smith looked as if he caught a very good game in witnessing Pittsburg beat Amador Valley for the boys 3A title. Can only wonder, though, how Richmond High would have held up against either of those teams. Richmond, as described in an earlier post, was the team of skill in its Feb. 16 quarterfinal at home against Deer Valley, which relied largely on force. Deer Valley might have prevailed on a late penalty kick in that game, but the biggest loser was the sport of soccer itself.

In the long run, though, soccer itself was no loser come Feb. 23. Colleague Bill Kruissink, from all reports, saw a real barnburner when covering the 3A girls championship game between San Ramon Valley and Foothill at Dublin High. SRV won this game in a shootout. OK, so shootouts never are perfect; they’re a tough way to lose and maybe not the most satisfying way to win. Still, it sounded like a great game for both teams, who can only be proud of the performances they gave.

Colleague Phil Jensen covered the 2A girls title match between Piedmont and Miramonte that preceded the boys match at Acalanes High. Having arrived at Acalanes well in advance of the boys game, I was able to catch the last few minutes of the girls match. The scoreboard read, “Home 1, Visitors 0,” when I arrived, but until I asked Phil specifically, I could not tell which team was ahead as both the Highlanders and victorious Matadors kept attacking until the final whistle.

Yes, the winter soccer season is finished. And for the sport of soccer itself, it ended on a high note.

Below I have every semifinal game, boys and girls, divisions 1 through 5. Picks are due by 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27. If you didn’t participate in the first or second rounds, who cares, join the fun now.

—————————————————————————-

Copy the list of games below, paste it in a new comment to this post. Erase the team you think is going to lose. If you don’t pick a game you will automatically lose that game. Each correct pick is worth 1 point (other rounds will be scored the same). If you want to tell us why you picked your games, feel free. If you win (any division), you will automatically be granted eternal glory.

D-I

BOYS: De La Salle/Monte Vista; Newark Memorial/Castro Valley. GIRLS: Deer Valley/Washington; Berkeley/Monte Vista.

D-II

BOYS: Hayward/Windsor; Casa Grande/Las Lomas. GIRLS: Carondelet/Pinole Valley; Northgate/Maria Carillo.

D-III

BOYS: Campolindo/Acalanes; Bishop O’Dowd/Dublin. GIRLS: Miramonte/Dublin; Hercules/Bishop O’Dowd.

D-IV

BOYS: St. Mary’s/St. Joseph; Kennedy/Salesian. GIRLS: Justin Siena/St. Mary’s; Moreau Catholic/St. Patrick-St. Vincent.

D-V

BOYS:Branson/SF University; St. Elizabeth/Lick Wilmerding. GIRLS: Branson/Rincon Valley Christian; Head-Royce/Emery.

Overall Standings through 2 Rounds

*Just boys games.

**Just boys D-I

Division-I Boys

Division-I Girls

Division-II Boys

Division-II Girls

Division-III Boys

Division-III Girls

Division-IV Boys

Division-IV Girls

Division-V Boys

Division-V Girls