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The insanity that has been the East Bay Athletic League boys’ basketball league has finally ended the regular season.
De La Salle finished at the top of the league with a 7-2-mark, one game better than Dougherty Valley who finished 6-3. And now the crazy part: Amador Valley, Monte Vista, California, Granada and Dublin all finished at 5-4.
San Ramon Valley (4-5), Livermore (3-6) and Foothill (0-9) round out the 10 teams.
Through some convoluted tiebreaking system, Amador Valley and Monte Vista were awarded the third and fourth spots for the EBAL playoffs that take place this week.
On Wednesday (Feb. 11), Monte Vista will travel to De La Salle, and Dougherty Valley will host Amador Valley. Two nights later the winners of the semifinals will face off for the EBAL Playoff title.
To be honest, the EBAL playoffs are basically meaningless as the regular season champ – in this case De La Salle – gets the automatic North Coast Section berth, win or lose in the tournament. In fact, all four teams in the playoffs will advance to NCS play.
There should be at least eight EBAL teams that advance to the multiple divisions of the NCS tournament, with most having a chance to do damage in the tournament.
Some might make a statement that playing in the tournament will make a team tournament ready, but playing in one of the best leagues in Northern California already has a team toughened and ready.
So, what’s the solution, because a team sitting idle for a week doesn’t help?
Just play out the EBAL regular season and time the league so that the regular season ends the week before NCS starts.
Girls’ basketball
As I’ve said repeatedly, this league was decided by the first scheduled EBAL game when San Ramon Valley beat Carondelet 58-48. That left the Wolves as the champs and the Cougars as No. 2.
Yes, I enjoy watching the two teams play as they are lightyears ahead of the rest of the league, but another game won’t make a difference in their NCS prospects and the two have not been playing in the same division in NCS so playing again makes little sense.
On Tuesday (Feb. 10), San Ramon Valley will host California and Dublin will visit Carondelet, with the winners playing on Friday (Feb. 13) for the meaningless EBAL playoff title.
And as is the case with the boys’ league, there should be at least seven out of the 10 teams that make the NCS tournament.
Boys’ soccer
Amador Valley needed to win its last two games and then get some help to make the top four and get into the playoffs.
The Dons got the wins, then got the help and now find themselves in the top four and in the EBAL playoffs for the first time in school history.
Amador and Livermore finished with the same record, but the Dons beat Livermore to open league to give them the tie breaker and the No. 4 spot.
De La Salle is the No. 1 seed, with San Ramon Valley No. 2 and Monte Vista No. 3.
Next up for Amador is a date at De La Salle on Thursday (Feb. 12), with Monte Vista playing at San Ramon Valley. The winners will meet on Saturday (Feb. 14) for the playoff title.
As for NCS, I can see up to 10 teams with a legitimate chance to make the NCS playoffs.
Girls’ soccer
The top four teams seemed pretty set throughout the regular season, with Carondelet (9-0), Amador Valley (6-1-2), California (6-2-1), and San Ramon Valley (5-2-2) finishing in the top four.
Up to six teams have great shots to make the NCS tournament, and I fully expect the EBAL to be the favorites to win the NCS, with teams from Clayton Valley and Liberty both in the mix.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit here.
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