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I said last week as we braced for the beginning of the East Bay Athletic League soccer and basketball leagues to expect the unexpected to happen.
The EBAL is deep and talented in both sports and when that happens there are precious few times a team can afford to take a breather. It also means a team can go out and play well but lose both their league games in a week.
Let’s look at the boys’ basketball week.
Amador Valley came into the start of league at 15-2 overall and a pair of tournament titles. At the end of the first week Amador is 0-2, losing to California and De La Salle.
With the league set up this year calling for one game against the other nine teams in the league followed by a 10-team league tournament, any chance of redemption is out until the league tournament.
There has been some talk about Dougherty Valley being down some this year, but even a Wildcats team down a bit is still a force in the league.
But after the first week, Dougherty is also 0-2, falling to San Ramon Valley and Granada.
Monte Vista came into league play 15-1, having beaten some strong programs through the non-league campaign. Guess what – following losses to De La Salle and Dublin – the Mustangs sit 0-2 as well.
After the two EBAL losses the Mustangs stopped the bleeding with a 67-61 over Marin Catholic on Saturday.
De La Salle, Granada, San Ramon Valley, and Dublin all went 2-0 in the first week, positioning themselves nicely after a pair of games. With this strength of a league, things can turn around in a week.
In fact, things can become clearer this week or don’t be surprised if the league gets tossed into chaos come Friday night.
Dougherty Valley is at De La Salle Tuesday night, and Granada is at Amador Valley. A win by either Dougherty or Amador puts both teams right back in the hunt.
Friday also has some big games. De La Salle is at Dublin for a game what will likely be 3-0 teams. San Ramon Valley will play at Amador Valley in a game that will have ramifications for the league.
The girls’ side seems clearer cut as San Ramon Valley and Carondelet seem much the best. Carondelet came in 12-2 then promptly went out and handled Monte Vista and Amador Valley.
San Ramon Valley had an intriguing second game against a 15-2 California team but by the end of the night, SRV walked out of the gym 72-30 winners.
Anyone looking ahead should note Jan. 30 SRV is at Carondelet.
One other game worth of note last week was Foothill’s 67-11 win over Livermore, four-year Foothill starter Riley Young scored her 1,000-career point for the Falcons.
Girls’ soccer opened with a wild first week. It was a week where the top teams coming into the start of league – San Ramon Valley, Granada, and Carondelet – all lost.
Amador Valley, a team that played all of one non-league game, dropped Carondelet at the end of the week to make for a 2-0 start.
The win, coupled with a win over California, jumped the Dons to the top spot of the power rankings.
San Ramon Valley had yet to lose this year coming into league and was 7-0, stopped a good Dougherty Valley 2-0 the first game. The unbeaten season came to an end Friday when California took out the Wolves 1-0.
Granada started out 7-0 in non-league play but has gone 0-3-1 in the Mats last four games and sits 0-1-1 in EBAL play. Monte Vista may be one to watch. The Mustangs sit 5-1-2 overall and 1-0-1 in league after tying Carondelet 1-1, then beating Dublin 2-0.
On the boys’ side, De La Salle sits on top of the power rankings after opening league with wins over Monte Vista (1-0) and Amador Valley (3-0).
The Spartans stand 6-2-1 overall and 2-0 in league. Right behind DLS is Granada as the Mats have yet to lose this year and sit 9-0-1 overall. The squad opened EBAL play beating Foothill (3-2) and Dougherty Valley (2-0).
Granada does host Amador Valley Tuesday night and the Dons have been on a roll, standing 9-2 overall after opening with a win over Cal. The last two for Amador have been shaky as they fell 3-0 to De La Salle, then 5-0 to Berkeley.
Another intriguing match Tuesday night is De La Salle traveling to Dougherty Valley. The Wildcats were 5-1-1 but went 1-1-1 in the last three as they tied San Ramon Valley, fell to Granada, then beat Cardinal Newman.
Check back next week to see the latest updates!
