Mission League winter sports outlook
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The Mission League promises to be chock-full of action this season even if Harvard-Westlake seems to be a lock for the boys’ basketball title. But enough of my gabbing, let’s get down to it:
BOYS’ BASKETBALL -- It’s been well-documented the Wolverines are the team to beat, but what about everybody else? Loyola looks like it’ll be the next-best team thanks to having a couple guys named Hollis Thompson and Cartwright Miles in its lineup, but don’t count out Verbum Dei and Crespi. I was a little surprised with how the Eagles stayed close with the Wolverines on Wednesday; however, the Jerramy King swoosh-fest on Thursday against Chaminade wasn’t a shock. And no one in this league can afford to overlook Chaminade and fast-starting Alemany.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL -- Notre Dame and Chaminade are off to good starts and the Knights are my favorite for the league title based on their tournament performances. Still, defending champion Harvard-Westlake has got to be considered a title contender with its sophomore trio of Nicole Hung, Nicole Nesbit and Sydney Haydel lighting up the scoreboard. The Knights have a couple talented scorers in Kody Burke and Mel Madriaga and Chaminade has its own scoring duo in Erin Dautremont and Kim Capicotto. Translation: it’s going to be a great, unpredictable mess when these teams start playing each other in a couple weeks.
BOYS’ SOCCER -- Defending Division I co-champions Loyola look really good and St. Francis proved its going to challenge the Cubs with guys like Sean McGuinness and Nick Posthuma in its lineup. Both these teams meet on Wednesday in Round 1 of the title fight. Harvard-Westlake and Crespi will kick it around for third place.
GIRLS’ SOCCER -- It’s going to be a duel between Notre Dame and Flintridge Sacred Heart, and nothing was decided when these teams met in the championship game of the Los Tacos Holiday Festival last week. The undefeated Knights are my favorite to win their first league title, but we’ll see what happens when these teams meet again Jan. 18.
GIRLS’ WATER POLO -- No surprises here: Harvard-Westlake is once again the dominant force following last year’s trek into the Division IV semifinals. Of course, a divisional title is what the Wolverines will be playing for this season.
-- Austin Knoblauch
-- Image from www.hollywoodusa.co.uk