Peninsula men lead rankings heading to league play

NWAACC Men's Basketball

The Clackamas Holiday Invitational proved to be fantastic yet again, with a host of solid teams facing off and providing good insight for this week's rankings. Peninsula looked dominant outside of the tournament opening overtime victory over No. 6 Yakima Valley, and No. 7 Tacoma finally saw all of their starters on the court at once. Also, it seems that the Northern Region is back again this year, with three teams in the JOWARD Rankings, and four teams in the coaches poll, Whatcom having made the cut. As region play begins this week, we'll get to watch the battle for playoff spots start - the top four of in each region make the 16-team tournament in Tri-Cities, Wash. in the first weekend in March.

Be sure to check back in a week's time for Full Court Press (last week | this week), a bi-weekly roundup of NWAACC basketball action to fill in the gaps. Coaches rankings are in italics under each team's record. If you have a question or a comment feel free to leave it below, respond via twitter or send me an email. 

                                                                                                                         

1. Peninsula (9-4, 0-0 North)
No. 2 (tie) coaches
Previous ranking: 3 , No. 7 coaches

Whatever questions might have been had about Peninsula with their lack of NWAACC opponents have definitely been answered. A dominant 22 point victory over No. 3 Edmonds, who was on track to top the Power Rankings, has been followed up with three straight victories, over No. 5 Tacoma and No. 6 Yakima Valley, and then Centralia to claim the Clackamas Holiday Tournament championship. Peninsula is now the only team to have gone undefeated against NWAACC competition so far. The Pirates are second in rebounding with just over 54 boards per contest, and third in assists with 17.

                                                                                                                         

2. Lane (12-2, 0-0 South)
No. 1 coaches
Previous ranking: No. 2, No. 1 coaches

Lane has only played once since the last set of rankings, a 73-62 [box] win over Linfield JV, so it seems unfair to move them too far from their position from two weeks ago. The Titans' win streak has now been pushed to five ever since falling to Spokane on December 9th, a game in which Lane's point's leader Tyler Coleman was held eight points below his seasonal average. T. Coleman's numbers have been down as of late, but Lane has gotten contributions from a number of different sources, including Alex MacNeil, who has been netting 14.5 ppg in the last four, up from just under nine points through his first five games.

                                                                                                                         

3. Edmonds (10-2, 0-0 North)
No. 2 (tie) coaches
Previous ranking: No. 4, No. 3 coaches

Edmonds has had a few chances to recover from getting embarrassed by Peninsula on December 16th, and so far they've come through. While their opponents - Lower Columbia (2-8), NW Indian (1-4 vs. NWAACC) and EDCC Alumni - haven't been all that impressive, those games will hopefully serve as tune ups and momentum builders going in to what will be a very tough regular season in the NWAACC North. The Tritons are lead by Shaquille McKissic, whose 22.4 points are good for third in the league.

                                                                                                                        

4. Big Bend (11-3, 0-0 East)
No. 4 coaches
Previous ranking: No. 5, No. 6 coaches

Following their narrow 80-79 loss [box] to Treasure Valley, Big Bend has rebounded with three straight victories to take the Big Bend Holiday Classic title, defeating Douglas, Blue Mountain (6-6) and Skagit Valley (7-6). In those three contests, the Vikings averaged 92.6 points, the first run of games that actually backs up their seasonal average of 92.14 points per contest, largely distorted by their 143 points in the preseason opener. Throwing out that first contest and re-working the numbers, and the latest stretch is four points above their seasonal average. That's red hot and rollin' heading in to Eastern Region play. 

                                                                                                                         

5. Tacoma (7-4, 0-0 West)
No. 9 coaches
Previous ranking: NR, NR coaches

As head coach Carl Howell was quick to point out, Tacoma is finally close to full strength. They have several of their big guns back, with all five of their starters playing at the same time against Clackamas in the final game at the Clackamas Holiday Invitational. Tacoma won that game 85-64 [box], just a night removed from getting steamrolled by No. 1 Peninsula by 22 points. Josh Lord, who has played in just five games so far, had his best contest of the season with 20 points and four rebounds, and will factor in greatly going forward into the regular season.

                                                                                                                         

6. Yakima Valley (10-4, 0-0 East)
No. 8 coaches
Previous ranking: No. 7, NR coaches

The Yaks performed well at the Clackamas Holiday Invitational, taking No. 1 Peninsula to overtime before falling 83-74 [box]. YVCC then turned around and flattened Linn Benton 87-64 [box] and on the following night turned on the afterburners to outscore Walla Walla 103-100 [box] behind 22 points from Joel Yellow Owl. As Clackamas head coach Clif Wegner put it, there wasn't a bad team at the Clackamas Holiday Invitational, and Yakima Valley was a victim of just that. They played Peninsula closer than just about everyone else, and are probably underrated at the No. 6 spot.

                                                                                                                         

7. Bellevue (8-4, 0-0 North)
No. 7 coaches
Previous ranking: No. 6, No. 5 coaches

One of the few teams that sat out of the holiday action, Bellevue hasn't seen much of the court in the last two weeks. One of their two games, an 85-75 [box] loss to No. 6 Yakima Valley, came despite a huge game from sophomore Jeff Kimmel, who exploded for a season high 17 points in 23 minutes, more than 12 points over his seasonal average. Bellevue flattened Highline 68-46 [box] nine days later, a fitting platform to trampoline into an extremely competitive Northern Region regular season, with three teams from the division making the rankings.

                                                                                                                         

8. Pierce (9-3, 1-0 West)
No. 5 coaches
Previous ranking: No. 1, No. 4 coaches

After taking more than two weeks off following a 98-83 win [box] over Chemeketa, Pierce came out strong, knocking off a reeling Grey's Harbor team that had already lost their last three. Wait... strong? Oh. Well, a win is a win, but beating GHC isn't much to brag about, especially since Pierce was looking to prove themselves after losing to Bellevue in the second round of the BC Crossover in mid December. However, despite that loss, Pierce remains stubbornly one of the best offensive teams in the league, averaging 90.83 points (3rd) and 19.85 assists (1st) per ballgame, and is one of the most efficient squads as well, with a nearly 4:3 assists to turnover ratio.

                                                                                                                         

Full Court Press: Holiday Edition

Normally, Full Court Press will look a little different. Two games of the week are featured, along with a prediction. This week, because of the slough of holiday tournaments on the horizon, FCP will feature a quick preview of each tournament. Be sure to keep an eye out for next week's Power Rankings, which will be heavily impacted by this weekend's action. And with that, enjoy:


NWAACC Men:

Clackamas Holiday Invitational

This tournament is usually littered with big names, but this year is exceptionally stacked. The last six NWAACC championship teams will be in attendance: Clackamas (2007, 09, 10), Peninsula (2011), Yakima Valley (2008) and Tacoma (2012), and of the eight teams in the tournament, all eight teams are at .500 or above, and five could concevably be in the coaches' top eight and the JOWARD Power Rankings by next week. Three teams have seven wins or more, and all but one squad is fourth place or higher in their division.

There are several obvious favorites. Peninsula has come out and dominated NWAACC competition ever since their struggles against highly ranked Juco opponents, and seems to have rebuilt well from last year.  The host team Clackamas is always difficult to count out, but they lost to a 4-4 Centralia team, one of the tournament participants, a few weeks back. The biggest Everett, too, has a bid, as they knocked off Yakima Valley in overtime, but they followed up with a loss to Tacoma.

That is perhaps the biggest question mark going into this weekend: how will the Titans, who have just recently gotten back several key players from injury, fare going forward? Two of their top four scorers in Josh Lord and Dec. 26 Player of the Week Adrian Harper have only played the last two and four contests respectively, and their integration will be something to closely watch in this weekend's match ups.

Weekend's Pick:

On paper, Peninsula should win this one, despite their 6-4 record. The woodshedding of Edmonds that Peninsula put on was enough to turn a lot of heads, and if PC can put up that type of performance against the NWAACC's best, they will be tough to compete with.

Big Bend Holiday Classic

The BBCC Holiday Classic is lacking in big name teams in comparison to Clackamas. Only two of the competing teams are .500 or above, one of them being Big Bend, and the other being Skagit Valley (5-5). No. 6 Big Bend is already well favored by the coaches, and this tournament, should they win it without a slip-up, will give them the chance to move up even further. They currently sit at 8-3 and are tied for first in the NWAACC East with Yakima Valley, but haven't beaten many good teams so far this young preseason.


While the competition in the BBCC tournament isn't exactly stiff, the tournament provides a window of opportunity to let the high scoring Vikings let the league know if they're for real. They've put up some impressive numbers so far, 2nd in the league in scoring with 92 points a game, and three contests in which they scored over 100. By Sunday, we'll all have a much better idea of where they stand. That will be reflected on Wednesday, when the coaches rankings and JOWARD Power Rankings will be released.


Weekend's Pick:

Barring a huge performance from one of the other participants, Big Bend should win this one handily, going to 11-3 on the season and taking a lead in the Eastern Region over Yakima.


NWAACC Women: 

Chemeketa Holiday Tournament

Teams coming in to the Chemeketa tournament are all looking for very different things. The field on average is decent, with a combined 42-35 record, but 11 of those wins and none of those losses came from Lane - meaning that the rest of the teams are 31-35. Gone, it seems, are the days where Columbia Basin was a sure favorite, as they have now dropped to 3-6, and Treasure Valley is a dismal 1-8. Blue Mountain, Highline and Chemeketa all sit at .500, and there are questions over whether they seem to have the firepower needed to keep up with the big guns. That leaves two clear favorites.

Firstly, ignore that bit about counting out Chemeketa. They face Treasure Valley in the first round, and will challenge the winner of the Wenatchee Valley-Highline game on Saturday, outside of a colossal collapse in the TVCC game. Chemeketa has shown flashes of brilliance in the preseason, most notably a 64-60 win over Yakima Valley, but at the same time they have also stumbled against Everett and had to go into overtime to defeat Grey's Harbor (2-4). That said, with the good moment's Chemeketa has had, one could reason that if they were to build up momentum, they could at least make a run at the title match.

And their opponent in the title game? No matter who wins on the other side of the bracket, you'd have to be a fool to pick against Lane. The Titans have stretched their undefeated season to 11 games now, and their last few contests haven't even been close. Clackamas stayed within striking distance, but even they fell away in the waning seconds.

Weekend's Pick:

Lane should dominate this one going away. Whichever team makes the final against them, whether that be Wenatchee Valley or Chemeketa, had best hold on to their britches.


Skagit Valley Tournament

Coming into the season, the two premiere teams in this tournament would have been Bellevue and Skagit Valley. However, Bellevue's star sophomore Brittany Barrington hasn't played since November 17th against Lane, and Bellevue has struggled to get ahead ever since. However, Bellevue has managed to break even, and their match up against S. Puget Sound (1-5) in the first round looks favorable. Most likely they will face Spokane next, as CCS' first round opponent is 0-5 against NWAACC teams.

Bellevue may have been doing better as of late, but Spokane seems to have the Bulldogs' number. They've defeated Bellevue twice this preseason, including a 65-59 victory on Dec. 16th. If the dice roll the way it looks they will, Spokane should be present in Sunday's title game, but that bridge will get crossed when it's time has come.

On the other side of the bracket, Skagit Valley is an interestingly mixed bag. They have two impressive victories over Umpqua, but managed only 32 points in a blowout loss to Bellevue. However, they have won three of their last four games, and have split a pair of games with Big Bend, with whom they also share fourth place in the coaches poll.

Weekend's Pick:

Being at home, it seems Skagit Valley has the edge in this one. They have more wins in big games, despite their blemishes, and their resume is a lot deeper than Spokane's.

Lady Devil Holiday Tournament 

Initially, the list of participants at the LCCC Holiday Tournament looks really impressive. Whatcom and Big Bend went to double overtime to decide the championship of the Whatcom crossover a few weeks ago. Centralia won four of their first five games, and Yakima Valley surged out of the gates.

However, many of those teams have faltered as of late. YVCC has fallen to 6-4, loosing three straight, and a fourth to Lane by 30 points. Centralia has now fallen to 5-2 with a loss at home to Clackamas, and remains unproven, despite their record and ranking. The one wild card in the mix is North Idaho, who sent Spokane and Columbia Basin to a pair of defeats each a few weeks back. NIC has been successful in the past, but their resume against NWAACC competition is fairly incomplete.

One of the big favorites in this one is easily Whatcom. They rose to the challenge in the title game of their own crossover tournament and gave a favored Big Bend a definite run for their money. Whatcom had won five of six before that loss, falling only to Highline in a close, 65-61 finish. Whatcom's first round opponent isn't an easy one, as they've drawn Yakima Valley, making for perhaps the biggest first round game all weekend.

Big Bend has been brilliant all season long, with their one and only loss being to Skagit Valley in late November. Fourth in average points, first in rebounding, first in assists, they are more than tough for just about anybody they face. They have now won their seventh in a row, and with the exception of the double overtime victory over Whatcom to take the WCC crossover championship, many of their victories have been going away.

Weekend's Pick:

One can only hope for such a finish that Whatcom and Big Bend came to at the WCC tournament, but if Big Bend is anything like they've been in most of their contests, this one has to go to the BBCC Vikings.