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Here we are in the week between Christmas and New Year’s – a traditionally slow time for prep sports.
While things slow down for this week, rest assured it is the last slow time we will have until June when we finally put a wrap on all the spring sports.
I have viewed this week as the transition between the fall and winter seasons.
What does happen when we come out of the holiday break is that all the East Bay Athletic Leagues kick into high gear and the rush to the postseason is on!
Soccer has started EBAL play, always choosing to get in one week of games before the break, but for basketball and wrestling, it is go-time.
Unfortunately, the EBAL couldn’t sync up with the vacation period for the majority of the schools in the league; the opening EBAL basketball games set for Jan. 5-7 will be taking place while most of the schools are still on winter break.
I also wanted to take this week to push out my subscription-only Tri-Valley Preps Playbook. It is a weekly newsletter that covers all the EBAL, with a weekly feature on a coach or local athlete leading the way as “The Big Picture.”
The winter Playbook also features my exclusive EBAL Basketball Power Rankings, where each week I rank the top five boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.
Soccer power rankings are in the works, but soccer coaches in the EBAL are traditionally flakey when it comes to reporting results.
There is also a “What to Watch” feature each week, letting the readers know when and where the top games to watch for the upcoming week are being played.
One of our more popular features each week is “Fast Five,” where we pick a local coach or athlete and ask them non-sports related questions, which let’s our readers get a little more insight to the people making up our EBAL teams.
This is a free email that arrives every Tuesday to your in-box. That’s right – free! Just signup and every Tuesday you will get an exclusive view into the EBAL sports landscape.
All you need to do is click on the following link: Pleasantonweekly.com/express/sports/.
It’s short, simple, and free to become a member of the Playbook family!
Amador boys’ basketball
Amador got strong second halves from Tyler Cheng and Colton Cash as they pulled away and beat Acalanes 41-31 on Dec. 21.
Cheng and Cash finished with 17 points each, with the two combining for 24 points in the final half.
Cash had 14 over the third and fourth quarters, with Cheng adding 10. It was the excellent Amador defense which made the difference.
NorCal Volleyball
The 14-1 team out of Livermore made news in mid-December when they went 5-0 in the NCVA Power League Regionals.
The success got the team a berth in the Nationals to be held in July in 2022.