SoCalHoops High School News

High School Team Preview:
Capistrano Valley Cougars--(Nov. 26, 2000)

The "official' high school season in Southern California begins tomorrow, November 27, when teams can schedule their first regular games.  And some of the more traditional (e.g., newspaper) media have been printing and publishing league and team profiles too, which is a very good thing, because it saves us a ton of time in researching our own previews and profiles. So with thanks to the OC Register (which did a short preview of the South Coast League boys' and girls teams today), here's our own SoCalHoops preview of the South Coast League teams.   Rather than do this as one solid "league" profile though, we've broken the reviews down team by team, in to separate reports.  

Capistrano Valley Cougars Division I-AA Head Coach: Brian Mulligan (6th year 92-44) Overall record 17-9, League 7-3 (2nd Place) 99-00 Second Round of Playoffs

1999-2000 South Coast League Final Standings Team League Overall El Toro 10-0 22-4 Capistrano Valley 7-3 17-9 San Clemente 5-5 14-10 Trabuco Hills 5-5 13-13 Mission Viejo 3-17 12-14 Dana Hills 0-10 6-20

The Capistrano Valley Cougars finished in second place last season in the South Coast League, at 7-3, and overall at 18-10 (according to one preview) or 17-9 (in the CIF Media Guide), and this year is picked by league's coaches (according to the OC Register) to finish second in league, behind El Toro again. Regardless of their   record, coach Brian Mulligan, in his sixth season with an overall record of 92-44, returns four starters and two other key contributors from last year's team including Matt Sweany, Pete Decasas, Jake Franzen, Jeff Gloger (brother of UCLA's Spencer Gloger), Bryan Mallon, and Justin Demere, and they bring along "newcomers" Patrick Lefler, who returns to the Orange County area after a year up in Northern California , and JJ Hair (USC Nate Hair's brother?). Sweany average 14 ppg, 5 rpg,  while Franzen averaged 9 ppg.  Lefler is a quality guard, with the ability to put up big numbers with a very reliable shot; and while we haven't seen Hair, he's listed at 230 lbs, and at 6'-7" could be the space-eater in the middle which CVHS missed last season.  

According to one preview we've read, coach Mulligan believes this is the "second best" group of kids he has coached at CVHS. The preview which contained that statement didn't say which was his "best" team, but if they were referring to the one with Nate Hair and JJ Sola a couple of years ago, we think this one could be even better.  Sweany was an All-League selection last season after averaging 14 ppg and 5 rpg, and he's a good outside shooter and a capable defender. Decasas and Franzen are also capable scorers, able to knock down the open three and both have good defensive skills. Between them, they averaged 19 ppg during the season for CVHS. Demere should also be a leader both offensively and defensively with both the ability to score and force turnovers with his quickness. Mallon is starting to gain some muscle mass and bulk and between he and Hair, they should provide good post and low block rebounding and shotblocking.  Gloger, like his older brothers, is capable of knocking down the big shot, and while he didn't have much success points-wise last season, he's primed for a big year, and is also attracting the usual "Gloger-attention" from some of the Ivies and other D-I programs who look for smart players who can shoot the ball.  Pat Lefler is listed on the roster in several previews we've seen, and with him we'd also assume that younger brother Conor will be joining CVHS.  Most of these guys, including Ryan Morrell (who was not listed in the OC Register preview, but whom we assume will be with the team) played with Rich Prospero's "1 Tough School" club travel team at some of the summer and more recent fall events, and they played very well.

Capo Valley will be getting off to a late start, at least compared to most of the rest of the Southern Section; the Cougar's first scheduled game isn't until December 8 at Esperanza. From December 12-16 they'll play at the Anaheim Convention Center Tournament, where they'll face mostly local OC team, and then they'll travel to the Reebok Holiday Prep Classic, where they'll compete in the Silver Cup, one of the few teams from SoCal to play in that bracket (most are either in the Bronze Cup, or a couple, like Sylmar and Mater Dei, are in the Millenium Cup).   Making the rounds of the "big tournaments" this December, Capo Valley will then play in the Torrey Pines HS Holiday Prep Classic, a tournament which even though it lost it's Nike sponsorship this year, is attracting a solid group of teams from all over the country, more than 60 in all.  Capo Valley also played together this summer at the adidas Las Vegas Big Time, finishing 4-1 in one of the lower brackets, but all that experience together will certainly help.  And one other quirk on the schedule:   The CIF media guide has Capo Valley playing on January 27 at Durango HS, against Al LaRoque's team. We don't know what that's all about, but it's a very interesting bit of scheduling, leading us to wonder if there's an event scheduled that day in Nevada designed as an alternative to events like the Nike Extravaganza. . . .

 
©Copyright SoCalHoops 1997-2000
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com