JJ SAYS: The future of basketball season revealed

I’m no Daniel, Isiah or even Nostradamus. Prophecy is not one of my gifts. But, I have the eyes and age that some people call experience to see what is trending without having to log onto Facebook. It really doesn’t take any special gift to see what is likely to happen in basketball as we move into the part of the season that really counts.

It is clear to me, that the best chance for local success is with the girls teams. Casa Grande is young, but the Lady Gauchos have defensive tenacity that is part of the pedigree of all Dan Sack-coached teams. Joy Jovich may be the hardest-working on-court player in the area and, if the Gauchos can hit their shots, they could stand atop the North Bay League standings when the shooting is finished.

Petaluma’s T-Girls are starting to come together for new coach Janelle Lombardi Robello, and I can say confidently they will be in the middle of the scrap for the Sonoma County League title.

St. Vincent’s Lady Mustangs are so young they should have a new-car warranty. Under coach James Fagundes, they should hold their own in league, but it may be awhile before they are ready to play with the upper echelon small-school teams like they did last season.

On the boys side, the biggest problem for Casa Grande and Petaluma isn’t of their making. The difficulties for the local teams are the toughness of their respective leagues.

Casa Grande’s NBL is top heavy with talent with Cardinal Newman standing defiantly atop the peak daring anyone to knock it off. Do coach James Forni’s Gauchos have the muscle to get the job done? That question will be answered on the court, not in a newspaper column.

Petaluma is beginning to jell for coach John Behrs, and, while the SCL is not nearly as tough as the NBL, it has it share of talent, and probably has more parity, top to bottom, than the NBL. The Trojans can beat any team in the league on any night, but so can every other team in the league.

St. Vincent’s Mustangs are just now beginning to resemble the team they can be. It might take awhile longer, but coach Lance Phillips’ teams have a history of playing their best basketball at the season’s end.

The top players are easy to spot and it takes no prognostication at all to see that Casa Grande’s Jon Christy, Will Crain and JJ Anderson; Petaluma’s Johnny Molinari, Ben Sanderson and Justin Mahrt; and St. Vincent’s Grant Devoe will be among the area’s top players for the boys and Casa Grande’s Jovick and Cassidy McKinney; Petaluma’s Joelle Krist and Allison Scranton, and St. Vincent’s Olivia DeGraca will be among the area’s best players.

But my often murky crystal ball clears up enough to allow me to see some other major contributors, who are often overlooked.

Players like Casa Grande’s Colin McDonald, who doesn’t often score a lot but contributes with his steady ball handling, his rugged rebounding and mostly with his dynamic all-court play.

And speaking of dynamic all-court play, it is impossible to miss the T-Girls’ Cassie Baddeley, who starts spinning with the opening whistle and doesn’t stop until the final buzzer no matter the score. It is her determination and hustle that might make her an all-league choice in three sports - soccer, basketball and softball.

At just 5-feet, 3-inches, it might be easy to overlook Casa Grande’s Claire killian - until she gets a basketball in her hands. She handles the ball as well as any point guard in the area. She is the distributor that fires the Casa offensive engine.

Petaluma’s boys have any number of younger players who have already made contributions and any one of them - juniors Drake Paretti, Kelly Garber, Ryan Cox, Ryan Perez and Zack Stromburg - have the potential to make the Trojans a winner on any given night.

To recap, I see two potential champions - the Casa Grande and Petaluma girls -, two contenders - the Casa Grande and Petaluma boys - and two teams that will be very good by the season’s end - the St. Vincent boys and SV girls.

As for the rest of the year, to paraphrase every coach who ever answered a question - “We’ll play them one season at a time.”

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)