For weeks, the Turlock Christian High girls basketball team has stood atop all contenders in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V power ratings. The Eagles’ position hasn’t changed even slightly since then.
For the third time in three weeks, the Eagles are sitting comfortably at No. 1 after the third installment of the basketball power ratings were released Tuesday afternoon. The final seedings will be revealed Sunday, along with the playoff brackets for all five divisions.
The top 16 teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs, while the top eight get to host a first-round playoff game. The final power ratings will not be disclosed, as Section officials could move a team up or down depending on the team’s circumstances.
The No. 1 seeding is quite a statement for the Eagles, who lost one of the Section’s best scorers — in Halie Bergman — for the entire season due to an injury. Ever since the incident, the Eagles have proven that their goal of capturing the Section title hasn’t been comprised. They still want to beat defending champion and No. 2 seed Bradshaw Christian High in the Section finals.
Other local teams weren’t as fortunate.
The best example is the Turlock High girls, who play in one of the lowest-rated leagues in the Section — the Central Catholic Conference, which is laced with rebuilding teams. The Bulldogs are seeded ninth, one spot away from hosting the opening round. Coach Salinda Mabie said that’s not necessarily a bad thing, noting her team’s recent failures to get past the first round of the playoffs. Maybe a low seed can give the Bulldogs a shot to upset a team, she said.
“The only thing that makes it disappointing is that we don’t have a home game,” Mabie said, “but as history is told, that has not been very beneficial for us in the past. We don’t care where we play, we just want to play and give our best shot.”
That is also the mentality for the other playoff-bound local teams. The Turlock boys are at No. 5 in D-I, Pitman looks to have a tough road game as the Pride are the No. 13 seed in Division II and Hilmar is locked in seventh in Division IV. The Turlock Christian boys are looking to finish strong so the Eagles can move up from their 17th position in Division V.
Denair sits outside of the D-IV playoffs at No. 20.
As for the other girls teams, Pitman is rated 13th in D-II, while Hilmar (19th, D-IV) and Denair (29th, D-IV) are nonplayoff teams.
To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.