R-C Sports Notebook: Season predictions revisited

As has become R-C Notebook tradition, this is the week where I look back at my preseason predictions and see how close I was to reality.

Boys' Basketball

My Picks

Playoff teams: High Desert: 1. Reno; 2. Hug. 3. Reed 4. Spanish Springs. Sierra: 1. Manogue; 2. Galena; 3. Fallon; 4. Douglas

Regional Champion: Reno.

Surprise team: Fallon.

Reality

Playoff teams: High Desert: 1. Reno; 2. Hug; 3. Spanish Springs; 4. Reed. Sierra: 1. Manogue; 2. Fallon; 3. Galena; 4. Carson.

Regional Champion: Hug

Surprise team: Hug

Thoughts: Talk about peaking at the right time, Hug came up with the big plays when it needed to to knock off everyone's favorite Manogue and the defending state champion Reno Huskies. I was never sold on Manogue, but I was sincerely surprised by Reno not repeating. Fallon was the feel-good story of the first month, but faded during the final two weeks of the year with a bad loss to Carson and an upset loss at home against Spanish Springs in the playoffs.

Girls' Basketball

My Picks

Playoff teams: High Desert: 1. Reno; 2. Reed; 3. Spanish Springs; 4. Hug. Sierra League: 1. Manogue; 2. Douglas; 3. Carson; 4. Galena.

Regional Champion: Reno

Surprise team: Douglas

Reality

Playoff teams: High Desert: 1. Reno; 2. Reed; 3. Spanish Springs; 4. Hug. Sierra League: 1. Manogue; 2. Galena 3. Carson; 4. Douglas.

Regional Champion: Reno.

Surprise team: Carson

Thoughts: The High Desert League, and the playoffs for that matter, played out exactly as I thought they would, but the Sierra League was a different story every week. While I had the qualifying teams right, my order was all out of sorts. Carson looked like world beaters through the final three weeks of the season and nearly shocked Reed in the first round. I dare say that had they gotten through, they might have run all the way to the regional title -- That's how well they were playing down the stretch.

Wrestling

My Picks

Final League standings: High Desert: 1. Spanish Springs; 2. Reno; 3. Elko; 4. Hug. Sierra: 1. Douglas; 2. Galena; 3. Carson; 4. Damonte Ranch.

Regional Champion: Galena

Surprise team: South Tahoe

Reality

League Standings: High Desert: 1. Spanish Springs; 2. Reno; 3. Reed; 4. Elko. Sierra League: 1. Carson; 2. Douglas; 3. Galena; 4. Fallon.

Regional Champion: Spanish Springs.

Surprise team: McQueen

Thoughts: The big surprise of the year was the rise of the High Desert League. I was among the most vocal in pronouncing the Sierra League the league of champions, and then the High Desert comes out and lands the top three of the top five spots at regionals. Spanish Springs is built for the future and may become the new regional powerhouse, but don't count traditional programs like Douglas, Carson and Fallon out. All three should be back with strong groups next year. Galena came awfully close to proving me right, landing four in the finals and winning four individual titles. That was it for them, though.

- I got pulled over on my way home from the Douglas-Reno girls' playoff game Tuesday night because both my left headlight and right brakelight were out. The officer didn't give me a ticket, but he was curious as to why I had a notepad full of basketball stats on my passenger seat.

Jessica Waggoner wrapped up her career with 1,524 points, which places her fifth in the NIAA record book and first among 4A players. I'm still in the process of compiling Douglas school records, but she should finish up at or very near the top.

When was the last time the girls' basketball team qualified for state?

- Hug boys beat Reno for regional title. On one hand, the Hawks beat the Huskies earlier this year, so it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. On the other, Reno was the defending champs, not to mention the High Desert League champs. Hug's run the final month of the season really is one of the better Cinderella stories to come through the area in the last several years. The team I saw against Douglas to open the year could not have done what they were able to do over the weekend. That's a credit to a strong coaching staff and some gritty senior leadership.

- Smith Valley boys' basketball. The Bulldogs, a team with more than a couple Carson Valley ties, pulled off a huge upset of the seventh-ranked Owyhee Braves to claim the regional title. I got to see Smith Valley once this year and was impressed both with the team's size inside and ability to get up and down the court. I would venture a guess that they could have knocked off one or two Northern 4A teams this year.

- Lovelock girls. Lovelock came into the playoffs as the third-place team and won their three playoff games by a combined 70 points. .

- Virginia City girls. The Muckers knocked off the defending state champs in Owyhee, and did so in dominating fashion.

- Not so much: No. 4 Hug boys beat No. 1 Manogue. As I said above, I was going to be shocked if Manogue advanced to the regional championship. The Miners were the most explosive team in the region and probably the most fun to watch. That kind of basketball, though, rarely has lasting power in a tournament format. Either the shooting or the defense goes away. It is exceptionally tough to maintain both for a playoff run.

If I had a vote for overall player of the year in the Northern 4A Regional basketball honors ballots (and I don't), this is what it would look like, based mostly on their respective performances over the last week:

Boys' Basketball

1. Duke Williams, Hug; 2. Austin Morgan, Reno; 3. Bobby Hunter, Manogue; 4. Garrett Adams, Fallon; 5. Josh Butler, Damonte Ranch.

Girls' Basketball

1. Jessica Waggoner, Douglas; 2. Emily Burns, Galena; 3. Ashley Armstrong, Manogue; 4. Stephanie Rovetti, Reno; 5. Erica MacKenzie, Reed

The top athletes, regardless of sport, at Douglas High determined by production during competition, overall value to their team, ability to perform with consistency in routine situations, performance compared to others at the same position throughout the state/region, ability to come up big in clutch situations, versatility, attitude, sportsmanship, overall athletic ability, heart, potential at the next level, and a host of other intangibles (emotional leadership, role-playing value, work ethic, etc.) This is all, of course, just my opinion.

Winter Sports

1. Jessica Waggoner, basketball

2. Nico Barker, wrestling

3. James McLaughlin, basketball

4. Hillary Sapp, skiing

5. Parker Robertson, basketball

6. Wes Peterson, wrestling

7. Tim Souza, wrestling

8. Eddie Kollar, wrestling

9. Nick Hales, basketball

10. Grant Denny, skiing

If there were more names on the list: Dany Heidt, basketball; Cale Pete, basketball ; Chris Downs, basketball; Dillon Spates, wrestling; Michael Sepulveda, wrestling; Justin Freeman, wrestling; Tyler Cook, wrestling; Ally Freitas, basketball; Tim Rudnick, basketball.

2008-09 School Year

1. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball

2. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball

3. Nico Barker, football/wrestling

4. Parker Robertson, football/basketball

5. Dany Heidt, soccer/basketball

6. Ally Freitas, soccer/basketball

7. James McLaughlin, basketball/football

8. Luis Pina-Duarte, football/basketball

9. Katie Dry, soccer/basketball

10. Niki Hamzik, tennis/basketball

Since I've been here (2003)

1. Luke Rippee, football/basketball/baseball (2003)

2. Jessica Waggoner, volleyball/basketball/track (2005-present)

3. Brittany Puzey, basketball/softball (2003-04)

4. Tim Rudnick, football/basketball/baseball (2006-present)

5. Bridget Maestretti, volleyball/basketball/softball/track (2004-08)

6. Tyson Estes, football/basketball/baseball (2003-05)

7. Ryan Pruitt, football/wrestling/baseball (2005-07)

8. Mike Gransbery, soccer/basketball (2004-07)

9. James McLaughlin, football/basketball (2006-present)

10. Andy McIntosh, football/basketball/track/golf (2003)

-This one actually comes from my wife. You know those commericals for the McDonald's double quarter-pounder with cheese? Why not call it what it really is " a half pound of greasy ground beef. Personally, I think that makes it sound better. But that's just me.

- We found out earlier this week that we will be having a baby boy in July. During the ultrasound, our daugher kept craning her neck to see the screen while giving it that wary look like she suddenly realized everything is about to change.

- I'm still watching, but at this point my 18-month old daughter is making more sense to me.

2002-03. This was the season after the Lady Tigers won the Northern 4A Regional championship. Douglas upset Reed in the first round, beat Fallon and the lost to Reno in the regional title game. They lost to Las Vegas in the first round of the state tournament at Lawlor Events Center in Reno the next week.